The Shelter Bar — Restaurant in Tucson

A small group of us searched for a new bar to try out after watching a movie. Being a native Tucsonan, I've passed by the Shelter a countless amount of times over the years but never ventured in until this past weekend. All of the great reviews saying how good the cocktails were is what ultimately convinced us to give it a try... Unfortunately, this place did not live up to those reviews! First, the ambience is a bit more aligned with what I'd consider to be a dive bar than what I'm accustomed to experiencing at a true cocktail bar. Nevertheless, we proceeded to the bar to order cocktails. I first requested a whiskey smash, which The bartender taking our order just gave me a blank stare as if not understanding what I was ordering. I chalked it up to how loud it was in there and assumed she just didn't hear me. But after repeating myself three times and her not acknowledging she understood the order, I finally asked her if they had mint to which she said no. Which leads me to believe she heard me from the beginning, but maybe just didn't know what a whiskey smash is? So I pivoted to ordering a whiskey sour, To which she acknowledged she can do. My buddy then ordered one of the cocktails off of their menu something with melon in the name. The biggest red flag was how quickly she served our drinks after ordering, I'm talking less than 45 seconds! Again, This is something I would expect at a dive bar where they just need to crank out drinks as fast as possible. However, I'm accustomed to mixologists taking their time to ensure each and every cocktail is mixed to perfection. Well, let me tell you, neither of our drinks was anywhere near perfection! My whiskey sour was missing the citrus from lemon juice and there was no offering of elevating the cocktail using egg whites, which is the version I'd consider more typical from a cocktail bar and what I've received many times at different bars throughout town. The drink I was served was simply undrinkable. Likewise, my buddy took two or three sips of his cocktail and had the same sentiment of it not being good at all. So, I went right back to the bar To let her know I did not enjoy that cocktail, and if I could order something else instead. We met eyes when I got to the bar, but she did not come speak with me or even acknowledge that she noticed me. It took her 8 minutes (yes I noticed how long it took) before I had to flag her to come over, which I didn't do in the beginning because I think it's a bit rude. Now mind you she was not busy making cocktails during this time. To me it felt like she was actively avoiding coming over to speak with me. And when I returned back to my table where my group was sitting, the first thing they said was, "she was totally ignoring you!" I'll give her the benefit of the doubt and assume she was just taking a break.

So, once she finally made her way to me I proceeded to inform her that I did not enjoy the cocktail, and she can clearly see it was still full. Yet she did not offer to make me another or substitute with anything else or even take it off the tab, which again is what I'm accustomed to at most other cocktail bars. Nevertheless, I proceeded to order a drink that I knew even she couldn't get wrong, a good old Jack and Coke. So, ultimately, three drinks were ordered and paid for, one and a half were consumed, and only one was enjoyed (i.e. the Jack and Coke). Go at your own risk but definitely set your expectations of this being a cocktail...

This is my second time, maybe my third, at this shelter... looks like a mortuary from the outside. And inside? It's like a red neon light bulb having a nervous breakdown. John F. Kennedy error decore, whatever the hell that means, and a pool table sitting in a room upper floor, and a other room full of cancer stickers, just sucking away. But the real gem? The horseshoe bar. It’s got that charm—old vinyl seats so sticky they’ve been there since ‘52. Hell, they’ve probably got a history of their own—at least one that might kill you faster than the booze.

This isn’t your run-of-the-mill dive bar. Oh no. This isn’t where the neighborhood normies come to cry into their beer. This is more like a quest—a place you stumble into when you’re sick of all the polished, cleaned-up bullshit of the world. Like you’re supposed to experience something here. It’s not pretty, it’s not classy—but goddamn it, the drinks are strong. And the people? They’ve got good energy. They’re a mixed bag: old, young, wrinkled, unwrinkled—every goddamn shade of life’s leftovers.

Now, this building? They say it was designed by Arizona’s first female architect. When I look around, I can’t decide if that’s a compliment or a curse. But who gives a shit about the architect? It’s all about the history. History’s the real thing here. You can feel it when you sit at the bar. You feel like you’re hanging out with Grandpa’s ghost, somewhere back in time when things were real—before divorce became as common as breakfast, when diapers had character, and the world wasn’t just an endless string of sanitized bullshit.

And that’s the thing, isn’t it? It’s the history of a place like this, the souls that lived in it, drank in it, fought in it. It’s dirty, it’s dingy, it’s everything that’s been forgotten by the clean-living, rule-following masses. But goddamn, if it doesn’t make you feel alive. Even if it’s just for a moment.

That's what we all need, right? A little dirt. A little history. Something that doesn't try to cover...

So we actually love this place. But our happy group reached out to them giving them a head up, that our group (40+ people) wanted to do our weekly happy hour there on Wednesday May 24th. This group goes to a different location every week and are really focused on locally owned places in Tucson to help support the community. The group ( knowing we are all drinkers) asked if it was possible to add a bartender as there is usually only one and trust we could keep at least three busy lol! But the Shelter refused. We still showed up and the poor bartender did her best, but the lines were very long, 30 min to even get the first drink. And very few of us went back for another. The bar lost out on a lot of money and what’s really sad, the majority of our group has never been to the Shelter and probably won’t be back. Again we live close and go in quite often. So sad that they would not want to put more staff on to provide better service to first time guests! Not to mention, this group usually orders several drinks but couldn’t because of...