And in true Key West fashion, the move didn’t stop or even slow down business, customers simply picked up their drinks and a piece of furniture and then carried it down the block to the new location. Originally located at 428 Greene Street, Sloppy Joe’s Key West moved to the corner of Greene Street and Duval Street in 1937 when rent went up by $1 a month.
And thus, the name Sloppy Joe’s was born. This caused customers to complain that Jose was running a sloppy bar. Because of the intense Havana heat, the floor of the bar was always wet with melted ice. It wasn’t long after that Hemingway convinced Russell to rename the bar once more, this time to honor a bar in Havana owned by Jose Garcia that sold liquor and iced seafood. Soon after, it was renamed The Silver Slipper. They could gamble, drink 15 cent whiskey and 10 cent shots of gin.
He leased the run-down building for $3 a week and soon, the dive bar became a popular hang out for the island’s rowdier crowds. At that time, the legendary watering hole was named The Blind Pig and was Russell’s first legitimate attempt as a saloon owner. Ernest Hemingway, a dear friend who was one of the many folks in town that viewed prohibition as ridiculous, was one of his customers who patronized his illegal operation when the need for scotch arose. Established on December 5, 1933, the day prohibition was repealed, Sloppy Joe’s Key West was the brainchild of Joe Russell, an entrepreneur who was operating a local speakeasy at the time.
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