Underground Garage
Latest entries
De Mazzeltof
This is a bar you only pay a visit in case everything else is closed, and your beer muscle is calling steadily.
Just let us tell you about a night Pete and Fabio were on a mission (again). We tried to convince this bar girl of this standard no-fun-at all-Irish-bar O'Donnel's around the corner to keep her bar open (and taught her how to serve an "amsterdammertje") but she turned out to be a party-pooper. Fortunally, her colleague (let's call him Dwight) showed more balls and escorted us to the place where you don't want to be found dead: de Mazzeltof. Read more »
The Elbo Room
Let me say this about that.
A year or so ago, I wrote a series of blogs extolling the virtues of one of my favorite subjects - ‘Sleazy Bars’. Hanging out in a sleazy bar is like hands-on research for all the evils you hear about when you go to church. In fact, it is rumored that Moses did not receive the 10 Commandments from God during a little mountain-climbing expedition to Mount Sinai, but assembled these moral imperatives from notes taken while slamming tequila shots in a sleazy bar. Read more »
De Nachtzuster
The last time I visited this place it turned out that the name was changed to the owner's name but I forgot his name ;-)
Not really important cause it's still the same old dark, smokey shithole you're looking for after hours.
The atmosphere really depends on what night you come in, could be lost drunk students, or coke sniffing criminals having a party. Read more »
De Doofpot
Since ages the closing times of bars in amsterdam are a complete disaster.
This is a problem for me as a part-time bartender because I like to sit down and have a nice drink in a bar after a long night of work.
Or tell my clientele where to go when I have to sweep the floor. So nightbars are a must. Read more »
Feuermelder
Slightly after 3:00 am i stood in front of the Feuermelder. Attached to the door is a sign stating geoffnet: Ma-Sa ab 15:00, Sontag ab 13:00. Is this a joke? Or is there a thruth to it. Intrigued, i opened the sequential doors and entered. All patrons turned around instantly and stared at me. Determined, i found a place at the bar ready to order. No barman. Read more »
am to pm
Berlins first club daily 24 houres open!
Placed underneath the S-bahn at Hackescher Markt, this looks like a real dive. It is said that the am to pm is a normal cafe during the day. It changes into a club as the pm progresses and the am begins to dawn. So the am to pm transforms itself two times a day. Read more »
RAW
This is not a review of a single bar, but more of an area I stumbled upon. The Reichsbahnausbesserungswerk (RAW) is the old repair terrain for the trains during the DDR reign. The area contains numerous run down buildings, and is completely covered by grafiti. No worry here if you shout your lungs out. Or try a bit of frustrated beer bottle smashing. Read more »
Random bars
Airport
I need to travel again... explaining the concept of 'sleazy bars' evokes too many interesting places from the dark corners of my friends' memories. And of the cities they come from.
Airport, Am Dobben 70, Bremen. Opens at 11 at night. Beware, they already close around 5 am during the week, but in the weekends you can be surprised by how light it actually is when you get out, even in the winter. And the fresh air...!
Other places in Bremen on their way, once the memory of my friend is restored sufficiently to allow others to actually try and find the place. ("It's somewhere on a crossroads.")
The Seahorse Tavern
Stained (by what, i have no idea) cinderblock walls outline this relic from the 50's. Having undergone an uncompleted renovation between 20 and 2 years ago The Seahorse's claim to fame are its "Mullet Monday's".
Mondays have been a popular night at the tavern ever since it was socially acceptable to have a mullet, but don't tell the 30 to 40 year old staff and patrons that the short-long is out of style.
Having recently hosted a concert by metal legend Thor, this oasis in a basement regularly holds punk shows performed by folks who actually remember 1977. Read more »
The Compleat Angler
Bimini’s second sleaziest bar
Let me say this about that.
With apologies to Humphrey Bogart “Of all the bars in all the world …… ” give me the sleazy ones (that last part was mine). Sleazy bars are home to a rare breed of animal that is comfortable with who they are, have no desire to change their station in life, good or bad, and are some of the most real people God ever put on this good earth. Sitting on adjacent bar stools in these establishments are millionaires, crooks, bums, homeless, movie stars, fishermen, politicians, and all manner of folk famous and infamous. But in a great sleazy bar, you can’t tell one from another. Such a place was The Compleat Angler located on Bimini Island in the Bahamas. Read more »
Rocky's Downtown
Your quintessential hole-in-the-wall. Billed as the 'oldest bar in Granite City that hasn't burned down yet'. Located in the maw of a steel city, this bar has the unique distinction of having scum-of-the-earth clientele coupled with the presence of the usually yuppie-associated NTN Trivia. High scores rarely top 10,000 points.
Homeless fun-seekers and talking-to-themselves winos provide endless free entertainment, therefore no bands blemish the weekends. The owners of this establishment apparently came to the conclusion that having dollar longneck specials three weekdays in a row would boost attendance. And boy howdy it did. Read more »
Snake-n-Jakes Christmas Club Lounge
An old friend of mine lived across the street from this place and refused to go in.
So when I visited I dragged him in after a Widespread Panic show, LATE NIGHT.
Keep in mind, this place usually does not open until around midnight, and really gets hoppin' around 6-7am. S-n-J's is located in Uptown on Oak off of Carollton.
Most cab drivers don't even know where it is and it is primarily a local's joint. It's a tiny, ramshackle looking place with a very large south pacific man minding the door. Once you enter, it is a low ceiling and candle light only.
Drinks are cheap and poured stiff. Read more »
Cal's
This is a true sleazy bar in the heart of the Loop. The paint is peeling off of the walls, the mirror behind the bar (where it isn't busted out) hasn't been cleaned since before the war, their "patio furniture" is tables from the bar moved to the sidewalk, the bathroom is cleaned by a homeless man who is paid in wine (so you can imagine the quality job there), the glassware is murky and the food gives you indigestion right away.
On the upside, if you want to become a regular somewhere, it is easy here. Show up, drink, shut up and then leave. Low-key is hardly the word. The staff is no-nonsense, but friendly. And where else in the Loop can you get a beer for under $2.00.
Cal's...an experience for all who have the guts to do it.
Café on the Rocks
On the Rocks is the only way to drink your whiskey!
It's located in the centre of Deventer's very own 'the brink'.
Inside ont he rocks you will find a lot of prostitutes and the whiskey comes with a nice live rockband.
And if you want a good fight, pop a few rounds or want to get popped, only act if you are the man and you will get it.