After 15 years of late nights, dart games, and more rounds than anyone could reasonably tally, Lucky’s Tavern is preparing for its final call. The neon-lit and rowdy downtown Fort Lauderdale bar announced on Facebook on Wednesday, August 20, that its “Farewell Weekend” will take place August 22 through August 23, with the official last night set for Friday, August 29. “Thanks for the memories, the madness, and all the late-night chaos,” the Lucky’s crew wrote. “One last round. Don’t miss it.”
The closure marks the end of an era not just for regulars but for the Historic Himmarshee District itself, a neighborhood that has worn just about every face over the last century.
Long before tourists lined up for ghost tours and pub crawls, the stretch was Fort Lauderdale’s commercial hub. By the 1920s and ’30s, the block had slipped into a grittier nightlife, with whispers of gangsters, bootleg liquor, and illicit gambling. According to HauntedHouses.com, a mobster was shot outside the very building Lucky’s now calls home, his restless spirit rumored to still linger in the rafters. “The spirit of a gangster with an uncultured character has moved inside,” writes the company. “He is a volunteer staff supervisor with a rough style and is a bit cheeky. Other spirits keep him company.” We don’t know about ghosts, but there are certainly spirits (of the liquor variety) inside.
The Nightlife Bar’s History Goes Way Back
The two-story, brick-and-wood structure on Second Street has been a drinking destination in one form or another for decades. Before Lucky’s, it housed Coyote Ugly Saloon, where bartenders poured body shots and danced on the bar. Lucky’s deliberately flipped that script. (The original, infamous Coyote Ugly Saloon officially opened its doors on First Avenue in New York on January 27, 1993.)…