![]() Similarly, Reta MacMackin has worked there 35 years and Julie LaMattina is right behind at 34 years. We raised our kids together, you name it. A lot of us really grew up in this place. “But the two families that own this place make us all feel like a family. “There’s a lot that can’t be said to protect the innocent - and the guilty,” said Kit Crowl, who has been a server at Sloppy’s for 42 years. The Keys Weekly recently spent a morning with some of the bar’s longest-serving employees, who were eager to share some of the thousands of stories and memories the bar has prompted. “For 365 days a year we strive to give our customers the best party in town with live music on stage, great drinks, food and an awesome Sloppy Joe’s experience.” “Each of us working here have a tremendous responsibility to continue the traditions of Sloppy Joe’s,” said Donna Edwards, brand manager for Sloppy Joe’s. While its history is older than 85 years, Sloppy Joe’s will celebrate 85 years at the corner of Duval and Greene on May 5, 2022. Jean Klausing signed on as general manager in 1978 and remained GM emeritus until his death in January 2009. 8,1978 and the bar still remains with the two families. ![]() Sid Snelgrove and Jim Mayer purchased Sloppy Joe’s on Sept. Russell, a native Key West Conch who was a rumrunner and charter fishing captain before he was a bar owner, died of a heart attack in 1941 at the age of 53, but the bar and its legend continued. The new Sloppy Joe’s boasted the longest bar in town. Service resumed with barely a blink and has rarely stopped since (save for the occasional hurricane and pandemic). Customers simply picked up their drinks and carried them, along with every piece of furniture in the place, down the block to 201 Duval St. The bar never actually closed during the transition. At the corner of Duval and Greene streets, the building had been built in 1917. Sloppy Joe’s migrated across the street to its present location on May 5, 1937. Nearly four years later, it moved across the street to its current location.When the government’s great experiment in sobriety ended as a dismal failure, Russell moved his business to a different Greene Street building and became a legitimate saloonkeeper as proprietor of the Blind Pig, a droll, rundown building that Russell leased for $3 a week. According to the website, it was the famed author who suggested the bar rename itself Sloppy Joe’s. Then at a different location and known as the Blind Pig, Ernest Hemingway was a frequent customer. ![]() According to the website, Sloppy Joe’s was founded the day Prohibition was repealed in December 1933. Like the rest of the Key West, the island has its own bit of history. There is also a large selection of beer, wine and cocktails that are sure to keep things lively until Sloppy Joe’s closes at 4 a.m. Inside, you’ll hear live music almost every night and a menu boasting all kinds of tropical favorites, including conch chowder, Key lime pie and of course the Original Sloppy Joe Sandwich (complete with onions, peppers and spices). The bar and restaurant has been open at the corner of Greene Street and Duval Street since 1937 and fits seamlessly with the carefree, go-with-the-flow vibes of the island. Sloppy Joe’s calls itself a Key West tradition, and those who have been there wouldn’t dispute it.
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