Sip for cents

Holiday spending left your wallet a little light? Never fear: you can find insanely cheap drink specials at these Fort Lauderdale-area bars.

By Gabe Berman

Christmas, New Year's leaving you with credit cards freshly maxed out? Fear not, Broward party animal, we've got local nightspots with drink specials for pennies or less.

At Fort Lauderdale's Cheers, everybody may not know your name or necessarily care that you came, but at least most drinks are $3 Monday nights. Gary Gore, part Bruce Springsteen part Don Rickles, is at the helm of open mike night, which starts at 10 p.m. Mondays.
Cheers, 941 E. Cypress Creek Rd., Fort Lauderdale.

Ladies drink free on Wednesday nights at All Stars Sports Bar & Grill, 2201 W. Sample Rd, Deerfield Beach. And 24 hours later, if you gals have the stomach for it, help yourself to another full evening of free drinks at the newly opened All Stars at 2440 State Road 84 in Fort Lauderdale. To complete the free drink hat-trick, both locations hand out drinks on the house to women on Friday. A word to the wise: sending an unsuspecting lady a cocktail in efforts to strike up a conversation won't go so well here...try to succeed on charm alone.

Sloppy Joe's in Fort Lauderdale is basically giving away pitchers of Coors Light Monday nights. You just slide a five dollar bill across the bar and the bartender will slide back a full pitcher. Sloppy Joe's is on the third floor of Beach Place, 17 S. Fort Lauderdale Beach Blvd. Or you can sit home and click to SloppyJoesLauderdale.com, where you'll see spinning Ernest Hemingway heads, which will make you feel as though you just chugged a pitcher of Coors Light.

At Fat Tuesday, on the second floor of Beach Place in Fort Lauderdale, you can enjoy any of their frozen drinks from 4 to 8 p.m. weekdays for just $5. Try a Triple Bypass, Banana Banshee or the famous 190 Octane. Drinking too fast will not only get you tipsy, you'll also suffer from one of those dreadful chill-induced headaches (cure: rub your tongue on the top of your mouth -- or if you play your cards right, have someone do it for you).

I haven't been to the Bahamas since my ex-ex-ex-ex-ex-girlfriend sprung for our Spring Break trip in college, but the atmosphere at Coconuts Waterside is exactly how I remember it at the finer cafes in the islands. Coconuts, on the Intracoastal in Fort Lauderdale at 429 Seabreeze Blvd., is wedged between Las Olas Boulevard and the Seventeenth Street Causeway and is a stone's throw from the beach. All bottles of wine are half-price on Monday and Tuesday.

I'm not much of a pro football fan but my favorite football team is whatever team is playing the Patriots. Regardless, I'm a fan of Boston Johnny's New England Sports Tavern, 2120 N. Dixie Hwy. in Hollywood.

Enjoy happy hour from 3 to 7 p.m. daily. Domestic beers are 5-4-$10. Imported brews are 5-4-$15 and well drinks are 2-4-1. If you don't recognize me from my column picture, I'll be the guy in a New York Yankees cap getting dirty looks.

The sports bar Galuppi's is at 1103 N. Federal Hwy. in Pompano Beach, next to the ninth hole at the Pompano Beach Golf Course. Unlike Caddyshack's Bushwood Country Club, this course isn't exclusive and the bar is open to the public. The ultra relaxed atmosphere at Galuppi's is conducive for a low-pressure first date and is also an ideal venue for hanging with your crew to watch sports. Enjoy three-for-one Three Olives cocktails on Wednesday nights.

Regulars are like family at Walsh's Pub in Hollywood. Photo: Joshua Prezant for Miami.com