Interior of Toolbox. Nice, understated bar-t.
a man in a dark room
Entrada
Gate front to it
Nice patio seating. Haunted Pub Crawl event this day
Pet Friendly on a nice Patio!
a martini on a napkin
Paul J.
Jul 23, 2024
Friendly service, good drinks, respectful, clean. And they also have another club that's upstairs of the bar that's called cocktails which is wonderful and has a view highly recommend going to both places
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Leslie W.
May 31, 2021
This...THIS...would be our home base bar if we lived in El Paso. Little bit of a dancefloor, great (but not too loud) jukebox, a bartender than knows how to mix a cocktail and not just add some coke to bourbon, pet friendly patio (smoking allowed there) a disco ball over the bar and since we are happy hour/leave before the night gets busy kinda bar gals, it was the perfect place for a couple afternoon drinks.
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Jose O.
Oct 28, 2019
We had a nice time on the Pet Friendly (our desert tortoise ONYX) and Smoker Friendly Front Patio. Frankie took great care of us on a Monday afternoon(3-5 pm). Good sound system with Latino Reggae Techno Pop:). Really inexpensive drinks on Pride Square. It's downtown, so there was a good mix of clientele. We'll be back.
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Judy B.
May 13, 2017
Pretty good spot. The bar is nice since its an island type bar so the service is more attentive and quick, we felt. Really fun bartenders too which always makes the night more interesting.We liked our drinks simple sometimes so we got cranberry and vodka as well as bourbon and coke. Well balanced for alcohol since we could still taste it and got a good buzz after one. Not as clean as some bars could be. We got up to the counter that had a used glass in front of us. They still left it even after he set our drinks next to it. Eh well. At least they're quick! We were with the Haunted Pub Crawl group and went from here to 8 1/2 next door. We ended up coming back here for a quick drink fix since 8 1/2 was taking forever to even flag down a bartender.
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Angela F. W.
Jan 7, 2014
I really can't remember much of this place b/c I was pretty tipsy already when I went there with a group. The music wasn't bad and we were the only group there. So we took over the floor and danced like crazy. There wasn't a DJ. I am not sure if I was dreaming but I swear the music stopped then I saw my friends walking to this red box like thing to change the music. Seriously? Maybe that's the magic "tool box" it is referring to! Or maybe that was all just my imagination.Well, I had a good time. Guess that's all that matters!
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Sixto M.
Dec 22, 2008
The tool box is a great place to spend your evening. It's next door from the Briar Patch (see my review), and this little gay bar duo can make anyone's night special and fun. While the Briar Patch is more upbeat and busy, the tool box is more low-key and relaxed. My friends usually just go back and forth between briar patch and tool box.I love coming here with friends that I haven't seen in some time, and just spending the night drinking and catching up. No need to jockey for position for a chair, no need to talk over loud music and crowds, because at the tool box, you can sit by the bar, listen to the music playing, and still be able to hear what your friend is talking about.Granted, I've only ever been here on stereotypically "slow" nights (tue/sun), but even then, briar patch was more crowded than the tool box, so I assume this trend holds for fri and saturday. However, I will definitely be back to find out. P.S. the lesbian bartender is super nice, and even expanded my drinking horizons. She made me a "muff diver" and while the name grossed me out, the drink was super delicious! Try it. I know you'll feel the same.
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Ronnie C.
Jul 29, 2018
Awesome music! I wish more people would see awesomeness I see. Very respectable business. I didn't have a drink, but I will next time.
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JB B.
Jun 3, 2018
Great bar, but understaffed. It's "pride weekend" in El Paso and you have to wait 30 min for a drink at the bar...I ended up leaving.
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Joe F.
Jul 19, 2019
This is the worst gay bar that ive ever been too. At first it was ok, me and my bf got a drink and sat at a table away from the bar. I noticed there was a jukebox so decided to put $5 in it and pick some songs. I had noticed it because another customer had put a dollar in it and picked a song to play right before. So thinking that my songs were going to play next i sat patiently waiting for them to play and six songs later my songs still hadnt played. I decide to get up and ask the guy that played his song before me if i did something wrong. I could tell he was a regukar customer there. He tells me that the bar tender has control of the songs that play even if someone puts money into it. Which i kind of figures because all the songs that were playing were mexican reggaton songs which dont get me wrong i like that music and was dancing to those songs too, but hey i had just paid $5 and basically got burned... So i decide to ask the bartender what was going on and tell him politley that if my songs arnt gonna play if i can have my money back. He laughed at me and says "thats not the way it works." So as im asking him if i just got burned for my money cuz thats not fair, another bigger man from the side of the bar approaches me with his beer in his hand and tells me that he is the managet and if there was a problem. I explain the situation to him and ask him if theres a way to see when my songs were going to play. He tells me that the only way is to download the app which he refuses to tell me what app it is to download so i ask him for my money back so that we can just leave. As he is talking to me and chugging his beer like a manager of a business should be doing he tells me just to get over it and take it as a loss... At this point i am heated and explain to him that that is not a way to run a business and that i wanted my money back. All he did was laugh at me and tell me to get out. Thank god for my bf pulling me out of the bar because i demanded my money back even after him threatening to call the cops on me. So we left. I feel that we were treated this way because we kept to ourselves and wernt throwing ourselves at them like every other guy there was. And because we wernt known there. I tryed calling the bar multiple times to try to get the owners info but when they answered the phone i was told to fuck off and get a life and got hung up on so i call right back and they answer the phone saying "Chicos whore house you rape them, we scrape them" which i could not belive my ears!!! And then got hung up on. After calling back a couple times more and different people answering the phone making a joke and then hanging up on me i finally just gave up!!! Horrible experience
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Adreanna S.
Jan 24, 2024
I went the other day and the bartender eve was so great to us! She always made sure we were doing okay, even though she was very busy she never forgot about us! On top of that she had the best personality. I will definitely go back because of her great service!
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