Downtown Fort Lauderdale Bar Lucky's Tavern to Close After 15 Years

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.)

With 18 beers on tap, more than 50 craft bottles, frozen drinks, and a late-night kitchen slinging burgers and wings until 2 a.m., Lucky's became the antithesis of its predecessor: a no-frills, everyone's welcome watering hole. However, over the years, dancers wearing fishnets returned to the scene, and rowdy, fun nights at Lucky's ensued, just like they had at Coyote Ugly. 

Farewell to a Fun Spot

What made Lucky's special wasn't just the drinks or the pool tables, but the way it kept the old spirit of Himmarshee alive. This was a bar where you could grab a quick shot before catching a show at Revolution Live, linger over a frozen piña colada while listening to a local band, or end up at 3:30 a.m. in a darts match you didn’t remember starting. It was messy, unpolished, and exactly what a historic district bar should be.

Now, with its closing weekend ahead, Lucky's invites its "local legends" to pack the house one last time. For a district built on wild nights and whispered ghost stories, it feels like a fitting sendoff: loud, drunk, and laughing, just the way Himmarshee has always liked it.

Lucky's Tavern. 214 SW Second St., Fort Lauderdale; luckystavern.com. Closing Friday, August 29.