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Home > What's New > Puffing in the Postseason: 2008 — pg. three
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Puffing in the Postseason: 2008 — pg. three
Posted: Tuesday, September 30, 2008
By Alejandro Benes
Tampa Bay
Cuesta-Rey Cigar Bar
Tropicana Field offers the “only cigar bar at a major league ballpark.” It’s a comfy little — 1,500 square feet — lounge where you can puff your favorite cigar and watch the game on the tube. The lounge is located on the upper level of Centerfield Street just across from the Batter’s Eye Restaurant. If you want to hit a real party bar, try out Gaspar’s Grotto in historic cigar center Ybor City in Tampa. They’ll let you smoke cigars inside if it’s not packed and they have great rums that tie into its hokey pirate theme.
Cuesta-Rey Cigar Bar
Tropicana Field
One Tropicana Drive
St. Petersburg, FL
727-825-3378
Gaspar’s Grotto
1805 East 7th Avenue
Tampa, FL 33605
813-248-5900
NATIONAL LEAGUE PLAYOFF CITIES
Chicago (North Side)
Yeah, yeah, the Baby Bears are in again. Great. 100 years. Billy Goat. Lots of fun. The bad news is that since last year, Illinois enacted an anti-smoking law that has reduced this once-great cigar city to a great place to eat and drink and watch baseball. OK, not too bad really, but no more puffing at Ditka’s or Gibson’s. Chicago, to its credit, still boasts some of the best cigar shops in the nation in which to enjoy a cigar and some of the most knowledgeable tobacconists anywhere. Which one you go to depends on where you are in the city, though Chicago offers the best train service to its ballparks of any of the places in the postseason. One thing, they’re not open late. I’m sure you’ll be able to find a patio or sidewalk spot outside your favorite bar on Rush Street after the game. My three favorites are:
Jack Schwartz Importer (south and west of the Loop; home of the free matches)
141 West Jackson Boulevard
Chicago, IL
312-782-7898
Up Down Cigar (Old Town, closest to Wrigley)
1550 North Wells Street
Chicago, IL 60610
800-587-3696
Iwan Ries (Loop)
19 South Wabash Avenue 2nd Floor
Chicago, IL
800-621-1457
Los Angeles
The interior of Ceniza Cigar Lounge. |
L.A. and much of Southern California are actually much more cigar-friendly than reputation would indicate. I live here and so, without adieu, my geographically diverse, Dodger Stadium triangulating recommendations, all reviewed at cigaraficionado.com's Cigar Bar Central:
Buena Vista Cigar Club & Lounge
9715 South Santa Monica Boulevard
Beverly Hills, CA
310-273-8100
Ceniza Cigar Lounge
260 East Colorado Boulevard
Pasadena, CA
626-795-4664
J Restaurant & Lounge
1119 South Olive Street
Los Angeles, CA
213-746-7746
Milwaukee
It’s not that I was especially cheering for the Brewers to win the wild card — yeah, actually, I was, because I wanted to see the Cubs play the Dodgers — but since they did, take advantage of visiting John Hawk’s Pub. Start with a brat and a beer. Followed by a brat and a beer. Then have a cigar. Hawk’s has a basic bunch they sell there. The pub is about five miles from Miller Park at the bottom of the Wells Fargo Building on the Riverwalk in downtow. If you want to dress it up a little — and why the hell not? — head three blocks over to the Pfister Hotel (one of my favorites anywhere) and sit yourself down at Blu and take in spectacular views of downtown and Lake Michigan. They have cigars to sell you, but as always, take your own to make sure you’re smoking what you want.
John Hawk’s Pub
100 East Wisconsin Avenue
Milwaukee, WI
414-272-3199
The Pfister Hotel
424 East Wisconsin Avenue
414-298-3196
Philadelphia
The Phillies are in again and will not run into the Colorado juggernaut this year. It’s another chance to enjoy a cigar at Mahogany on Walnut. It’s really the only place, still. Buy a cigar downstairs at Holt’s Tobacco, one of the best shops in America, and get comfortable. (See my January 2006 review at Cigar Bar Central.)
Mahogany on Walnut
1524 Walnut Street, 2nd Floor
Philadelphia, PA
215-732-3982
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