Family ownership since the 1930s not only ensures revered community status but the kind of consistency that preserves a space like this one. Outside, a simple neon sign and beach dive bar-standard white paint job are the only signals that beer can be found within. The Jacksonville dive bar’s interior unfolds just as you’re hoping it might with deep brown wood paneling surrounding a tiled floor ringed with all manner of dusty liquor bottle, ancient tools and a series of old rifles suspended from the ceiling.
Faded murals can be seen throughout the space, mercifully spared by the light so graciously snuffed out by the bar’s sparse collection of windows. Above the bar, an aquarium scene serves as backdrop to vintage, statuesque liquor bottles spanning both time and a vast array of décor choices. Along the pool room, a similar seen of animals in a single-file line can be seen, just above and surrounded by fading pictures of patrons from years gone by. Even the modern signage adds to the experience, one sign along the bar’s back mirror making clear that there are three wine choices at Pete’s Bar: red, white and pink.
And because this is a dive bar open since the end of Prohibition, Pete’s Bar has the luxury of a large footprint. The space stretches across three rooms, the first holding the bar and its collection of dusty firearms, the second featuring a pair of pool tables and a back room filled with foosball and additional seating. There is no doubt that Pete’s Bar gets crammed to the gills on a sunny weekend afternoon, the large space a welcome bit of mitigation to what is surely a crowded experience.
