Bar in known for Discovery Channel show
Surrounded by metal and vintage Dade County Pine, rustic car hoods and cam heads have taken up residence in a historic Key West building. Gas Monkey’s décor will serve as background for the famous barbeque menu it began serving last Tuesday. And, by famous, we mean Gas-Monkey-Garage-famous from Discovery Channel’s “Fast N’ Loud” series. For the past two weeks, while remodeling the Duval Street space, shirts and drinks were flying off the shelves.
“The owner lives here in town and said he felt there was no better place for Gas Monkey than in Key West,” said GM Mick Reed, who’s lived in Key West for the past three years. “It’s a unique challenge opening a bar in Key West, but not being a huge corporate company allows us to cater to the locals.”
Gas Monkey will offer locals 15 percent off across the board daily, and 25 percent off on Thursdays. Gas Money also picked Bahama Village Music Program as its first local charity to support. “We wanted to click with a local charity, and we couldn’t have found a better fit with them,” Reed said.
The space boasts great retail, food, drinks, and music. Music is the biggie — a nod to the original grill and garage in Dallas, Texas which features the 2,500-seat Live spot which brings in rock legends and rock newbies on the daily.
“We’ve spent the past three months recruiting musicians, creating groups of local musicians to play together and booking outside bands,” said Reed, adding he wants to create a music spot in the same vein as Key West’s Green Parrot and Smokin’ Tuna Saloon. “Eddie Spaghetti and the Super Suckers will be here opening weekend.”
Grand opening weekend will be April 8 running all day from 11 a.m. to the next day at 4 a.m. Other acts coming to play Gas Monkey include The Reverend Horton Heat over Memorial Day weekend and C.J. Ramone of The Ramones over July Fourth weekend. Red Elvises have also added Gas Monkey Key West to their Keys stops in the future, too.
“We’ll be having great local talent playing here on the state of the art sound system all week, and will be bringing in great out of town gigs as well,” he said.
The upstairs in equipped to handle 150 people private functions and offers a great view for people watching on Duval Street.
All the staff was hired locally, except one guy. And, for those wondering if the series will be shooting in Key West…
“It’s a high possibility that the show will be filming in Key West,” said bar manager Josh Haley, who’s been with the company since 2014 and is the only Dallas transplant at the restaurant. “The shows characters like to party, and there’s no better place than Key West for that.”
