3 Awful Avenue A bars: What are they now?

A few days ago we noticed that the sign went up for Ethos Meze, the new Greek restaurant opening this year at 167 Avenue A…




While the previous tenant here, Diablo Royale Este, has been closed for more than 18 months… the new sign is symbolic of sorts… an end of an era where three bars on Avenue A drew the ire of neighbors for the beer ponging, party busing, sidewalk peeing ways of its patrons...

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[September 2011]

From May 2010 to August 2012, Diablo Royale Este, which claimed it catered "to a mature audience," was popular with the party bus crowd … and, most famously, once hosted (unwittingly or not) a Boats 'N Hoes party for NYU students.

Diablo Royale Este eventually closed after some ongoing issues with the State Liquor Department.

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Then, at 200 Avenue A, there was Superdive.

Oh, the legendary Superdive, which started its reign of woorrorism with table-service kegs in June 2009… and remained open intermittently until October 2010… (Superdive threatened to return too many times… it was like trying to kill Jason Voorhees… )


[The glory days of 2009 via Meri Micara]

There was a midget dressed as a pirate working Champagne Tuesdays… Bargoers were encouraged to mix their own drinks… oh, lordy. We're just going to stop.

Today, the space is home to the ABC Animal Hospital.



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… and at 34 Avenue A, there was Aces & Eights, which arrived in March 2009 … residents quickly branded the place a beer-ponging frathole …


But, to the bar's credit, the general manager did try to make some changes, reaching out to EVG readers for input … and even making good use of the upstairs space for a cool art show…

The bar closed for good in October 2010.

The space is now home to Ruff Club, "a social club for dogs."

What's left of Aces & Eights is now on the sidewalk along Avenue A

EVG reader Anna noted that workers are clearing out 34 Avenue A this morning... site most recently of Aces & Eights (and Mo Pitkin's previously) ...

As we first reported on June 29, the address will soon be home to Ruff Club, "a social club for dogs."

New owner of the former Aces and Eights space speaks out; "the beer pong is gone"

There's an excellent piece this afternoon on The Lo-Down by Jennifer Strom that delves into the behind-the-scenes legal wrangling that eventually shuttered Aces and Eights at 34 Avenue A.

Here are two excerpts with her interview with owner Jevan Damadian:

After a career in his family’s successful chain of MRI centers, where he remains a regional director, Damadian came into some cash when the family sold its centers to a large health corporation. Seeing the stock market falling, he looked around for alternative investment opportunities. He lives on the Upper East Side, upstairs from the original Aces and Eights at First Avenue and East 87th Street, and had watched it grow into a successful bar under the leadership of owner Solomon Eljashev. The two men had become friendly, and eventually struck a deal for Eljashev to open the East Village branch with Damadian’s money.

And!

If he is able to reopen the bar, Damadian says, he would like to establish an upscale tapas lounge in the upstairs space, where business people can meet quietly. The downstairs space, which garnered a reputation as a rambunctious “frathole” during its tenure, is still home to a pool table, but Damadian would like the bar’s critics to know one thing: “The beer pong is gone,” he says.

Read the whole post here.

You can meet Jevan yourself on Wednesday night.

[Photo via The Lo-Down]

New owner of the Aces and Eights space wants to "meet the approval of the community"

The former Aces and Eights is on the CB3/SLA docket for November's meeting...

And the new owner of the space, Jevan Damadian, is hoping to reach out to the neighborhood... You can meet with him at 34 Avenue A next Wednesday evening...



He's off to a promising start by seeking feedback from neighbors...

[Thanks to EV Grieve reader RyanAvenueA for the photo]

Former Aces and Eights closed for good

That's the word anyway on the street... Saturday was supposedly the last night for Aces & Eights, according to a source...and the bar was closed on Sunday night around 10, when this photo was taken....

Rumors: Aces and Eights will now be called 34A

Per the Avenue A rumor mill... 34 is the address of the bar formerly known as Aces and Eights ... so that name makes sense... I like it, though as EV Grieve reader RyanAvenueA noted in the comments: "So between 2A and 7A, there will be 34A."

Previously on EV Grieve:
Renaming Aces and Eights: See you at Drink 'til U Stink!

Waiting for the new Aces and Eights sign, bar name

A tipster noted that the Aces and Eights sign has been removed on Avenue A...

Before!



Now!




As we reported, the bar is/was holding a contest to rename the joint under its new ownership... I asked Jamie-Lynn Argenta, the general manager, if I name had been selected... Haven't heard back after a few days....

Previously on EV Grieve:
Renaming Aces and Eights: See you at Drink 'til U Stink!

Just when you thought it was safe to go back to Avenue A...

Holy Keg Stand! Eater reports that Superdive has reopened!

This and the former Aces and Eights on the same day....?

[File photo]

Breaking! (former) Aces and Eights has reopened

Via a message from new GM Jamie-Lynn Argent:

"We're open again! With proper paperwork! Yay!"

And she adds in the comments: "We are still re-branding and re-naming! The contest runs until Oct 1st. Also feel free to stop by anytime and talk to me."

Above photo taken just after 5 today...

Previously.

Renaming Aces and Eights: See you at Drink 'til U Stink!

As the new Aces & Eights GM mentioned the other day, the bar will rebrand itself whenever they reopen. To that end, "Aces & Eights LES will be holding a naming contest when we reopen and I am hoping to get input and support from not only our staff and customers, but also from residents in East Village and Lower East Side."

I'm all for second chances and certainly think the bar deserves one.... though I'm not so keen on contests. As our friend Billy Gray noted over at Guest of a Guest: "A noble gesture, maybe, but put on your snark-retardant suit." Indeed! Read on...

Although the contest rules and what not have yet to be announced, a few helpful EV Grieve readers jumped in with suggestions for a new name:

Esquared:
How about simply calling it "WOOOO!" — apt and succinct.

Bowery Boy:
Sleepy Neighbors Club
Silent but Deadly Bar & Grill
Up All Night Restaurant
Block the Sidewalk Bar
Old Neighborhood Bedtime Story
F the Sleepy Locals Lounge
Our Music is Your Music Bar
Baseline Vibrations... In Your Child's Bedroom Bar & Lounge

Glamma:
Puke Bar & Grill
There Goes the Neighborhood (Again)
Denegration
UES POS

Lux Living:
Chug 'n Chunder Grill
Beer, Bitches, & Burritos
Drink 'til U Stink
Superdive

Report: SLA yanks Aces and Eights' liquor license

The Lo-Down has been following the Aces & Eights saga. And as they report today:

One of the reasons Aces and Eights succeeded in conducting business without a basic operating permit from the city’s health department was that the previous tenant of 34 Avenue A, Mo Pitkin’s, had possessed a permanent liquor license. That allowed the Aces and Eights management to secure a temporary liquor license and to open its doors (in April 2009) without having to produce any city permits — while its own application for a permanent license was pending. The city shuttered the bar Sept. 14, after finally catching up with the paperwork loophole.

Late last week, the NY State Liquor Authority followed suit, yanking Aces and Eights’ right to serve alcohol.

Aces and Eights still closed; new bar looking to rebrand and change image

One week after the DOH shuttered Aces & Eights on Avenue A... the bar remains closed...



...groups with events planned for the bar have had to go elsewhere....



On our previous post, Jamie-Lynn Argenta, the new general manager of Aces & Eights LES, left this comment:

Aces & Eights Saloon LES has been closed by the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene due to paperwork and permit issues. We will be open Monday. I am currently General Manager of the bar; my name is Jamie-Lynn Argenta. I understand that our image has been tarnished because of prior wrongs, however I hope we can look towards building a more cooperative and cohesive bond with the community in the future.

We strive to be a positive, successful force in this community. As the former GM Tom Michaelsen pointed out last year on EV Grieve , Aces & Eights LES has made many charitable contributions. We have also supported our customers’ efforts to give back by hosting numerous fundraisers for a wide array of charitable causes, and we will continue to do so when we reopen. This bar strives to be viewed as a professional and respectful establishment within this community. And I would like to encourage people to give us feedback and help us foster our growth with the community.

As EV Grieve posted, we will be changing the name of the bar. Aces & Eights LES will be holding a naming contest when we reopen and I am hoping to get input and support from not only our staff and customers, but also from residents in East Village and Lower East Side . It will give people a chance to help us rebrand and change our image; it will give residents an opportunity to help shape what kind of establishment we will become. We look forward to serving you again.

Monday may have been a little optimistic ... in any event, are you willing to give the bar a second chance?

[Updated] Aces and Eights temporarily shuttered on Avenue A

Thanks to an EV Grieve reader for this shot... apparently Aces & Eights on Avenue A was shut down yesterday by the Health Department... One source said the bar was cited by the DOH last night for not having the proper paperwork... and that Aces & Eights would reopen next week.... Meanwhile, the source noted that the ownership has changed hands.... the people behind the Aces & Eights uptown are no longer involved here... which means that you can expect a name change one of these days ...

[Updated] The Lo-Down has more on the shuttered Aces & Eights:

[T]he bar never obtained permission to open its doors, according to city officials.

On Tuesday, the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene shuttered the 18-month old watering hole for lack of a valid operating permit. It had been cited for the same violation in April 2010, and ordered not to reopen until the permit was issued, according to the health department’s public affairs office.

Uh, oops?

Previously on EV Grieve:
Aces & Eight GM offers some clarification on previous posts, comments

Noted

Outside Aces & Eights on Avenue A.

Meanwhile.

Reminder tonight: "Photographs for Your Kitchen"

As the flier says, opening reception is from 8:30-10:30....

So why is Aces & Eights doing this?

And read more about Curt Hoppe here.

EV Grieve readers inspire Aces and Eights to do something worthwhile with the bar's upstairs space

As you may recall from last August, we had several posts on Avenue A's Aces & Eights and the bar's general manager, Tom Michaelsen... (You may refresh your memory here.)

While, for instance, Aces & Eights LES helped raise $1,200 for UNH (United Neighborhood Houses)... they were still serving up the beer pong, as Michaelsen said, "that much maligned representation of jockdom and fratholiness you all despise (possibly because you didn’t make the Varsity team in high school? Don't worry, neither did I.)"

Later, he wrote: "I'd love to get ideas from the community as to how we could improve your quality of life. If anybody has anything constructive to say, I would love to hear it."

And now, starting Thursday...



Well, let's go right to the news release that Michaelsen sent me:

Aces & Eights at 34 Avenue A, brings back the glory days of East Village art with a fun exhibition of evocative, post-pop photographs by Curt Hoppe in a lively, lounge setting. Who could be more perfect for the bar’s first foray into serious art than the legendary Hoppe, who as a young artist was one of the most talked about stars of the notorious “New York / New Wave” show at PS1 which helped launch the careers of Jean-Michel Basquiat, Robert Mapplethorpe and others, back in 1981.

For most of the last twenty years, Hoppe has keapt a relatively low profile steering clear of downtown shenanigans for a lucrative career making exquisite photo-realist paintings of scenes in the Hamptons. Hoppe has always used his own photographs for his paintings. Recently turning his camera on city scenes, he has accumulated a profusion of exciting new images, and began thinking about exhibiting the photographs themselves. When Aces and Eights called, it seemed the perfect opportunity to give the new work its first public test.

Aces & Eights’ decision to show art was an outgrowth of the spirited exchanges on EV Grieve’s neighborhood blog between then general manager Tom Michaelsen and East Village residents concerned about the bar’s Upper-East-Side, preppy reputation. “Our style is sometimes a little different,” says Michaelsen, “but there is much about East Village culture that we share and we’re proud to be part of the community and its history.”

OK. I love Hoppe's work... and I see this as a positive step for the bar...I'm curious what other people think...

Aces & Eights GM: "I understand that drunkards make your life miserable"

So, where were we? Tom Michaelsen, the general manager of Aces & Eights on Avenue A, is interested in engaging readers/the neighborhood. As he wrote yesterday:

I'd love to get ideas from the community as to how we could improve your quality of life. If anybody has anything constructive to say, I would love to hear it.

Someone suggested playing NYC classics such as "Dog Day Afternoon" and "Taxi Driver" on a designated movie night. And Marnie, a mother of two, had this to say:

My concerns about Aces & Eights LES are really, to be honest, not something that I think you alone can address. I appreciate your contributions to charities bringing potable water in places like India. I wonder, however, if your charitable contributions might not win you more respect if they were spent here in the neighborhood.

This neighborhood has many public schools which do not receive adequate funding, and therefore rely on the contributions of parents and local businesses.

Another thing we, as parents, need to deal with on a regular basis is not only the noise from local bars (which frankly, my children have learned to sleep through since birth) but the aftermath. The people urinating in doorways, the vomit on sidewalks, the garbage, the stench in the summertime.

I think if you could find a way to direct your efforts towards making real changes to the daily life of local residents we would all be a lot more tolerant of the noise and the general image of the bar itself.

Thank you for listening to those whose lives are impacted by your livelihood.

To which Tom responded,

We have actually already partnered with United Neighborhood House Junior Board, which support local settlement houses like Third Street Music School, University Settlement Society and Henry Street Settlement.

The event was quite a success and I am fully open to working with them or any other charities which benefit the community again.

Community consciousness is something I take very seriously. I understand that drunkards make your life miserable and I will do what I can to stem the tide of urine and vomit from our neighbor's doorsteps.

And another commenter found that A&E has already been a good neighbor:

I live around the corner from Aces & Eights, and when it first opened there was an issue with really loud HVAC equipment up on your roof. One of our residents was brave enough to march right in to your club and tell you about it. And you know what? The issue was taken care of, and the noise issue went away. I give you credit — that's not what we all expected to happen. thanks for being a good neighbor.

Meanwhile, there's another comment thread going here.

So, what else? Here's your chance. (And I think we have the cargo shorts/douche/frathole angle already covered.)

An opportunity to offer Aces & Eights constructive ideas to improve your quality of life in the neighborhood

Tom Michaelsen, the general manager of Aces & Eights on Avenue A, checks in with another comment. Anyone have any constructive comments?

Aces & Eights LES (the LES differentiates us from our other location, FYI) has helped raise enough money to build two wells in the town of Devki, India through an organization called 1Well.

Aces & Eights LES helped raise over $1200 for UNH (United Neighborhood Houses), which is an umbrella organization that presides over the Settlement Houses of New York, a number of which are in the Lower East Side.

Yes, beer pong, that much maligned representation of jockdom and fratholiness you all despise (possibly because you didn’t make the Varsity team in high school? Don't worry, neither did I.) helped make that happen.

Now I know it isn't much. I know we could do more, but I ask, where were you? What were you doing for your community while this "frathole" was giving back?

It is fairly easy to insult me and this establishment. However, I'd prefer to have a conversation. That is why I wrote what I wrote and why I am writing this. I'd love to get ideas from the community as to how we could improve your quality of life. If anybody has anything constructive to say, I would love to hear it. If you just want to insult me and the business keep it to yourself.

I will be at Aces & Eights tonight. It's trivia night. The beer pong tables are converted and people sit and answer questions for prizes. It starts at 9pm. It's good fun. You are all welcome to join. I'll even buy you your first drink if you mention EV Grieve. My name is Tom. I am the one wearing the green t-shirt that says "Douchebag" on it. Seriously.

Aces & Eight GM offers some clarification on previous posts, comments

Tom Michaelsen, the general manager of Aces & Eights on Avenue A, responded to our post from yesterday:

I find the entries and comments on this site to be one-sided and offensive. As an Aces & Eights employee I have a few things to clarify:

-Serving food has ALWAYS been a part of our business plan. Due to certain delays we were unable to for quite some time. As the entry above discloses, we are now. The issue should be moot.

-The average age of our clientele is between 25-30 – older than the "frathole" demographic. Also older than the NYU crowd your commentator blames. Frankly, it makes you look prejudiced, judgmental and rude to speak that way about our establishment and our clientele.

- The stipulation in our license regards having no more than two TVs over the bar. The 12 TVs you're referring to are NOT over the bar. There is actually only one TV over the bar. I am not quite sure why televisions offend CB3 so much. According to Nielsen the average American watches 151 hours of television a month. It’s a preposterous figure but I really don’t think watching a baseball game in a bar is that big of a deal.

-Regarding beer pong, it is actually one pitcher (60ounces, three pints) divided into 20 cups played by two teams of two. The average game takes approximately 20 minutes. That means four people split three pints over 20 minutes. In my experience in this industry people drink more, faster when they’re not playing.

-As far as noise is concerned, there is not one subwoofer on the premises and there has never been one. We currently function at a fairly low decibel output. In the East Village street traffic is the nature of the beast. The other evening a man in a spray-painted jalopy drove up and down Avenue A blasting CSNY's "Teach Your Children Well" on a PA system mounted on the roof of his car. I've seen gangs of motorcycles roaring up 1st Avenue. Troops of partygoers and bar patrons have been streaming up and down the streets for years. Our bar is not the predominant noise polluter in the neighborhood nor is it even a significant factor.

I know blogs don't have the same journalistic requirements that standard news media insist upon, but no one has ever come to us to talk or ask questions. No one wants our side of the story. If you'd like to do so now, perhaps to clarify some things, perhaps to see that we run a clean, friendly and accommodating operation. I would be happy to oblige.

Yours Truly,

Tom Michaelsen
General Manager
Aces & Eights LES

Aces & Eights now serving food

During the May 11 CB3 SLA Licensing Committee meeting, Aces & Eights, the frathole on Avenue A in the former Mo Pitkin's space, heard it from residents and CB3 members. As Eater reported:

A number of EVill oldtimers stood up to complain about noise, while the CB members questioned the lack of food in the restaurant, the 13 TVs (they were allowed to have only two), and the advertisements for drinking games. In his defense the owner said food was on the way — though we think it's safe to assume he means wings, nachos, and bar snacks — and that beer pong should not be equated with binge drinking, "It's one pitcher divided into 16 cups!" The peanut gallery had a good laugh, and the committee decided to write a letter to the SLA.

Anyway, that food has arrived. Per the menu now on the front window: