RICHMOND, Va. -- It’s 3 p.m. on a Thursday and the bar at Cobra Cabana is pretty packed. Most of the patrons have an empty or quasi-empty shot glass next to a beer in front of them. Feels pretty hard-in-the-paint for a weekday afternoon but this is a judgment-free zone and these are frugal imbibers who are drinking Penny Pinchers, Cobra Cabana’s affordable version of a Citywide Special.
A Citywide Special, or a beer and a shot combo platter, popped up in the United States at the Philadelphia bar, Bob and Barbara’s, when they decided to use a Pabst and a shot of Jim Beam for $3 for a business push. Originally, the bar simply called it the Special and it took off. Soon bars all over the city (hence the name now) picked up the budget-friendly special of dual alcohols – and the name stuck. Click here to read more about some of Richmond's best Citywide Specials on Style Weekly.
