Hemingway’s Wine Beer & Cigar Bar

Hemingway’s Wine Beer & Cigar Bar sits on W Ruby St, right in the small but active strip of restaurants and bars that has become downtown Tavares’s evening destination near the Lake Dora waterfront. The combination in its name, wine, beer, and cigars, points to a lounge style bar built for slow evenings and conversation rather than a fast-paced sports bar or a full kitchen restaurant. It is the kind of concept that gives a small downtown a genuine variety of nightlife options rather than five versions of the same casual grill.

Bars built around this particular combination of wine, craft beer, and cigars tend to draw an older, more relaxed crowd, people looking for a good pour and a comfortable seat rather than a loud night out. That fits the general tenor of Ruby Street after dark, where the mix of Puddle Jumpers’ live music, Al’s Landing’s late kitchen, and Nautilus Coffee Company’s daytime coffee crowd gives way to a quieter, more social scene as the evening goes on.

Given the name’s literary reference, it is a safe bet that the bar leans into an Ernest Hemingway inspired theme, evoking the kind of old-world lounge atmosphere associated with the author’s own reputation for wine, cigars, and long evenings of conversation. That kind of themed identity gives a small independent bar a distinct personality that helps it stand out among the more straightforward American grills and taverns nearby.

Specific hours were not independently confirmed this session, so anyone planning to visit should call ahead before making a special trip. For visitors to downtown Tavares looking for a slower, more intimate evening than a full restaurant meal, Hemingway’s offers exactly that kind of experience, a glass of wine or a good beer, a cigar if that is your habit, and a seat close enough to the water to hear the evening quiet down along Ruby Street.

Small, independently owned lounges like Hemingway’s rarely need a large space or an elaborate menu to succeed. What they need is a consistent atmosphere and a loyal following, and a themed bar that has held onto a spot on one of downtown Tavares’s most active blocks has clearly built both. For a traveler who has already eaten dinner nearby and wants a relaxed nightcap before heading home, a wine and cigar bar within walking distance of the Lake Dora waterfront is a fitting way to close out an evening in this small Seaplane City.