Tough Times Tavern has reopened at 537 S Dixie Hwy E in Pompano Beach
Miami (May 19, 2022) – Tough Times Tavern, Pompano Beach’s coolest and grittiest music-scene hangout, has reopened with a new concept under owner Challo Schott. Redesigned and refurbished, the iconic dive bar now has new surfaces and furniture, an upgraded new sound system for performers and amazing hand-painted murals by Schott himself. Located at 537 S Dixie Hwy E, this 1100 square foot venue also has a 400 square foot patio.
Described as an innovator and visionary in the hospitality industry, Schott believes in forging forward with his own ideas, always pushing the bar forward in each area, from concept to completion. Here you have a man that showed up in Florida with no car and a $1,000 to his name, yet, he would turn every job he ever took in the bar industry into a success. Everything Schott does is for the outcasts and the artists, the unknowns and the weird ones; people like him that have everything to offer the world, but each with their own barriers to making themselves known.
Tough Times is ultimately that same thing that the bars in Miami Beach, Brickell, Wynwood, and Delray were – they’re all facets of Schott’s personality. They’re the stories of his life put onto display and given new strength by the combined experiences of all those that join in these places. Schott plays a very present role in each of his bars, and when asked why he does it all, he’ll tell you simply, “for the same reason people write their names on bathroom walls.” His stories seem a bit more complicated than that answer though and time and time again those stories he writes onto the walls of bars like Better Days and The OG, become stories for all those that enter; some momentary, but others might last a lifetime.
What Schott may be best at is identifying neighborhoods that need him. Schott shares that in Miami, Brickell was a “bougie and uptight scene,” before he opened Better Days in 2014. Schott opened The O.G. – “Oceanside Grocers” in 2018 with its concept of utilizing unique, modern bohemian vibes to bridge the generational gaps by preserving the best parts of the past and combining them with their appropriate counterparts today. The “secret” neighborhood cocktail bar blends culture and style throwbacks repackaged as a local general store.
When Schott saw the ever growing under 30 population of Delray Beach needed something with depth as an alternative to the bustling Atlantic scene, he opened Pour & Famous, just west of Downtown Delray, where he made people feel relaxed and at home in his space, reimagined and reemerging as a Wine & Coffee bar with Cocktails and a growing kitchen.
Pompano Beach is no different; Schott saw that as rents rose in nearby Fort Lauderdale, young professionals and industry types were sliding north to Pompano where the city has a renewed focus on developing a new culture and beautifying the area. Here again, you’ll find Schott with his newest concept, Tough Times. One that he describes is like a “first car;” whatever it is, it moves down the road on a path to freedom and exploration. This project, which sent him to the ER early on, and which exploded the initial budget into literal dust, is his and his alone.
Schott is very excited about bringing new musical acts to Tough Times in the near future. He proudly says that Tough Times is the “new ‘sleeper’ venue other cities pride themselves on; where you help break and discover new artists on their way up.”
