MOJO RISING
Padrino’s menu makes offers you can’t refuse
HIMMLER OF ’42
Winslet owns cradle-robbing postwar drama
Finnherny’s
It has the décor of a modern Dublin pub, but the usual selection of beers on tap.They also have a selective wine list and liquors with top-shelf options. A comfortable place to have a drink during happy hour if you’ve arrived early for a show at the Social, directly across the street.
Stardust Lounge
While longtime haunt Lee’s Underground Tavern grew into an unintentional throwback to martini lunches and ass-pinched waitresses, Stardust Lounge ‘ which is not related to the coffee/video-house of similar naming ‘ pushes its well-manicured nostalgia to the hilt. Zebra prints, a pool table, plastic booths and a fake fire furnace make the Stardust Lounge of…
Brix Eurobistro
Their short-but-sweet wine and beer list has something for everyone at a good price. There are also plenty of cheap cock-tails, including a deliciously wicked sangria. Their menu offers typical American fried stuffs, as well as European gourmet choices, including a variety of flatbreads and fondues. It’s not a happening nightspot, but it suits the…
Coconut Bay
Sort of like a weird Applebee’s with Hawaiian decorations from the nearby party-supply store.The menu consists mainly of American food, but also offers Italian and Cuban. Beer and drinks are cheap. Area bands that usually play at the Haven nearby are now also being invited to Coconut Bay, including funk-rockers the Aristocracy and punk-rockers Union…
The Nu Bamboo Lounge
Good luck finding this place ‘ it lies hidden within a Carefree Inn and Suites near the intersection of U.S. Highway 192 and Vineland Road. However, if you are familiar with its predecessor, the Big Bamboo Lounge, look across the street from the previous location and you’ll find it. You’ll also find it familiar. The…
Icebar Orlando
Our hometown re-creation of a European ice bar is pretty accurate, except smaller and a bit gimmicky. There are two parts to the new place: an outer bar (the ‘Chill Roomâ?�) kept at normal temperature, and the ice bar itself, located in a large walk-in freezer. In there everything is made of ice: couches, ottomans,…
Latin Quarter
A Universal-sized tribute to Latin food and drink. Live music ‘ from merengue to Latin rock ‘ nightly.
Place:O’ Shucks Pub & Bill
Despite the tongue-in-cheek name, this is a non-ethnic karaoke bar. It’s one of the more popular singing joints on the I-Drive strip, with more crowd enthusiasm then even Big Daddy’s near downtown. There’s also a separate room with pool tables and video games.
Tessa Wine & Cigar Bar
Not only do they have a large selection of fine cigars and expensive wines, they have also a back bar and hookah lounge with some very comfy couches. Beware of the circa-Windermere price tag if drinking on a budget. Also beware of the steep hookah cost; not a bad hookah experience, until you get the…
BEYOND ROBOTS
In Hollywood, a land where a film without a single reel of shot footage (The Hobbit) already has a release date (2012), there’s no such thing as looking too far ahead. We looked at a dozen or so films coming to theaters this year that look fascinating and, most importantly, do not involve robots, spaceships…
PEOPLE WHO DIED
; ;; ;eath took its usual toll this year, and seemingly then some. Genocide, war, terrorist attacks, disease – yikes. But for the purposes of our annual tribute to influential cultural notables whose deaths deserve a little extra note, it was a terrible harvest.; ; In addition to the loss of A-list names like Paul…
THE BIG R&B DUMP
For fans of R&B, December 2008 was a bloodbath. It had been a year marked by the steady, studied rise of carefully culled standout rhythm & blues albums, from Erykah Badu’s career-defining (and criminally overlooked) fifth album to new faces like British teenager Adele and Philly’s young breakout Jazmine Sullivan. Recently, Sullivan and Adele were…
RANTS, RAVES AND RESOLUTIONS
Here we stand, one weary foot in the end of 2008 and the other planted in hope for 2009. It is time to move on and build the future by any means possible during this economic slump. That’s the general feeling among a sampling of artists and organizations in the arts community that shared their…
WHAT’S NEXT?
Wondering what 2009 has in store? So are we. We thought it’d be fun to put that question to some local notables — politicos, journalists, rabble-rousers, psychics, — to get their insights on the year to come. There weren’t any guidelines, beyond asking them keep it short and get back to us in a timely…
BLISTER
Back in the sepia-hued olden times of downtown’s meager nightlife push-along, nary a crack in the sidewalk went unscuffed by some sole-less Chuck Taylor swinging from a hip with a wallet chain attached to it, while up a little higher a shave-sided head with long stringy hair bobbed in the wind to laryngitic funk-rock being…
FREE WILL ASTROLOGY
ARIES (March 21-April 19) You’re fortunate if you can pursue your dreams without having to ward off government interference, corporate brainwashing or religious fanaticism. But that’s only partly useful if you have not yet won the most important struggle for liberation: the freedom from your own unconscious habits and conditioned responses. Becoming an independent agent,…
SAVAGE LOVE
Here’s your chance to deal with the problems of a couple of senior citizens: I am a woman in my late 60s, and my “boyfriend” is five years older. We were lovers long ago. He came looking for me a few years ago and we reunited. I have known for a couple of years that…
THIS LITTLE UNDERGROUND
The crown of Baby New Year’s head has only just parted the lips and here we all are, cheering and whistling like a bunch of freshmen at a titty bar. But before we get it on, it’s time for another attitude adjustment. The Deal There’s little I can add to our paper’s coverage of the…
LIVE ACTIVE CULTURES
The week between Christmas and the new year is when snow-weary Northerners seek refuge in our theme parks, and sensible Orlando folks get the hell out of town. Capitalizing on the capsizing economy with a last-minute bargain, I took a micro-vacation back in time to an era before the Mouse ate Central Florida; no Mr.…
POLICE BEAT
Jan. 26 (2008-38578) 5:58 a.m.: Happy New Year! While you’re reading this, I’m probably passed out on my couch reaping the consequences of a two-week vacation/whiskey binge. And the last thing I want interrupting my bacchanal is writing this column. It is every columnist’s right to publish one bullshit regurgitation piece per year. This is…
HAPPYTOWN
Hey, guess what! The year’s brand new, and though nothing is going on this week we’ve still got space to fill. And you know what that means: This wildly popular column’s wildly popular annual feature, The Year in Review in 465 Words, where we tell you everything you won’t want to remember about 2008, in…
