As we approach the holiday weekend, lets take a break from the Covid bad news and reminisce about your favourite REGJB after work bar-hang out, or place to sweat out a jury verdict, or the after-verdict place to celebrate or commiserate (something we did infrequently.
Of course the Marine Bar and the Alibi Lounge get top billing, followed closely by Tobacco Road and the 1800 Club.
Personally, we avoided Tobacco Road on Fridays- too many feds to feel comfortable. But we had many a cold beer on a Friday afternoon and Friday evening into Saturday morning at The Marine Bar.
And then of course in Coconut Grove there was the legendary Biscayne Babies and the incomparable Mutiny Hotel.
Enjoy the holiday weekend. Courts are closed for all sorts of reasons.
Honey for the Bear and the Lady Bug Club. And Sammy's East Side after a Not Guilty.
ReplyDeleteKush…but only if you don’t have to return to court
ReplyDeleteI only entered the Alibi to buy Sy Gaer a drink, and then I would leave. Eventually, before or during almost every trial, I made sure to do so, as a nod to the Trial Gods. When this became more difficult in Sy's later years, I would save half my lunch and give it to Red. Sometimes Red would let me sit and eat with him and he would tell me stuff. We smoked a few doobies together.
ReplyDeleteI was never fond of Tobacco Road. Too many agents, local cops, and prosecutors wearing little Boy t-shirts 3 sizes too small, showing off their unique tribal tattoos and swollen steroid heads, hurriedly screwing their latest young girl in the parking lot before heading home to the wife. Plus, you couldn't get a good martini at the Road if your life depended on it. I did not mind, however, all the flies on the BBQ cooked out back, on the rare occasion I would eat at the Road.
The 1800 Club was a favorite. When I recall the corruption facilitated there, openly, my heart swells for Miami's Days of Yore. And a martini? The young woman behind the bar - I seem to recall her name was Liz or Elizabeth - she had legs that seemed to me to go on forever, unmatched discretion, and a knowing visage - she could make your martini just as you wished - in my case, in and out on the vermouth, up, dirty, two olives. Didn't matter if she were serving Ron Rothstein after a Heat game or a daily regular drunk Flagler Street civil lawyer at lunch. She made it right. I always told her when I was in trial and she would always cap my martinis at three, during lunch. Someone once told me she went on to become a lawyer. Boy, did I want to take a roll in the sack with her.
Let's don't forget Sally Russell's. Because, on the rare instance when I had to appear in the "civil" courthouse for an 830 am hearing there was nowhere to shower off the scum immediately after, but there was Sally Russell's for breakfast: whole wheat toast, a cigar, and two double Johnny Red label. I had sex in the back room more than a couple times with an unnamed jurist, before the lunch rush.
I miss the good old days.
Anyway, if I could survive all that, why do I need a vaccine?
Piccadilly, before the design district was the design district. The owner/chef grew her herbs in the courtyard. Dinner was wonderful. Happy hour was real. The bar was stocked. The bartenders knew their business. Anyone could be on the stool next to you and everyone respected privacy. Sometimes my beeper would go off. I’d ignore it. The martinis were generous.
ReplyDeleteWas in biscayne baby in bathroom trying to pee when mdmp attacked bathroom to make an arrest. Boy did I pee on my pants! They knew me and got me out fast but, nothing like having assault weapons aimed at you.
ReplyDeleteRump, you’re spot on with all your picks, which leads me to further believe we’re contemporaries (not sayin precisely, but over 60 for sure), and how could you leave out Taurus in the Grove for happy hour?
ReplyDeleteI miss Sally Russell's.
ReplyDeleteThe 1800 Club is an interesting entry in this contest. Old school all the way. There was a back room where rumor had it, the bookies and such hung out so if the cops raided the joint, they could make a quick exit one step ahead of the gendarmes.
ReplyDeleteThere was some pretty wild Friday nights at Biscayne baby’s in the Grove.
ReplyDeleteKush? Geez I’m old. Marine Bar on NW 17th Ave just down the street from RGB or the Alibi at the foot of the river, also just down the street. Sy was usually at his bar stool and free taco nights were great. I still have a match box that reads “Because everyone needs an alibi.” Cheers.
ReplyDeleteWe use to go to the Taurus after a NG with our favorite Judge. We would tax our bar tab against the State. That was in the good ole days.
ReplyDeleteThe 1800 Club had the best meatloaf on Wednesdays.
ReplyDelete1800 Club, a Miami classic.
ReplyDeleteDenny’s with Judge Harvey Shenberg …
ReplyDeleteI learned my first week in Miami (as a reporter covering federal courts and law firms) that 1800 Club was an indispensable locale. It was also convenient to The Review's offices.
ReplyDeleteA few months on the job and I had been calling a certain lawyer for a couple of days for comment on a story that was not going to cast a very favorable light on his client. His secretary assured me he was out of town and was going to be out of town and, in 1990, "he doesn't have cell phone service" sounded more plausible than it does today.
We put the issue issue with my story to bed, and a few of us headed over to 1800. You know the rest; he was there. I bought him his drink, told him he could have his say or I'd need to change "couldn't be reached for comment" to "declined to comment" which never looked good. He gave me a few lines in response, I ran back to the paper, managed to insert the comments, and was back to 1800 while he was still there.
It was, as Tessio famously said, only business. I'd caught him fair and square. No hard feelings...and he paid for the drinks after that.
After a not guilty we would play poker, drink scotch and smoke weed. This was often. The alibi was not our generation. I went in but never felt the vibe. Btw The court house has not been the same since Sharpi passed. I think about him all the time. he was an icon to the younger generations. Everything is so PC these days. I hope my kids generation brings back the savage mentality. Based on what I have seen there is hope.
ReplyDeleteJudge marshall ader and his brother owned 1800 club.
ReplyDeleteRump can see why you'd be intimidated by the feds.
ReplyDeletePretty disappointing that we only got 13 comments since Friday on the favorite Justice Building bar hang outs … In the early years of the Blog, I’d guess this topic would have generated hundreds of great stories and exchanges … But maybe that’s just me. And I know it’s been a long, crazy 18 COVID months, but c’mon folks, a little good fun/reminiscing as a distraction? Rump?
ReplyDeletePersonally I miss fox’s
ReplyDelete702, that's because most readers are just here for the indispensable updates from Captain Covid.
ReplyDeleteI, too miss Sheraton Foxs. Especially the prime rib that you had to reserve which they served on Thursdays.
ReplyDeleteThe Marine Bar has the best greasy hamburgers. Of course, going in there for a hamburger and you would always see a few MJB denizens pounding a few post morning calendar. And why no mention of Cye’s Rivergate? That was a classic hangout of the judiciary in the 80’s.
ReplyDeleteWhile awaiting jury verdicts (usually on murder cases) we would go to Judge Ralph Ferguson's house which was near the Orange Bowl and right off the river to drink and tell war stories while the jury deliberated. Ralph was real old school and did alot of DUI defense when he was in private practice. His likes will not be seen in this modern era.
ReplyDeleteI loved Cye’s. Everyone stopped by.
ReplyDeleteA client in the 80’s blew up the Mexican counsulate upstairs and almost dumped five or so floors on the happy hour crowd below. What a time we lived in….
Rooftop of the state attorney's county court office building for sundowners and smokes in the mid-1990s. Those were good times.
ReplyDelete