Frankie’s South Beach Hide-A-Way

I wanted to LOVE this bar more thank anything since it is a couple blocks from my apartment. I wanted to find a go-​to spot for grabbing a cheap beer and watching a sporting event since there are many TVs at Frank’s.
Well, I have given up on that dream.
I have only been to Frank’s twice, and that was enough for me.
FIRST VISIT: Word Cup late June/​early July
— $ 10 buckets of beer– AWESOME! definitely a good deal.
— The food was ok, not horrible, not great, but the prices were, again, cheap, especially for the beach.
— The main problem was the fact that the TVs were not on the same feed so you would see a goal score on the TVs to your right, then look to your left to see it again, and then listen, wait for it, wait for it… and finally the sound catches up to the video feed. It made for an interesting spectacle as everyone was looking all over the place to see what was going on.
VERDICT: It didn’t bother me too much because the bar was still relatively new, they were trying to correct the problem (so they said) and I am not a die-​hard futbol fan.
Fast-​forward 3 months.
SECOND VISIT: College Football Game late Sept
We arrive to a completely empty bar, the friendly bartender eventually gets our game on, but again the sound is on a 60 second delay. She claimed they are trying to fix it. Really? Still? At this point, I am annoyed, but not totally pissed off.
Then arrives Frankie himself. By this time, two additional customers have joined us, for a grand total of four customers. Frankie begins to attempt to fix the sound and when he is unsucessful after about 30 minutes he leaves the sound playinng for a channel that is not even on ANY of the TVs in the bar. When my fiancé asks him if he can put the sound back on for the game that we were watching, Frankie becomes aggressive and responds, ‘What is your problem, man?” As my jaw hit the floor, I motioned for the check to a red-​faced bartender. We tipped her greatly for having to work with that and were on our way.
It was not 3 am; we were not wasted, disrespectful or biligerant in any way. As a ex-​member of the service industry, I was absolutely appauled at the manor in which he addressed his customers.
Now, I will just sit back and wait for it to go under, in the hopes that a new owner is not A) too clueless to figure out a satellite dish and B) understands the importance of customer service.

If your are going to call yourself a Hide-​A-​Way, it is very fitting that there is no sign outside announcing your existence. Located between 7^th and 8^th on the western side of Washington Ave, it is nearly impossible to stumble upon unless you know exactly where it is. Not only is there no sign, the large windows are tinted and you cannot see through. Look for a handwritten note on printer paper at a door letting you know they are open.
Once you find yourself inside, you’re likely to receive a friendly greeting by the owner that could very well include a free drink and some food samples. Frankie, is an avid U of Miami fan and was formerly in charge of all concessions at the Orange Bowl and the UM baseball stadium. You may be fortunate to spot former Hurricane players or coaches there.
Plenty of TV’s including giant projections for sporting events. A great place to watch the MLB Extra Innings package. Promises to be a great college football hangout.
Nice happy hour specials on draft beer. Good beer selection that includes Frankie’s Never Cry Ale house brew.
Food is good and extremely reasonable, sliders start at $ 3.95 for two. I recommend the never-​fried wings in which they are baked then grilled over charcoal. Also good is the chili which can be served as a bowl, over fries, and even Cincinnati style over spaghetti.
The cage in the center of the floor needs no explanation at a sports bar.

I walk past this place easily 10 times a week during my many walks up and down Washington Ave and always get a laugh at the sign on the window «A Unique Sports Bar!»… huh? really? sure they have a cage in the middle (which is a bit. odd) but its a sports bar, come on…
Anyhow, I have come here a few times, once to eat, two to drink… The food was allright, ordered the sliders and fries, I am fairly certain the menu said it would come with waffle fries (my favorite) but it came with regular fries instead (I was a sad panda)… additionally there were only 2… which would be ok as a bar snack, but as a lunch, well, needless to say I was left wanting…
The times I have come here to drink have been fairly allright… the waitress keeps tabs on us at the table, and ordering a vodka and Red Bull actually gets you a vodka, and a can of Red Bull… a perfect excuse to order 3 more vodka’s and stumble your way out lol
last two times we went drinking I ordered a portion of waffle fries… last time they were burnt to a crisp… time before that they weren’t cooked enough and were still partially frozen…
sigh… I want to like this place, but they need to get their stuff together… its not that new anymore…

Had great afternoon chilling here. Cold drinks, friendly welcoming owner and good food. Not great but good. 2 HAPPY HOURS!!! Use your imagination with the cage

I feel like this place is having a bit of an identity crisis… if your going to be a sports bar, be a sports bar. If you want to be a dance club or something of the like be that. I find it super odd that there is a cage in the middle of the place. Really, it turns me off from eating food… Beer selection is OK. The food was OK, nothing to write home about. Cost me $ 15 for some nachos and a pint. The nachos were on won ton paper, which was interesting… I did polish them off myself. So, decent portion to share or girly size meal. The owner and the chef did introduce themselves & clearly from NY. Anyhow, the girl at the bar was nice but slow, in her defense I think she may have been new. I just don’t think this place is going to be in my regular rotation of places I like to visit. The schizophrenic atmosphere just weirds me out.

I’m going to call this a preliminary review of Frankie’s because I think I need to visit on different days/​times in order to properly evaluate the place.
We went on a Saturday evening at about 7:30 and we were the only ones there. Frankie himself introduced himself and was very welcoming. Ordered a few pints of their own brew (quite tasty) and some snacks and settled in to watch NBA HORSE and dunk contests.
Food was solid. I enjoyed my sliders and fries. The wings are cooked really well, but even the «hot» weren’t very spicy.
A few issues I had: 1) They don’t serve pitchers. Really? A sports bar with no pitchers? 2) Bad dance music. I am guessing (praying) it would be turned off turning major sporting events.
The place started to fill up after a while, but we left before there was any dancing in the cage… guess I’ll have to come back for that. I think this is a good candidate for a dive bar crawl (ahem, Eve), and with all the TVs (I counted at least 15), it is probably a good spot for sports viewing. And considering how friendly the owner and staff were, I’m definitely going to give it another try.