Friday, December 20, 2013

2013's New Years Eve Parties and Specials


Avenue Tap House
18206 Detroit Ave 
216-228-1442
CHANCE TO WIN A TRIP TO VEGAS WITH EVERY TICKET!!!  VERY LIMITED AMOUNT OF TICKETS, $35!!! Champagne toast and balloon drop at midnight, appetizer buffet, gifts, prizes, and of course...TRICKY DICK!

Corky's Place
13302 Detroit Ave

No cover. Karaoke starts at 9 free party favors and champagne toast at midnight. To top it all off it's $2 Tuesday. Now that's everything except craft beers and top shelf.

Harry Buffalo

The Flying Rib
11926 Madison Ave
216-521-0117
No Cover. Business as usual, for those who want to avoid all the over-priced drama associated with New Years Eve. We will throw in some complimentary party favors and a champagne toast.

Merry Arts
$35 entrance for food, bar and champagne from 9 till midnight!

Mahall's 20 Lanes
13200 Madison Ave
216-521-3280
Ring in the new year with your friends at Mahall's Enchantment Under The Sea Dance! Escape to the future dancing under the sea!  

With sister DJs Himiko Gogo & Hunnydoowop (( Haley Himiko Hudson Morris & Sheila Hudson Masters ))  

and your Master of Ceremonies duo John Mr Johnsons & Seth Kopchu!  
There will be dancing! 
There will be laughing! 
There will be punch!  
There will be prom-style pictures! 
.... however classy you make them  

The Dance is Semi Formal. So grab your dancing shoes, and your pals, dress like it's your cousin's wedding, and gear it up to 88mph over to Mahall's Bowling Alley before the clock tower strikes 12!!  

3 dollars at the door.  

Be there or be square!!! 9:00pm until 2:30am


McGinty's 
13751 Madison Ave 
216-712-7077
$55 per person, or $100 for a couple.  There will be an open bar and 8-12 savory food stations.  You'll also enjoy a champagne toast with provided party favors at midnight. 

Plank Road Tavern
16719 Detroit Ave
216-221-5900
We will be having our 4th Annual New Year’s Eve party at the Plank on Tuesday, December 31st to kick off 2014. The theme this year is a Masquerade Ball. Details are as follows:   

Open bar 8:00 PM – Midnight 
Generous Food Buffet and Hors d'oeuvres 
Party Favors 
Champagne Toast at Midnight  

Cost is going to be $50 per person and $90 per couple. Space is limited and filling up fast. You can pay in advance to ensure your spot. Inquire at the Plank or give us a call at 216-221-5900.

Shamrock Tavern
11922 Madison Ave
216-521-9740
There will be a private party, but other folks are invited too!

World of Beer
14701 Detroit Ave
Come to WOB Lakewood to ring in the new year! 
We will be tapping a beer new to WOB every hour from 5pm-Midnight!  
Beer Toast at Midnight 
NO DRESS CODE  
NO COVER 
FREE PARTY FAVORS 

El Carnicero
16918 Detroit Ave
216-226-3415
EL C like momocho will be open for normal business.  Both places will close at 9pm so staff can have some fun too.

Corner Pub
12301 Madison Ave
No Cover. Drink/shot speacials under $2.50.  There will be pizza, different dips and chips.  Plus, a  champagne toast at midnight. 

Around the Corner

Mid Town Booth's Tavern
16934 Detroit Ave
216-227-1000
Come spend your evening with us for our annual farewell to 2013 and welcoming of 2014. As usual we will be offering the same great deals of unlimited call & well liquor, wine, domestic & craft draft beer, midnight toast and appetizers and samplers for $35. Any top shelf liquor or microbrew bottle or can will cost $1. All cash only tickets will be sold in advance at the bar to better prepare for the evening, but they may be purchased at the door for $40. However, please note that there will be limited spots available. We hope that you choose to spend your evening with us and if not may you have a safe and happy New Year!

Patio Tavern
15615 Madison Ave
216-221-7111
We will be open from 3 PM until close, and will have the normal least expensive prices as always.   $3 Jameson     $3 Fireball    $2 domestic bottles   11 micro brews and craft beers on tap...including 4 Christmas Ales..priced between $2.75 and $5.75, as well as $1.25 Miller Lite draft      

Jess and Cecilia are working

Red Rose
14810 Madison Ave
216-228-7133
Red Rose Specials to Ring in the New Year! 

ALL DAY & NIGHT: $2 Shot of the Month, $2 Shot of the Year, 40 Cent Wings (dine in only), $6 Pitchers Miller Lite/Labatt.  7pm-CLOSE: $2 Bottles Miller Lite, MGD, MHL, Bud & Bud Light. 

Dinner Special from 5-8:30 is $5 Chicken Philly & Fries 

Champagne Toast & Party Tray at Midnight! 

Quaker Steak & Lube
15312 Detroit Ave
216-221-5823
There will be a DJ from 9pm-1am KIDD Productions.,   Enjoy a free champagne toast at midnight with free party favors.  An assortment of different drink specials will be available!

Sloane Pub
18196 Sloane Ave
216-221-2237
Come to the "kinder gentler" NY Eve.  We will have Christmas Ale for $3.00 a pint and $3.50 per bottle.  Also, a free Champagne toast at midnight.  There will be $1.00 pudding shots! 

Deagan's and Humble Wine Bar
14810 Detroit Ave              15400 Detroit Ave
216-767-5775                      216-767-5977
Both bars will be accepting reservations of any size.  They are probably going to fill up fast, so get your spot reserved soon!

Five O'Clock Lounge
11904 Detroit Ave
216-521-4906
Annual champagne Toast and a DJ will bring you into the new year!

Waterbury Coach House
13333 Madison Ave
216-226-9772
Surf & Turf (8 oz. lobster tail & 8 oz. filet) - $35 
Prime Rib (12 oz.) $15.95 
Lemon Pepper Salmon $12.95 
Full Rack of Lamb $18.95 

All specials come with a salad and choice of potato (Baked, Twice Baked)

Vosh
18515 Detroit Ave
216-221-3500

Lakewood Village Tavern
13437 Madison Ave
216-521-0301

No Cover.  5pm ball drop and toast for the daytime crowd. 

Starting at 8pm we have $2 domestics and many $2 drinks including Jameson, fireball, and all mid shelf liquors! Champagne toast at midnight, no tickets necessary all are welcome!!

Pacers
14600 Detroit Ave
216-226-2000

No Cover.  There will be karaoke with a DJ.  You also get a free champagne toast and various favors at midnight!

Eddy & Iggy's
17900 Detroit Ave
216-228-1212

$1 great lake Christmas ales $2 apple pie shots free high fives no cover charge and maybe a celebrity guest appearance

Spitfire Saloon
1539 W 117th St. 
216-226-7748

$1 Cans!

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Bar #51 Brew 133 (Deceased)




It can be hard to be the new bar that takes the place of an old favorite. Do you try and take the old brand and make it better. Or do you take a new direction, in the hopes that your new idea will out weigh the disappointment that the old customers have in their bar officially being over. Tonight, one of the most beloved bars in Lakewood, now reborn anew, is put to the test. Brew 133 Sports Pub and Grill is Bar #51.


If you've been here before you'll still know your way around. You have multiple open layout rooms with nice hardwood flooring. The chairs are comfortable enough. Flat screen TVs are all over the place so you should be able to catch whatever game you're looking forward too.



I've heard there is a great patio but it was blocked off this evening.


They have a decent sized selection of beers both on draft in the bottle.  You shouldn't have any trouble finding the beer you want or surprising yourself with something new.



There were a lot of choices in the menu. I got their nachos with cheese and salsa. The nachos were super light and flaky and the cheese and salsa were generic. Their fries were fine. The cheese steak was alright and its bread was good and soft.



The service was good during the night. He came often, answered any of our questions but didn't add any personality to the service. However, I'll take ability to do one's job efficiently over pizzazz any day.



We happened upon trivia night and decided our group was up to the challenge. We were mistaken. The company that Brew 133 uses is not for the faint of head and not something you want to be drunk while attempting. We were slightly late so that we missed the lizard theme and our answers didn't follow suit. Then things went downhill with a multistep word jumble. Then naming the song and artist of songs that we didn't seem to know. Back to trivia we played strongly at knowing games. Figuring out what states signs were from only created a state of confusion. Then just in case you were feeling thirsty equations were thrown at us. We came up strong in the end knowing a number of women pilots, at least with the questions we heard. The waiter talked through some of the questions. I have nothing against a difficult game of trivia but most games of bar trivia tries to make you drink more where this made us stop cold.



Where does this leave us? Place looks good with a splash of sports memorabilia. Good service? Definitely. They have an admirable beer selection offering you something you want regardless of what you're looking for. The food is adequate but not the reason you're coming here. This bar came into being because “there is a need for an authentic sports bar.” I was at a sports bar for the blog 2 bars ago, so I'm not sure what they meant. Brew 133 does offer a superior amount of seating and playable game options. Brew 133 Sports Pub and Grill, Bar 51, is one of the best places in town to watch whatever game you're looking for.


Post Blog News!

These guys won trivia!

Brew 133 is reported to be changing from a sports bar theme to a restaurant. They will hire a chef and move away from the sports theme. I'll assume the army of TVs will stay but time will tell. Brew 133 will retain its name.


13368 Madison Ave
216-767-5906

Sunday, December 1, 2013

50th Anniversary Party for Doctor Who "Day of the Doctor"




November 23, 2013, 2:50 pm. To many people that date means nothing. For 225 people at a bowling alley and many millions more around the globe this was the date the that the longest continuously running TV show would celebrate it's 50th anniversary on.  This was the "Day of the Doctor".  Doctor Who you may ask, but the answer overly concisely is he is a time traveling alien traveling time and space in a blue box with his companion(s) adventuring and making things better armed with a sonic screwdriver and is amazing.  The BBC broke a second world record on this day, simultaneously showing this show/movie in 94 countries in 6 continents; including being shown in 3D in select theaters. A month before the big day I looked around online to see who was hosting the big Doctor Who party in Cleveland. I only found one choice I'd be happy with, me. The search was on for a location.

When the call came for a place for the Whovians of Cleveland and Lakewood to flock to on their celebration, one of the biggest bars in town rose to the challenge. Mahall's 20 Lanes gave us use of their 150 seat concert room.  As the event expanded we were able to show the movie in the bar as well. Mahall's newest chef, Andy Dubyoski, created an original menu for the event. The menu was both creative and incorporated the higher quality ingredients, which Mahall's is known for. We even had multiple types of pop corn and candy available in the room with us during the show.  Andy was one of many Whovians we found that had been looking for an event like this one and was excited to be a part.



Kelly Flamos, one of the owners of the bar does not watch the show but quickly got caught up in the excitement of the event. She made sure that Every Bar in Lakewood would be able to both afford to host it and worked around the changes that were made as the celebration expanded.  Mahall's adapted their audio-visual systems to create a quality experience through their projection system. They were also able to handle our large event while hosting two bowling parties at the same time. This party would have been impossible without all the work Mahall's staff put into making everything work on a tight schedule. A schedule that was made tighter with the BBC witholding the official time of the episode until two weeks beforehand.


It takes a village to raise a child and it turns out it took just as many people to make an extraterrestrial time traveler's anniversary party a success. After Kelly Griffith of Rock Paper Cut created our amazing flyers and other visual elements; we went in search of other businesses that would help us. Most of the business owners were not only enthusiastic about donating, but they wanted to attend it and in some cases even set up their own tables.


One of the biggest promoters of this event was GeekCle, www.geekcle.com. They jumped whole heartedly into supporting the 50th Anniversary party anyway they could. Our celebration was listed on their websites calendar and was talked about at their events. They embraced the task of running a trivia contest before the episode began, complete with prizes and a trophy.  Keep an eye on GeekCle.  They enthusiastically promote all things Geek; giving people new places they can play vintage arcade games, geeky trivia, table top games and even try their hands at cool crafts. They also write articles on a regular basis. You can check out a great article about them in the Plain Dealer here.

They're on the right.


Hashtag Nerd, hashtagnerd.com, was one of sponsors for the event. This is a great website and blog that talks about nerd life. They range from media and technology to games and nerd's lifestyles. They also sold cool prints as one of our vendors.



Andrea Sokol also sponsored the event and manned a kissing booth. Sorry guys, she only offered Hersey's kisses.






Spooky Grrrl Bath and Body both donated Doctor Who themed soap and manned a table selling her soaps and other bath supplies. Bella Sin's Spooky Grrl creates soaps that are a mixture of spooky and cute trying to make something for everyone. My wife even took home a pink R2D2 soap. Bella, who is also the producer at Ohio Burlesque, was one of celebrity judges for our costume contest as well.




Fears' Confections creates gourmet brownies and candies, including chocolate Daleks that were donated for our raffle. She was super enthusiastic about becoming one of our vendors and enriched the event.





Breakneck Gallery is one of Lakewood's many art galleries but stands out as a leader in alternative and nerdy art. Along with a lot of great works of art, you can also purchase t-shirts, jewelry, toys, books and prints from their gallery. The Breakneck puts on interesting shows on a regular basis that can range from a fundraiser for the local animal rescue to an art show that requires you sport 3D glasses! They donated one of our most popular gift baskets and were selling awesome prints at the vendor tables.



Carol and John's Comic Book Shop donated two of our raffle prizes. They are one of the top comic book shops in the Greater Cleveland area. Their staff is knowledgable, friendly and helpful whether you're in the store or just trying to update your subscriptions via email. They are the place that helped me get back into buying comic books again and always guide me in the directions that I want to go. All of this isn't why they are one of the best. Carol and John's strives to creates community. They want a place comic book lovers and newbies can hang out together to talk and explore. It's a place where you can meet your friends and make new ones. They put on events throughout the year and get to know their customers. Carol and John's were also a driving force behind the previous week's 50th Anniversary party by the Doctor Who Society of Cleveland. Carol and John's is a place you want to go and it's a bonus that you can buy comics there as well.


Star Pop Vintage and Modern was excited when we contacted them about this event. He not only donated a cool prize set but contacted Keven's Customs to donate a custom made, one of a kind, David Tennant action figure as well. What is Star Pop? Imagine if everyone at this event picked the coolest toys, clothing, classic video games, music, movies, books, art, & other pop culture collectibles out of their attic and put them in one place. That's what Star Pop buys and sells.


Big Fun also donated some cool glasses and toy Dalek toys for our event. They gave me a lot of help putting flyers in their stores where they would get the most traffic. “Big Fun is a veritable cornucopia of delights, a cathedral of counter-culture, a warehouse of nerdabilia and nostalgia.” This is how they describe themselves, and I can't disagree.


Papyrusaurus donated a cool Tardis Print. Papyrusaurus offers a wide variety of decorations and art made mostly from upcycled paper and discarded books.



Ground Zero Comics and Cards donated interchangable sonic screwdriver that ended up being our 1st place prize in the costume contest. He runs a very cool store for both games and comics. His store also hosts GeekCle's table top game night.


Cleveland Mop Shop, is where I've gotten my hair cut for most of the last decade. They donated some hair supplies and a gift certificate in a Doctor Who lunch box. Judy was our contact for the event and you should give her a call the next time your hair is too long.


Fathom Events gave us a dozen tickets to the Monday showing of 3D version of “the Day of the Doctor” at Crocker Park and South Park Mall. They were very excited about the event and gave us some helpful materials to pick the winners.





Six Point Brewing gave us cheap beer for the event. I love Six Point Brewing. If you haven't tried it you should.



Many of the pictures used in this blog article were taken by Nottage Productions. You'll recognize the photographer, Donn R. Nottage, as the man greatly resembling David Tennant at the event. Linked pictures are copy written by Nottage Productions.


We moved the event back an hour to give people less time standing out in the snow.  So of course, people started showing up at noon. We had a non-stop line of people entering the event until we ran out of room a little after 2:00pm.  I apologize for any confusion of when the opening was going to be.  After some prompting we changed the direction of the still growing line into the bar to watch the show on its TV.












I've seen the show three times now:  at the event, home, and at the movie theater.  Not to brag, but it was best at Mahall's. Getting to enjoy the show with 150 other people made everything about it better. It's easier to laugh out loud or cheer when you have a crowd of people that are having the same reaction. The excitement of the evening was palatable in the air. The most amazing thing that happened was I didn't have to ssh or kick anyone out for being disruptive during the show. The only people that got up went to the bathroom as fast as possible usually after waiting an hour and eventually noticing there weren't any commercials.







Meanwhile, at the bar something magical happened. Instead of moping about the smaller TV, all the Whovians in the Who bar gathered the chairs together and made their own movie theater. They didn't need any projector or sonic screwdrivers nor any timey-wimey Tardis or raffle prizes. The 50th Anniversary was about more than that. It was about a community of people getting together and enjoying something they love. Two of my friends that showed up late and my wife protected the vendor tables. She said both rooms laughed, cheered and reacted simultaneously throughout the movie. It's a fun thought that when I laughed at Matt Smith stealing a fez, there were people laughing at the exact moment in England, Canada and another 90 countries around the world. That also means that at that moment when thousands of Australians laughed at the same time I did they were also laughing tomorrow (real life timey-wimey.)





I had people come find me after the show to tell me what a great time they had crammed into the bar.


We opened the event to all the bar Whovians for the raffle and the costume contest. The contest was judged by three celebrity judges. Carol, the founder of the Doctor Who Society of Cleveland was our second judge. You should Like her Facebook page it's a good place to find local and less than local Whovian news and pictures. Bella Sin was asked to be our second judge due to her Doctor Who enthusiasm and expertise at costume making. I was a judge because it was my event. There were less people that wanted to be in the contest than I expected but that didn't make the judging easier. All the costumes were amazing. We rapidly picked the top 10 for the the crowd to pick the top three out of. In retrospect we should have gone with cutting out people as we may have left out a costume or two that should have made it. Picking who gets the loudest cheers doesn't work well either but I'm pretty sure we got the fans' favorites in the right order.  Regardless they all did an amazing job on their costumes.










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https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.503768536397431.1073741841.116772551763700&type=3&uploaded=99



Thanks to our sponsors, vendors, Mahall's, and our crowd buying tickets for our 10 raffle prizes and the 50/50 raffle we were able to pay for all our expenses!





I'd like to thank Jonn and Lynn for taking the reigns of the raffle. Also, thanks to Dean that had to stop 75 temporarily disappointed Whovians from entering our sold out ticketless event. Again thank you Kelly for doing so much work at and leading up to this event that it couldn't have happened without you. You're amazing.


If you enjoyed the event, have a picture in this blog or simply liked the blog please share this blog. The more people that see this blog will make it easier for more events and projects like this to be put on in the future.  Also, if you attended please answer the questions on the poll on the event page.  Thank you!