Best Neighborhood Bar '96

Best Neighborhood Bar

Bob Dobbs' Bar & Grill
2501 E. Sixth St.

READERS' PICK: Perched on Sixth Street and Tucson Boulevard, Bob Dobbs' has quietly become a Tucson landmark. Owned by the Brothers Cummings, a couple of good Irish lads, the comfy tavern does just about everything right, from employing the friendliest barkeeps to keeping the kitchen open late so you can almost always get one of those belly-busting Bob Burgers. If you've ever been in Dobbs', you know the handwriting is on the wall: Once you're a regular, you'll always feel right at home.

READERS' POLL RUNNER-UP: Kitschy but chez-chez chic describes the unusually well-rounded cocktail lounge at 4155 E. Grant Road. The Shelter has long been a favorite for music, martinis, and people-watching aficionados. Visitors to this bar will enjoy partying with businessmen, students, Deadheads, and retro-beatniks. Great selections of on-tap standards and well-chosen microbrews splash up cold and go down smooth after a hot day in metropolis. Play a little pool, or amuse your friends with the adult entertainment for sale in the bathrooms for 50 cents a pop (so to speak).

STAFF PICK: Imagine the ideal neighborhood bar. It's a place where you can count on an open pool table on a weeknight and a solid, no-frills rock band on the weekend. A place where the same friendly bartender will serve you the same mainstream American beer every time you come in, take a drag off her cigarette and keep talking to her friends, who have been there so long the barstools get replaced underneath them. The special allure of the Wooden Nickel Tavern (1908 S. Country Club Road), a man named Bunga told us during our visit, is the wood. It radiates the cozy feeling of a midwestern basement--though Bunga admitted he'd never actually been to such a place. Living down the street and being able to wander in barefoot also had an element of appeal for our new friend. We liked it, too. So when the mood strikes to surround yourself with cardboard beer bottles playing football and a jukebox playing classic rock and roll, wander into the Wooden Nickel Tavern--though you probably ought to bring shoes.

1998 Winner: Tie: Famous Sam's + The Buffet
1997 Winner: Famous Sam's
1995 Winner: Bob Dobbs' Bar & Grill