Elbow Room

Allow me to set the scene. As we pulled up to a rather unassuming brick building my GF said, «Did this place used to be a car wash?» We leave the car and head through the nearest door which has an inviting stuffed red leather cover on it a la 70’s strip club.
The interior is bathed in dim red light that keeps you from being able to see anyone properly which is great for conversations with weird locals. The motif is a hodge lodge of random crap that all ties together beautifully in a perfect microcosm of pop culture from the last 50 years.
The champagne cocktails are a delight and the beer list is going to catch you craft beer drinkers off guard undoubtedly. I was expecting for it to be Miller Time but found myself quaffing Abita’s and eyeing a Chimay Red.
Overall it’s easy to suggest this place but only if you want to find yourself transported to some sort of fantasy land in a fashion similar to so many children’s books. You’ll get out of this bar the attitude you put into it.

This place is more like a 3.5 stars but I am rounding up because most of the experience was good.
The only «bad» thing was the food. My friends said that the pizza they serve is the best in Pensacola. Well, it was undercooked and seemed like it came from a frozen package when I tried it. My friend said that this was an aberration so I am willing to see past it and maybe come here again. I ordered something called the Porno Dog which is basically a big hot dog (to emulate a huge penis). It really was just that though, a big hot dog – no like special white sauce coming out of the end or something. At least add 2 meat balls or something to make it more phallic.
Aside of the food not being that notable, I did like the sleazy-​red lighted atmosphere, the jukebox (a dollar gets a good amount of songs), the general layout, the service, cocktail designs, and the overall dive-​bar scene. I probably would frequent this place more if I lived closer and was in town longer.
So, I recommend coming here if you want a good place for a drink and conversation but the food is not a must.

One of my favorite places on Earth. Best combination of everything. AND champagne cocktails. Wish more places like Elbow Room existed.

I just love eating and coming here. It’s like stepping through a 70/​80s time warp. Awesome food. Great atmosphere. Prices are more than fair here.

Board games, beer, and pizza. sure! Why not? Great place to sit back and relax. The place is really dark and they don’t call it the elbow room for no reason. Not much of a variety on the menu but what they do have is good. If you have the chance to meet the asian waitress… She is very funny and up front.

Great atmosphere, great food all around, great beer, great service-​frankly I have nothing bad to say about it aside from the fact that I find myself wanting to go there when they are closed alot, I wish they were opened 7 days a week but that’s not that big of a complaint to even warrant losing half a star… I highly recommend this bar

Cool joint. A big pizza will only barely feed three. But it’s a good thin crust pizza.
I’d really like to spend more time there.
I see more on here that makes me curious. Porno hotdogs?

Whenever I find myself in Pensacola, I always trek over to The Elbow Room. The ambiance, boardgames and champagne cocktails are what lure me. The red lights always seem to put me in a nostalgic trance while playing Scrabble and enjoying drinks with old friends. One of my favorite spots ANYWHERE and difficult to find anything comparable.

Star Trek, champagne cocktails, and porno hot dogs. Do you need anything else?

one my all time favs… there is NOTHING like this anywhere else in Pensacola. The outside is so not what you expect when stepping in this time machine. The house beer is Schlitz… thats what i said… Schlitz…not just any Schlitz. so ice cold it has ice crystals when poured into the nearly frozen glass… coupled with one of the fantastic sandwiches. this is one of the best delights in life. This is bar from the 60s /​70s era… dont try to compare it to anything else. The reaction is always the same for first timers… WOW!!! Its very dark, nearly all the lighting is RED, so it takes some getting used to. No smoking which is always good, there are old time board games, a jukebox with Sinatra, and Star Trek items everywhere, the owner is a big fan. Try the pizza, the sandwiches, and fridged beers. its all good… late nite there is no place like this. Enjoy it, treasure it… these types of bars are fading fast. Take a friend, DO NOT be intimidated by the exterior… I Love This Bar…

Very cool bar that hasn’t changed in many years. I lived in Pensacola years ago and would come go here at least twice a month. Things have changed, but it’s still a cool place to go and hang out when in the area.

This is a very cool bar. It’s got some arcade games and tons of board games. I thought the food was just all right. Our group had a couple pizzas and a hummus appetizer they were nothing special. The thing that disappointed me the most was the beer. I had a XX amber and it was almost flat. It tasted like a year old XX which I’ve had before ironically. The service was a little slow bc they had 2 servers for the whole place. All in all it is not my fav place but not horrible either.

I know many folks like this place, we have been coming here for 15 years or so, unfortunately the service is going downhill. The service is slow, have had to ask for refills or go to the bar to get a drink. The waitress called my husband a jerk for asking where our food was, after waiting an hour for the first order, and 30 minutes for a salad. Even had one server inform us «you will just have to wait for me to take your order, there is another order being cooked anyway, so you’ll be waiting regardless” — this is of course after we had been joking that this must be the reason they have board games, to pass the time. We had taken friends and family in there for their first Elbow Room experience and needless to say their last. It was embarrassing. In fact, so bad, the table beside us cancelled their order and left– saying they didn’t want to eat somewhere that people were treated that way. Bummer, we really loved going there:(

From the outside, the elbow room looks like a brick warehouse in a sketchy part of town. That being said it’s super easy to drive by and not notice but the anonymity of it’s location makes it all that more appealing. As you walk up to the building there will be two doors… take the one that looks like you’re walking into a dominatrix’s love lair… it’s covered in red leather.
As you walk in, you’ll start to see things from a different light… literally. It’s weird really, the whole walking into a warehouse then finding yourself transported into a N.Y. style dive bar. A dart board, pinball table, and a sit down Pac-​Man table… which I’ve compulsively fed many a quarters into, await you. The servers are generally friendly and very good at keeping your beer or wine glass full. Yeah, sorry, it’s beer and wine only.
The last time I was there, I ordered an eggplant with goat cheese sandwich and
. was it delicious! They also have larger tables in the back with board games that you can play. I’m not sure how good it is on the eyes but hey, I like the ambiance and chances are that you’ll be more interested in just chatting it up with friends. The bathrooms are clean and the décor is fun. The Elbow room is a great place to meet up and grab a beer or glass of wine with friends!

I absolutely love this place! Great to go with a group of friends or for a casual date night. The atmosphere is dark and cozy with lots to look at. The beer list is better than average and the prices are good. You MUST get the bacon dip appetizer. So delicious! I wish I still lived in the area. I always find myself wanting to go to Elbow Room.

I’m not going to say that this is the best pizza place in town, but I am going to say that the pizza is really good. The 9″ pie is only $ 6.50 and additional toppings are only $ 0.50 each. I made the mistake of getting the 12″ pizza last time I visited and couldn’t eat it all.
The list of available toppings is pretty extensive, making for some possible combinations that you might not have ever considered before. Feta cheese, hamburger, and capers? Why yes, you can get that at the Elbow Room!
The ambiance is nice and I would disagree with the «Dive bar» moniker. This is a very comfortable place to simply loiter with friends, drink some beers, and talk. The several times that I’ve been, nobody was loud and obnoxious or out of hand. I’d really call the Elbow Room an eatery where you can hang out for hours. From that perspective, it isn’t any worse than other places that you’d visit. Don’t be fooled by the location, the parking lot, or the exterior of the building… waiting inside for you is a cozy, comfortable place to drink and eat.
When you walk in the door, the aroma of the food stimulates your olfactory nerves. I’ve only ever had the pizza as a main dish, but a friend had the hot ham and cheese sandwich, which she said was excellent. The hummus and pita bread is phenomenal, the best I’ve ever had. A minor point, but I thought it was important: Each slice of pita bread is well toasted (as opposed to an entire piece of pita being toasted and then cut into pieces), which makes each bite of hummus even yummier.
The staff is exemplary. Helpful, knowledgeable, friendly, and prompt. You’ll wait a while for your food, but don’t get in a hurry… relax and have a Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA. The beer selection is excellent and is added to continually.
If your visual acuity isn’t what it used to be, be sure to carry your glasses with you. It’s not a bright place. I have to use the glow of my phone’s screen to read the menu, but then again, I’m getting old and blind.

This little dive has the cleanest restrooms of any bar I’ve ever been to. As my local guide and friend explained it, the customers just have too much respect for the place to deface it. That’s saying something. You could eat off the tank, seriously.
The ambiance of the bar itself is great. It’s very sepia-​toned like my favorite restaurant in Columbus. It has an original, old as hell jukebox that only features about 100 songs, and they keep the bar stocked with board games and such to pass the time. The original owner sold it some time back, but the new owners have kept it true… more than I can say for my old neighborhood bar back home.
A real gem!

So the next stop on my happy holiday trip was The Elbow Room. Let me say that this is the place I drank my first legal beer so I’ll always have a soft spot for this place. I was pleased that the inside was still pretty much the same, the old Star Trek fan of a bartender was no where to be found sadly-​I hope he was off, or ok, or just gone on to a better place. The ambiance is priceless, it is what a bar should look and smell and feel like. They have a great jukebox and awesome mood lighting. Be brave-​go have a beer.

I went to the Elbow Room for the first time on New Year’s Eve with a rather large (8 people). We went early, for food and some pre-​drinks. What a positively charming little place! The service, the prices, the DECOR — all spot on. I didn’t try the food myself, but the pizza got rave reviews from my friends and the Enterprise sandwich looked great (veggies and goat cheese).
I almost forgot I was in Pensacola for a while, which is a very good thing in this case…
The one and only downside I could find is that they do not have a full liquor license and as someone who does not drink beer, that really limits the options.

This is your typical dive bar with no liquor! I repeat… no liquor! I thought from the sites of this place… inside (lots of red lighting) and out… dark parking lot and no windows… that it would you your black out bar. But in order to black out, you must accomplish that on beer and wine.
The bartender was sooo sweet and great keeping up with our drinks. The service was perfect. Not too overwhelming. They have food selections of pizza and sandwiches. I had a red velvet cake that took my breath away! :) Well the frost did.
The crowd wasn’t was thin and not really mixed. But maybe I am spoiled because of LA.
The prices were great compared to LA, but according to my Pcola dweller, just a buck above the competition, but this is a nicer place. They like to keep the cheap skeezer away. Good thing!