Sluggo’s, Pensacola

[Update: Sluggos Pensacola is currently closed]

Sluggo’s bar and restaurant located at 101 S. Jefferson St., in downtown Pensacola is an enigmatic club that has provided its eccentric crowd with a gathering place to revel in their eclectic musical tastes since St. Patrick’s Day 1990.  Over the years, Sluggos has operated in numerous Pensacola buildings, undergoing significant transformations while still remaining true to the Pensacola underground music scene.

The Sluggo’s kitchen offers vegetarian cuisine at reasonable prices and has been featured on VEGCOOKING.com.  Their most popular entrées include the Tai Chili Bowl and the Pecan Dust Sietan.  They have a full bar, a reading room and a stage for performing acts.

Many touring musical acts count Sluggos as a regular stop on tour to and from cities such as New Orleans, Atlanta, Tallahassee, Jacksonville, Gainesville and Orlando. Over the years, many popular acts have performed here including Everclear, Sugartooth, Run DMC, Digital Underground, the Reverend Horton Heat, and Shadowyze.

Sluggo’s also offers the stage for local and developing bands to cut their teeth and attract a crowd, playing original music.  On most weekends and often during the week, there are opportunities for local artists to open shows for larger touring acts.  Presently all of Sluggos’ shows are open to all-ages.

             

Over the past twenty years Sluggo’s has reinvented itself a number of times.  Terry Johnson, the owner explained her vision of the ever transforming Sluggo’s.  “Sluggo’s has to evolve in tune with her environment.  Stagnation equals death.  We shouldn’t separate the arts, we should embrace them all and provide an atmosphere where everyone can express ourselves and share our ideas.  If we limit our options just to how we started, Sluggos would be just another bar scene.”

Not just another bar-scene, the Sluggo’s scene is diverse in tastes and styles.  Tending toward modern, progressive and punk rock, Sluggo’s has also hosted hip-hop open mic nights, several charitable events and other cultural expositions.