Whether Day Or Night In Oneco, There’s Mulligan’s Bar & Grill

There aren’t many places in the Bradenton area where you can order a beer alongside a heap of homemade biscuits and gravy.

Welcome to , 5526 15th St. E. Located in the Oneco area, an unincorporated community outside of the Greater Bradenton Area, Mulligan’s is your classic watering hole with a big bar, a loyal crowd of regulars and ice-cold beer from one morning until the next.

Mulligan’s is a classic watering hole, and it looks it, too. The inside is spacious – renovations about a decade ago raised the roof and added additional floor space – with a three-sided bar occupying most of the floor, a couple pool tables, a stage, a small corner reserved for video games and a dozen or so tables. It might fit the mold as the typical dive bar, but it has WiFi access, which is mostly popular with morning patrons, security cameras recording the goings-on inside out and bartenders who don’t put up with trouble.

Mulligan’s opens every morning for breakfast. It serves beer starting at 8 a.m., too. So if you’re up for a beer that early, by all means, it’s available. If one needs a tad more of an incentive to have a brew first thing in the morning, here it is: Happy hour starts at 8 a.m. and lasts until 6 p.m. Monday through Friday with drafts for $1.25 for a small glass or $2 a pint, bottles from $2.50 to $3.50 and liquor from $2.25 for wells to $4.50 for top-shelf brands.

Draft beers include just a few domestics but plenty more is available in the bottle like Red Bridge (a Gluton-free drink), Yuengling, Sam Adams, Corona and Rolling Rock. Guinness comes in a can. Transfer whatever you like into one of the frosted pint glasses. (And those glasses are cold! I stuck with a defrosted glass starting with my second Guinness.) Smirnoff Ice also is available as are an assortment of wines.

If Maggie Hobgood is behind the bar on a Saturday night, ask her about the evening shot special. The shots are a buck a piece and pack a bigger punch than what one might expect from a concoction that tastes like watermelon or grape.

“All mine taste like Kool-Aid,” she said. But they include plenty of rum or vodka, so beware.

The food menu offers meals from as low as a few bucks for a basket of fries to $8.50 for some of the bigger sandwiches. The owner brings in homemade specials about every morning, so check the various message boards around the joint. They tell patrons what’s on special or what’s new for the day. The grill stays open until 11 p.m. when chicken wings, nachos, fries and quesadillas cure those late-night, post-beer cravings.

Mulligan’s features live music almost every Friday and Saturday night and there’s never a cover, although drink and food prices go up a quarter or two to help pay for the band. Hobgood said most of the bar’s live acts are southern rock or country, so Mulligan’s could be called a “country bar.” But she added that the music patrons play from the jukebox ranges rap to heavy metal, so, musically, it can be anything goes when the band isn’t playing.

If there isn’t live music on a particular weekend night, karaoke takes over. Ladies Night is Thursday and pool tournaments are Sundays.

Mulligan’s also sells package liquor, lotto tickets, snacks and cigarettes. It takes credit/debit cards and also has an ATM machine.

IF YOU GO

Mulligan’s Bar & Grill, 5526 15th St. E., is open from 8 a.m. until 2:30 a.m. seven days a week and on most holidays. The kitchen is open from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. Call in your order for pick up at (941) 755-5696.