Himmarshee/Side Bar
210 SW Second St.
Fort Lauderdale
954-524-1818
The plan this week was to find a trashy, dirty place to wash off the sexy, pretty residue left behind by VooDoo Lounge. I wanted grimy and drunk, but I had company this week, and my needs took a back seat. My friends from Alabama have been to dive bars aplenty, so when we headed to the Poor House, they weren't interested. It was when we crossed the street that they found what they were looking for. Himmarshee is a three-room dance club/bar with all the SoFla trimmings but without the Downtown Fort Laudy-Daudy swagger. In fact, I saw several dudes getting down while still wearing their college uniforms: Reef sandals and Abercrombie jeans. Himmarshee, Side Bar, and Cement Bar are a great trinity of entertainment split in pyramid form. The main room, which doubles as a bar and grill by day, is the original (read: old) Himmarshee. Side Bar, a new addition, is now the main area come nighttime, with DJ platform and improvised dance area, where it got so tight my Bama buddies were dancing with everyone in a 5-foot radius. Looming over both rooms is Cement Bar, the perfect getaway from the sweaty insanity that is Side Bar. Up here, us wallflowers can sip our juice and watch from above, as the rhythmically inclined do their thing. Enough juice, though, and I was sliding down those stairs and into the vicinity of the yellow tube-topped babe I spotted dancing alone by the bar (note the benefits of the upper lounge). Enjoy 2-for-1 drinks during the 5-7 p.m. happy hour. Live music takes over on Wednesdays, but Fridays and Saturdays are all about the DJ and his brand of shake-your-ass hip-hop and house).
