Key West, Florida · Founded 1933 · Building: circa 1851–1852
A former 428 Greene Street Key West bar name tied to the complicated early history of Sloppy Joe's and today’s Captain Tony's Saloon.
The Blind Pig was a Prohibition-era or early post-Repeal bar name associated with 428 Greene Street in Key West. Business histories connect the site to Joe “Josie” Russell, the later Sloppy Joe’s Bar, and the building that became Captain Tony’s Saloon, but the exact sequence and dates of the names remain inconsistent across available accounts.
Captain Tony's and Sloppy Joe's business histories associate Joe “Josie” Russell and a bar called the Blind Pig with 428 Greene Street around the end of Prohibition.
Source: Captain Tony's Saloon, “Saloon History”; Sloppy Joe's Bar, “History of Sloppy Joe's.”
Joe Russell’s legal Sloppy Joe's lineage dates its beginning to the day national Prohibition ended, though the sources reviewed do not conclusively establish whether the legal business first used the Blind Pig, Silver Slipper, or Sloppy Joe's name.
Source: Sloppy Joe's Bar, “History of Sloppy Joe's”; Old Town Trolley Tours, “Sloppy Joe's Key West Information Guide.”
Sloppy Joe's official history says that a dance floor was added and the bar was called the Silver Slipper; the exact date and legal relationship to the Blind Pig remain unverified.
Source: Sloppy Joe's Bar, “History of Sloppy Joe's.”
Joe Russell moved Sloppy Joe's from 428 Greene Street to its current Duval Street location in the late 1930s. Sources reviewed differ between 1937 and 1938, so the exact move date remains unresolved.
Source: Captain Tony's Saloon, “Saloon History”; Old Town Trolley Tours, “Sloppy Joe's Key West Information Guide.”
Captain Tony Tarracino purchased the bar at 428 Greene Street and renamed it Captain Tony's Saloon.
Source: Captain Tony's Saloon, “Saloon History.”
Every claim gets rated. A business's own website can never earn "documented."
Sloppy Joe's and Captain Tony's histories link the Blind Pig, Silver Slipper, and Sloppy Joe's to Joe Russell and 428 Greene Street. The sources do not provide a fully consistent, independently documented sequence of the name changes, so the claim should be treated as plausible rather than established.
Both Captain Tony's and Sloppy Joe's histories associate the Blind Pig and Joe Russell’s early bar history with 428 Greene Street. Captain Tony Tarracino acquired the Greene Street bar in 1958, but a primary lease, license, city-directory, or newspaper source is needed to fully document each intervening occupant and name.
The Blind Pig does not operate as a current standalone business. Sloppy Joe's operates at 201 Duval Street, while Captain Tony's Saloon operates at 428 Greene Street.
The Blind Pig is a currently operating Key West bar.
The Blind Pig is a former-name and predecessor-site story, not a current standalone business. Sloppy Joe's operates at 201 Duval Street, and Captain Tony's Saloon operates at 428 Greene Street.
Source: Sloppy Joe's Bar, “History of Sloppy Joe's”; Captain Tony's Saloon, “Saloon History.”
The Blind Pig, Silver Slipper, and Sloppy Joe's have a fully settled sequence of names and dates.
Venue histories connect all three names to Joe Russell and 428 Greene Street, but the reviewed sources do not provide a fully consistent, primary-source-supported chronology. The exact naming sequence and dates remain unresolved.
Source: Sloppy Joe's Bar, “History of Sloppy Joe's”; Captain Tony's Saloon, “Saloon History.”
The Blind Pig itself did not survive as an operating business. Its story persists because 428 Greene Street became part of Key West’s best-known bar lineage: Joe Russell’s Sloppy Joe’s moved to Duval Street in the late 1930s, while Captain Tony Tarracino acquired the Greene Street bar in 1958 and renamed it Captain Tony’s Saloon.
The Blind Pig was an earlier bar name associated with 428 Greene Street in Key West and Joe “Josie” Russell’s Sloppy Joe’s lineage. Venue histories connect it to the later Silver Slipper and Sloppy Joe’s, but the exact order and dates of those names require confirmation from contemporary city records or newspapers.
No. The Blind Pig is not a current standalone bar; it is a former-name and site-history issue connected with 428 Greene Street. It should not be treated as a separate surviving business or placed in a Key West oldest-bar competition.
Captain Tony's Saloon operates at 428 Greene Street, the former Joe Russell/Sloppy Joe's site associated with The Blind Pig. Captain Tony Tarracino bought the Greene Street bar in 1958, decades after Sloppy Joe's moved to Duval Street; the exact Blind Pig-to-Silver Slipper-to-Sloppy Joe's sequence remains unresolved.
Sloppy Joe's moved from 428 Greene Street to 201 Duval Street in the late 1930s. Available venue and tourism histories differ between 1937 and 1938, and an exact date should not be stated without a contemporary Key West Citizen report, lease record, or city-directory entry.
428 Greene St, Key West, FL 33040
None on file
The Blind Pig is not an operating venue. The historic site is now Captain Tony's Saloon; Sloppy Joe's Bar operates at 201 Duval St.