Cowboy Bill's: More Than Just Bikini Bull Riding
by Rhonda Linseman
photo by Richard Watherwax
Look, I’m no cowgirl, but there’s something special about Cowboy Bill’s Honky Tonk Saloon at 610 ½ Duval that makes everybody feel like stomping and hollerin’. It may be in the same place where Awful Author’s used to be, but there’s nothing awful about this place. Have you seen it? It’s gargantuan, with two entrances (Duval and Angela) and 12,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor bars, live-music, dancing, bull-riding, and billiards. There’s plenty to do for all y’all and all yer cousins, in a space big enough to kick back and relax, despite the craziness of lower Duval.
Cowboy Bill’s loves locals, and that’s no bull. Over half of their business is local, with regulars driving down from as far as Marathon.
Why? Cause there aint nothing like it nowheres up the Keys. They’ve got hot young spring breakers and country fried steakers, buckaroos in full gear and guys who just want a beer, hot moms of all ages and transvestites in all stages (Perhaps that’s an embellishment, but I know everybody’s welcome here). Don’t sue me, McCloud, but this bar’s got a few of each, too.
Even with the huge local crowd, the outta-towners were plenty comfortable and had a rip roaring good time during my Saturday night visit. My partner couldn’t keep his eyes off the scantily clad line dancers. I think he liked their boots. That’s okay, though, because I couldn’t keep my eyes and ears off the band, Scarekrow, just one of the many top touring country/southern rock bands that Cowboy Bill’s attracts. And how ‘bout our server, Shana, donning a fully functional detachable flask belt buckle— one just can’t help but feel a little country in a place like that.
Bull riding fired up at 10 and sheOOT it looked fun! Even the most uncoordinated cow folk looked good on that thing. It made me want to mount it myself. So I did, the next day with nobody else there but Bill and Richard the photographer.
I can’t wait to bring my sister; she’ll enter the bikini bull riding contest on Wednesday nights at 11. That girl will do anything for a hundred bucks.
And guess what else? To quell their bull-riding anxieties, my sister and ALL the ladies drink free on Wednesday nights from 9-11.
Cowboy Bill’s knows vaqueros get hungry after bull riding, or after working three jobs to afford life in the Keys, so the kitchen stays open ‘til early morning— 4am! Then they take a quick seven hour break and start serving tasty, country-sized portions again at 11 in the morning.
Sure, they’ve got all the usual fare— killer burgers, sandwiches, soups, and fresh salads— but they’ve also got everything from snow crab legs and ahi tuna to a very reasonable hard-to-find-downtown Li’l Wranglers menu for cowpokes under 12.
If you can’t have fun at Cowboy Bill’s, it just aint gonna happen.
Yeehaw! And I mean that sincerely.
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