The Bull's bigger and still kickin'
The Dallas Bull
3322 U.S. 301, Tampa; (813) 987-2855, www.dallasbull.com
Country is kicking and sexy at this huge barn of a nightclub. Founded in 1979, the Bull is the area's biggest and baddest bar devoted to the down-home get-down, thanks in no small part to its location in rural East Hillsborough, its fancy new digs and its proximity to the University of South Florida.
On busy nights, hotties in tight jeans and cowboy hats pack the club's two dance floors, swiveling in unison to country, techno, hip-hop and swing. Brooks & Dunn, Big & Rich and Rascal Flatts have played the Bull. For design inspiration, the club's partners flew to legendary bars like Tootsie's Orchid Lounge in Nashville and Billy Bob's in Fort Worth.
The newly remodeled Bull includes a small banquet hall and bigger stage, complete with a spacious lounge and dressing room with a private shower. Total cost: More than $5-million. The new venue triples the original location's capacity and nearly quadruples its usable floor space, making it one of the Southeast's largest country nightclubs.
Domestics on draft, plus imports by the bottle. Friday Night Beer Bash from 9 p.m. to close features $1.75 Miller Lite, MGD, Icehouse and Coors Lite. Attend beginner line dance lessons and two-step classes from 7:30 to 10:30 p.m.
Thursdays are ladies' night, when women get in for $5 and are given six free drink tokens. - Jay Cridlin cridlin@tampabay.com
Also recommended...
The Round Up
13918 W Hillsborough Ave., Tampa; (813) 855-1229, www.theroundup.com
A strip-mall bar where on packed, pumping weekends, DJs spin equal parts country and pop. You might not expect that from a bar that was nominated for the Academy of Country Music's Nightclub of the Year Award in 2003. The Round Up has all the trappings of your standard country bar - darts, pool, neon beer signs - plus a few unorthodox twists, like the "Pimps & Rode-Ho's" costume party, where the best-dressed pimp takes home a $3,000 Rolex. The line dancing ropes 'em in. Free lessons, too. Arrive early (7-9 p.m.) Domestics on draft, imports by the bottle. Crazy, inexpensive specials throughout the week. Sink or Swim for $10 cover on Saturday and free midnight buffets of Tex Mex Friday and Hungry Howie's pizza on Saturday. Kenny Chesney and Toby Keith have played the Round Up, and autographed glossies from artists like Charlie Daniels and Terri Clark rest beneath the glass bar top.
Waterin' Trough
10707 U.S. 19 N, Pinellas Park; (727) 561-9671, www.waterintrough.com
The country version of Cheers, the Pinellas Park hangout occupies an old tile store and resembles a garage or a small rodeo minus the dirt. But regulars swear by its earnest, no-frills feel, from the guys who bring their own pool cues to the Skoal and Jack Daniels banners lining the walls. A bottle of Corona costs $3.25. Sink or Swim specials throughout the week, plus $1 domestic longnecks. Mondays and Wednesdays are free Texas Hold'em nights. There's no gambling, only prizes and bar tabs for the winners, and each Saturday brings "Redneck Games" like bobbing for beer and dance-floor trike races.
