Gone is the "Ambassador's Club" that promised a $10 bar tab for every new person patrons brought into McGinnty's Irish Pub on State Road 436 in Casselberry. In fact, McGinnty's is gone too.
But the new owners decided to keep the Irish pub feel in Green Bar, which now stands in that space. Step inside and you'll instantly see why it's so named -- the place is painted green. But coupled with the bar's woodwork, it evokes a warm vibe, considering the place really is more sports pub than Irish pub.
Which is fine, it wears it well, especially because the owners tore down walls that once cut the bar into three different areas. The bar is large, and without the walls there's room for more pool tables and seating. Darts are still there, just not as the dominant force they were at McGinnty's, with only electronic and no more steel-tip.
Gone also is the NTN trivia the bar once had playing on every TV, but good beer specials more than make up for it. A $7 pitcher of Yuengling isn't a bad deal anywhere, and the taps also offer a select number of imports including Guinness (they better if they're calling themselves an Irish pub) and Boddingtons.
The crowd seemed to dig the space when I stopped by -- the pool tables had a good amount of players and there were folks scattered all around the bar, so the concept seems to work. But it would be cool if they adopted that old "Ambassador's Club" gimmick. Then again, it obviously didn't work for the old space, and from the looks of things at Green Bar they really don't seem to need it.
What's new?
Speaking of new bars, there are a few of them cropping up around town, and I'll be telling you about them over the next couple of weeks.
Club Limelite opened at 367 N. Orange Ave. (across the street from Bank of America) a few weeks ago, for weekends only, offering up a Latin house night on Fridays, and bringing in Mr. CC Productions on Saturdays to play hip-hop, reggae and soca.
Co-owner Moe Noorhassan says he wants his club to bring "more of an upscale feel" to these nights as opposed to how they're handled at other clubs around town. This week he'll be expanding his schedule to include a ladies' night on Sundays that offers an open bar for ladies until midnight, a salsa and merengue night on Wednesdays and an underground house night on Thursdays.
Noorhassan says Orlando was a hub for the underground house movement in the 1990s, and he wants to bring it back.
Bonkerz at Bliss
The Bonkerz night at Bliss in downtown Orlando is doing so well, the club has decided to keep the laughs coming in for a second night during the weekend. Now, Bonkerz will set up shop both Friday and Saturday nights at the club. The first weekend of the schedule change will bring Dustin Diamond to the stage (you may remember him as Screech from Saved by the Bell). I don't know how funny he is -- I mainly watched the show because I thought Mark-Paul Gosselaar was cute -- but morbid curiosity is a pretty darn compelling reason to buy a ticket. The shows are at 8 p.m. on July 25 and 26 at 123 W. Church St. in downtown Orlando. Tickets are $15; call 407-629-2665.
But if you can't wait until then, Bonkerz is having a special performance at Hard Rock Hotel tonight with Mitchell Walters and Real Radio 104.1 FM fave Soul Brother Kevin. Back in the early 1990s, Walters toured with Sam Kinison. Kinison was killed in a car crash in 1992.
Tickets are $15 and the show starts at 8:30 p.m. at 5800 Universal Blvd. in downtown Orlando, call 407-629-2665.
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