There is nothing quite like sipping a cold one while watching boats and yachts cruise by on the Intracoastal Waterway at the Le Tub Saloon in Hollywood, Florida.

 

Originally, a Sunoco gas station established in 1959, a man named Russell T. Kohuth, a former Broward County Lifeguard, purchased the property in 1974 and transformed it into the waterfront eatery of today. He converted old garage bays into seating, adding a dock on the intercoastal and built everything by hand.

 

Kohuth decorated the place inside and out with beach found driftwood and what he called “ocean borne treasures”,  including old sinks, bathroom fixtures, tubs, and toilets.

 

The name “Le Tub” is itself a cheeky nod to that salvaged- from-the-sea aesthetic.

 

Toilet’s overflow with lush plants,  bathtubs once destined for the scrapheap, now offer cozy seating, and dogs are everywhere.

 

Patrons, arriving by boat or car find a ramshackle, open- air, laid back, multilevel wood deck saloon,  more old Florida Keys beach dive than polished restaurant. 

 

Fishing nets drape from the ceiling, weather buoys and life preservers hang from posts and mannequin legs are sticking out of barrels.

 

It’s like a scavenger hunt, gone bonkers.

 

In 2007 GQ magazine named it the “Best Burger in America”, it’s thirteen ounces of pure unadultered beef bliss.  The burger is crispy on the outside, tender on the inside, and it will make your taste buds dance.

 

The service is spectacular, the food is great and the bartenders are all fun.

 

Sitting outdoors with a jungle of greenery on the restaurant deck, as the sun sets casting a warm glow over the water like life in a Jimmy Buffett song, with a salty sea breeze and sizzling meat in the air, with happy dogs, God Bless America. 

 

Another fantastic time just off Route 1.