Michael and I went on an epic PBR journey in the gayborhood.
Pabst Blue Ribbon is a beer that I fell in love with back in Minnesota.
PBR is the beer of the hipster crowd – a cheap light beer that actively markets to young musicians and artists. You could not go to a dive bar or lesbian dance night in Minneapolis without seeing a sea of PBR cans.
The special thing about PBR is that it comes in 16 ounce “tallboy” cans despite being the same price (if not cheaper) than Budweiser. That’s why PBR is a favorite among broke grad school students.
Finding PBR in Dallas
It is Saturday night when Robyn’s Dancing On My Own comes on at a gay bar near my apartment.
Feeling nostalgic for over-crowded Minnesota dance parties, I decide to order a PBR tallboy.
After a confused look and some digging, the bartender finally produces a 12 oz. can.
I am mortified – what the hell is this? I didn’t even know that they make PBR in 12 oz. cans!
Michael and I are certain that we’ve had tallboy PBRs somewhere in the gayborhood…so we decide to walk around and find the bar. How hard can it be?
Answer: Very hard.
We try Alexandre’s, Round-Up, JR’s, Sue Ellen’s, and even Woody’s without luck. Most of the bars only have 12 oz. cans, and the bartenders look at us like we are raging alcoholics when we ask for tallboys. The Round-Up Saloon even has bottles of PBR, which is equivalent to seeing a can of Franzia at the bar.
We end the night feeling tired and bloated at Cedar Springs Taphouse. It’s around midnight and the bar is pretty dead.
Michael runs to the restroom while I order PBRs. Instead of producing two more pathetic 12 oz. cans, the bartender cracks open TWO TALLBOYS!
My head drops and I immediately begin cackling – we went to almost every gay bar on the strip, but the place that we were looking for was the bar closest to my apartment!
I laugh. The bartender glares and reconsiders serving me. Michael returns and immediately starts cackling as well.
We then remembered that we had PBR at the Cedar Springs Taphouse a few months ago during brunch with our apartment-mates. (Woops!)
Well now we know.
Pro Tip – the price of 12 oz. PBRs varies between the Cedar Springs bars – the cheapest place is the Round-Up Saloon, where the bottles are $3.50, but you still need to go to the Taphouse if you want a tallboy.
Pabst Blue Ribbon (PBR) at the Cedar Springs Taphouse patio in Oak Lawn, Dallas.
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