Wondering what to do this weekend? We’ve got your food and drink festivities (most of them holiday-related) covered.
It’s the holiday season, but that doesn’t mean we can’t down drinks during HYbar Happy Hour — at Hyatt Place St. Petersburg Downtown’s HYbar Craft Cocktail Lounge — like it’s the middle of summer. Guests enjoy bites and refreshing beverage specials while jamming to live tunes. Expect $7 specialty cocktails and appetizers, along with $3 wine and craft beer, as early as 4:30 p.m. Friday. Free, money for food and drinks. 25 Second St. N., St. Petersburg, 727-220-0950.
Get to the Independent Bar and Cafe’s festive bash, hosted from 2 p.m. to midnight, before you leave town to see the fam on Saturday. DJ Tollbeard is in charge of the funk and hip-hop soundtrack throughout this X-Mas Eve Eve Paaaaarrrrtttyyy, which also features rare beer tappings (think Cascade Sang Royale, Cloudwater Mobile Speaker and Evil Twin Pink Lemonade). Free, money for beer. 5016 N. Florida Ave., Tampa, 813-341-4883.
After spending some time at the Indie, arrive decked out as your favorite character from Seinfeld at Saturday’s Festivus For The Rest of Us, an annual Festivus party from Brew Bus — complete with a pole that’s got a “very high strength-to-weight ratio.” Prizes go to the best-dressed guests between 6 p.m. and midnight. Free, money for beer. 4101 N. Florida Ave., Tampa, 813-990-7310.
All-you-can-drink Tito’s Handmade Vodka (while supplies last) from Franklin Manor, starting at 9 p.m. Sunday, plus latkes and other hors d’oeuvres throughout the night. Proceeds from the annual Vodka Latke — a social event for Jewish singles and couples in their 20s to 40s that’s also known as the “Matzoh Ball” in other cities around the country — support the Tampa Jewish Federation and Jewish Federation of Pinellas and Pasco Counties. Find tickets online. $45 until Dec. 22; $54 at the door. 912 N. Franklin St., Tampa, 813-487-9990.
On Sunday, get to the Christmas Eve tradition that is White Russians at The Hub. Different from white Russians at The White House, the gathering — which kicks off at 10 p.m. — finds friends old and new trotting over to a long-running, universally loved downtown dive to escape their families while Santa scoots down chimneys across the globe. Free, money for drinks. 719 N. Franklin St., Tampa, 813-229-1553. —Ray Roa
This article appears in Dec 21-28, 2017.
