The Hub
Some people will never get over the Hub´s move from Florida Avenue to Franklin Street less than a block away. And it´s true the new location lacks a certain noir quality the old one had. Something about the way the streetlights shone through the windows late at night. Otherwise, it´s pretty much the same — a little bigger maybe, but still smelling of cigarettes and beer, still peopled by the same mix of barflies and slumming yuppies. For cryin´ out loud, they even brought the old bar (and bartenders) over. It´s still the real deal, an old-style, no-frills bar where the drinks are cheap and the regulars know each other´s names.
Bathroom graffiti is something of a tradition at the Hub and while it´s not the most profound or creative we´ve ever seen, it´s certainly plentiful and largely puerile. Judging by the graffiti, both the men and women at The Hub are mostly interested in men and the size of their cocks. According to the women´s bathroom wall, bartender Skooter scores a lotta trim, and Adam (whose last name we´ll omit) has a cock ranging from 4 to 13 inches. The walls are smeared with lots of lip-prints, bad limericks, hearts and man-dissing comments such as, ¨men, they sweep you off your feet then hand you the broom.¨ Our personal favorites nail both ends of the spectrum: 1. ¨all of you are dum bitches,¨ and 2. ¨blondes prefer gentlemen.¨ The men´s bathroom is thrice graffitied, according to the ever-popular Skooter: once when the new place opened, next after the bathroom was painted, and finally after new wood was installed to cover the holes punched in the walls — presumably by drunk macho guys. Men´s room prose is also preoccupied with dick size and has a surprising amount of homoerotic wordplay, but it also has better art, more song lyrics and lots more politics than the women´s bathroom, even this: ¨HOPE VI is killing the poor.¨
The Hub, 719 N. Franklin St., Tampa, 813-229-1553.
This article appears in Sep 22-28, 2004.