The Shellback Syndrome

The Shellback Tavern opened as The Surf back in 1952 and quickly became a hit because of its pizzas and reasonably-priced drinks. Located at the pier in downtown Manhattan Beach, Calif., it remains the kind of place landlocked inlanders dream about. Sexy girls drift up to the bar wearing flip-flops and bikinis, and surfers come in for a beer straight from their sets. It was voted Best Beach Bar of 2007 by CitySearch and was a runner-up for “Best Dive Bar” in the Los Angeles area according to Fox News. All football season, The Shellback has been offering specials for those who come in to watch games. They added six additional flat-screen televisions to handle patrons’ requests to see their favorite team in action. And they have another drawing card that’s proving to be quite popular. For a beach bar, the Shellback can be downright cold — when it comes to beer, that is. The folks there insist on 28.1 degrees Fahrenheit or less, to be precise, with an average draft beer temperature of 27.6. This is all thanks to  The new Shellback Blizzard Beer System, the machinations of which are very hush-hush. Though management wouldn’t comment, there have been reports that the blizzard is no match for the girls in bikinis, however, who tend to heat things up considerably. You just can’t have your hot girls and cold beer too.