Last Call
No shirt? no problem
By Coley Ward
CWARD@AZSTARNET.COM
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 01.08.2009
At Gilligan's Pub, drinks are just 25 cents if patrons hang their bras on the wall and walk around topless.
But don't go there expecting a bonanza of bareness. Most days Gilligan's customers are fully clothed.
In fact, while the hanging bras suggest a raucous atmosphere, customers say you're more likely to hear low-volume conversation and the occasional clacking of pool balls.
The out-of-the-way watering hole, amid warehouses and sprawling parking lots on West Glenn Street, is easy to miss.
The outside is painted brown, just a few shades darker than the dirt lot where some customers park their motorcycles.
Inside, it's dark; three neon Bud Light signs provide much of the light.
There are two pool tables in back, as well as electronic darts and a "Gilligan's Island"-themed pinball machine.
On the Monday evening before Christmas, the jukebox played Tom Petty, Credence Clearwater Revival and The Doors.
One woman talked about losing her job after 23 years with the same company, while a friend consoled her. Other customers watched the local news on one of the bar's two televisions as the screen flashed images of snowstorms in Seattle and New England.
Like many of Gilligan's customers, Mike "Catfish" Ibarra rides his motorcycle to the bar. He says he sometimes goes to Gilligan's to watch Minnesota Vikings football games with the owner, who is also a Vikings fan.
"I've got the Viking horns painted on my (Harley-Davidson's) gas tank," he says.
Kevin Gilligan bought the bar in 2002. He says he welcomes bikers, who often make Gilligan's one of the stops on their poker runs for charity (where riders stop at a series of bars in one evening).
"Poker runs are the main way that we give back to the community," Gilligan says. "(The bikers) are pros at raising money."
Gilligan previously owned Swing Inn Lounge, which was torn down when the city widened Wetmore Road.
The beer selection is basic, with an assortment of Budweiser and Miller, in addition to Pabst Blue Ribbon and Heineken.
On Wednesdays, the bar offers Hiram Walker and DeKuyper schnapps for $1.75 a shot. Sometimes Gilligan will buy the bar a round of his favorite shot — root beer schnapps with a drop of Tabasco sauce.
There's food, too.
"Fritos, Doritos, Cheetos, Slim Jims and peanuts, how can you beat that?" Gilligan asks.
And, yes, sometimes there are bare breasts. But maybe not as often as the bras on the wall would suggest.
Omar Ortega, 33, has been going to Gilligan's Pub after work for seven years.
"I've actually only seen (naked breasts) happen once in my seven years coming here," he says.
Dale Aultman says breasts can happen anywhere.
"I've been at The Hut (on Fourth Avenue) and seen that kind of stuff," he says. "It's stuff that just happens at bars."
If you want to see some skin at Gilligan's, Friday night is your best bet. That's when Gilligan's hosts Bike Night, and that's when the most women are around.
"We have one customer who likes to take off her top and get up on the bar," says Gilligan's bartender Didi Torres, 26. "She's always hitting her head on the ceiling fan."
Behind the bar, Gilligan's has a black binder labeled "bar photo album." Inside the album are photos of women, some wearing tops, most not.
In the summer, Gilligan's hosts bike-wash fundraisers, where women in bikinis or less wash motorcycles on the bar's back porch.
"The girls who wash the bikes keep the tips," Gilligan says.
On a table near the stock room sat the latest issues of Quick Throttle Magazine and Playboy, and that day's edition of the Arizona Daily Star.
So if you're looking for something to read, Gilligan's has you covered.
Unless, of course, being covered isn't your bag.
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