Local Girl Gallery, Sullivan's, Trio Tavern, Manja

Sometimes I feel like I am running a marathon.  An alcohol induced relay race with friends and this city.  I want to do everything and I am no longer stable without activity of some sort.  Last night I started out at an incredible fund raiser at Linda Goik's Local Girl Gallery in Lakewood.  The Soul Food exhibit and fund raiser was to raise support and funding for Trinity Lakewood Community Outreach.  To say it was a success is an understatement.  I went in expecting to view some art, shake some hands and schmooze a bit but movement was impeded severely by the wall to wall patrons.  It was packed and I love seeing such support behind such a very worthy cause.  I was pretty much regulated to a small 4x4 patch of floor in the back of the gallery just chatting it up with friends.  I was fine with that.  As I chatted away I glanced at all the works hanging on the walls and there were some wonderful pieces.  The gallery on a normal day I would imagine to be bright and spacious.  The thing that made my entire week was being noticed as that guy from 52 Weeks of Cleveland by someone.  Mind you it was not just someone, it was a stunning female.  So, that was an added bonus for the evening and made me say wow, alright people are really reading this, and it's not just weirdo's living in their moms basement (no offense).  I would be a jerk not to drop a shameless plug for my new found friend Allison and her Fringe and Foundation Salon in my hometown of Westlake.

So after my head cleared from my ego boost and about a half hour or so at the gallery show I headed up to Madison Avenue to Sullivan's Pub to meet up with some friends.  With 24 beers on tap and bottles of whiskey hanging from the walls like fine works of art ready to be poured it was difficult making a decision of what to try out.  I went with a Murphy's Irish Red backed up with some 10 year old Bushmill's.  The bar is gorgeous with hard wood accents and very spacious.  The service and the sense of humor of our Bartender were a pleasant way to start off the night.  I was still reliving my Bottom's Up experience from last weekend when the Bartender breaks in and says, "umm, it's called Bottom's Up.  That didn't tip you off?"  Something in an Irish Bar brings out the storyteller in everyone it seems and that's what we proceeded to do for the next hour or so swap stories from everything from pot smoking with Agent Orange from an airplane Coke can years ago at Peabody's to exploits at the infamous Lido Lounge on W. 117th Street.

I didn't eat anything here tonight, however, I have in the past and I can tell you they have some great Irish fayre.  Their Boxty is some of the best around and my favorite menu item would have to be the Fish and Chips; a tempura dipped cod that tastes out of this world.  They also offer the standards of corned beef and cabbage and Shepard's pie year round.  They also host live entertainment about once a month with Cleveland Irish music legends The New Barley Corn.  It was kind of quiet last night but there were some groups of folks hanging out.  I think it is a great place for that honestly.  There is no blaring music, it is nice and bright inside and the service is excellent.  However, like most Irish Pubs you are dealing with a little bit on the expensive side to just hang out and drink black and tans all night.  I will say it seems to be much more affordable than The Harp and Flannery's though.  It is definitely worth checking out for dinner or with a group of friends for cocktails.

After an hour or so here we all headed across the street to the Trio Tavern to check out the Hellbound Grifters.  The Trio Tavern is a throw back bar from the old school beer signs that adorn the walls to the clientele.  They serve PBR drafts for a buck for the brave and your standard other beers.  One of the charming things I always liked about this joint was the old school bowling machine, but alas it is no more.  They have a giant cigar store Indian (or is it Native American?) and one of those old built in oak phone booths.  The bar area is a big old U-shape again, that I can't seem to escape lately.  They have a large open area off to the side where the band played along with some tables, chairs, dart boards and a pool table.  So in theory you can get shit faced wasted here, play pool and call a cab from the phone booth for under 20 bucks.  The service was decent enough but they close at 1am which I found odd.  

The Hellbound Grifters are a upstart 2 piece band consisting of drums, guitar and vocals.  They are trying their hand at the White Stripes, Black Keys thing by going bassless.  They weren't too bad at all.  The problem I thought was not truly having the mix down due to no sound system to speak of.  The Trio isn't really a live band bar.  There is no stage or PA system.  Anyone who would play here would have to bring their own so the mix of the vocals was upstaged by the wailing guitar and pounding drums.  They will be opening for Scoliosis Jones at the Spitfire in April so it will be interesting to hear them with real live sound.  Just seeing front man Vince's black flying V accented with white polka dots is probably worth the price of a ticket.  That is one fucked up Quiet Riot looking instrument. They played a short set that lasted about a half hour and we proceeded to close the place down at 1am.  Why 1am?  No idea, I didn't bother to ask.  We just walked on across the street to Manja. 

Manja has been a mainstay in that Lakewood-Madison district for quite some time.  However though I don't remember if they closed for a bit or what because I haven't been there in ages.  Before the Spitfire and Now That's Class came around Manja used to be the Indie-Punk hangout.  Seriously I have no idea what happened over the last few years since I have been there.  It still has the same vibe to it but a different clientele.  I was fine with that because they still remain to have one of the best jukeboxes in town.  My buddy slapped a five in that thing and we enjoyed everything from The Pixies to the man in black.  It is a small bar with normal bar seating and some living room furniture to relax on.  I think it struggles to find an identity in the area.  Is it still the hipster place it was a few years back?  Not really, but it's still a decent place to stop.  Due to it's limited size and seating I couldn't see staying here for a long period of time if it was packed.  I can't believe bands used to play here.  It's been so long I can't even remember where the hell they used to play.  

I had a pretty eventful Saturday night to say the least.  I'd love to say come follow me around next Saturday but I won't be in the state.  I am heading to Presque Isle in Erie PA to lose some money at the Casino.  I really can't wait for Cleveland to open our very own casino, but until then I will travel like it's a dirty secret to PA to get my fix on hearing them winning bells that the slots make when I hit the jackpot.  If you are in town though you seriously should go to the Beachland to get in on The Hot Rails cd release party or Parnell's to see Heelsplitter.