Billy Reed's Restaurant & Bar
2401 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., 228-6010
The Orient
1025 NE Broadway, 282-5811
The New 715 Inn
715 NE Broadway, 282-4437
Billy Ray's Neighborhood Dive
2216 NE Killingsworth St., 287-7254
Fun!
Thank Gawd for Billy Reed's. If it weren't
for this upstanding MLK bar and eatery's kind provision of
Internet access to its patrons, how could an inebriated writer
hit deadline and keep something cold and fermented
close at hand? As I sit in Billy R's, hammered and hammering
on a keyboard, a long night draws to a close. We'll pick up
the thread earlier this evening down on the bus mall, where
one of my fellow cash-desperate WW contributors skulks
up to me, trying to interest me in what he called "vintage
vinyl."
"Meet me in two hours in the Orient's lounge," slurs
this poor wretch, whom I'll call "Sam Soule." "I'll make
it worth your while." And then he adds: "See you on Viagra
Island."
Three beers later, I make for the Orient's nightmarishly
beige lounge. With double-lime bucket of vodka and cranberry
in hand, it's not hard to navigate the port to our meeting
spot. Over a counter hangs a washed-out computer printout.
"Welcome to Viagra Island," it reads--an inside joke posted
by some regulars, a sleepy bartender says. I inquire no
further. A number of drinks go by, the cursed ink-slinger
a no-show. A waste of time for me, but a better day for
his roommate's record collection, undoubtedly.
I decide to roam, "covering my beat." First, the 715
Inn, a despairing hole-in-the-wall, nothing more than
a bunch of beer-poster nonsense with an impossibly cramped
pool table, an impossibly regular crowd of ugly white men
in shorts, and functionally worthless juke and pinball.
Then, though, comes a pleasant surprise: Billy Ray's
Neighborhood Dive, north on MLK. Formerly the legendary
Marv Inn, a stunningly grimy den of thieves even
I had cause to avoid, this tiny basement space has
been transformed into a clean affair that should be well-received
by the surrounding neighborhood, once a desert of cool spots
to swill. Talk about revitalization: shining copper-top
bar; 22 ambrosial ounces of PBR for $2; beer garden in the
back; and a cheeky wall mural. Why, old Marvin never dreamed.
So I sit drinking to the memory of all the ripped-off espresso
machines once fenced at the table by the door, crazy women
with castanets and all the various filth-eaters I once saw
scurry across the floor. Meanwhile, I celebrate the new
regime by playing the Kent 3 on the juke. Then I overhear
a conversation about the Dive's bigger cousin just up the
hill, Billy Reed's, and how patrons could take advantage
of access to the Info StupendoHighway. Off I go, to sit
in public, "composing" with a drink at hand. Not a bad gig,
friends, not a bad gig at all. Salud.
WICKED-FUNNY:
Ingaio Belem
For God's sake, try to control yourself!
Harvey's Comedy Club
436 NW 6th Ave.,
241-0338
8 pm Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday; 8 and 10:30 pm Friday;
6:30, 9 and 11:30 pm Saturday, Oct. 4-8
$8-$10
ComedySportz
The other day I saw some chick in ComedySportz sweatpants...with
a matching jacket!
1963 NW Kearney St., 236-8888
9 pm Friday, 7:30 and 9:30 pm Saturday,
Oct. 6-7 $10, $9 with can of food
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