Madison's

It looks like another "Membership" bar. As I recall that didn't work out to well for the Rhino Club and the Sunset Club didn't seem to be doing well as I recall. I wonder if this one will last once it is not the hot place to go say, by this fall.

Bryan Neil
Published: Monday, May 24, 2004

The female patron was buzzed through the door when she threw up her arms in delight and exclaimed "Finally! An adult bar!"

Not that kind of bar, silly.

Madison's (115 Fifth St., 704-299-0580): a distinguished establishment, indeed.

Replacing the space formerly occupied by the Venue on Fifth, Connolly's neighbor shut her doors around Super Bowl Sunday to begin the work on this latest project first reported in my previous Connolly's review.

The three amigos of owners Kevin Devin, Tommy Timmins and Gideon Murray are at it again with a mahogany-infested cocktail lounge for the better person in all of us.

Amenities like the sixty-inch plasma television (doubling as a digital fish tank), Victorian leather couches and live jazz three nights a week could be considered predictable, but are necessary. But personalized liquor consumption and customer databases? I mean, come on.

Your patronage will require the usual private membership for this food-less environment, so pick your poison. Annual $100 general memberships will get you and a guest in for the nightly festivities (occasional small cover), while the more common $250 VIP gets you plus four, forthcoming restaurant discounts, no cover charges (pay-per-view boxing will be a staple), and the desirable inscribed liquor storage thingy.

Yes, you may purchase a bottle of liquor from them and store it there, enjoying a much lower average-per-shot for those keeping score. Just think: drink more, save more! (I'll take credit for that slogan, thank you very much.)

For a cool $1,000 corporate membership, the hotshot and his or her ten closest colleagues will enjoy the VIP benefits plus a complete waiver of any fees to rent the premises for a private party. Surely, you can bury that somewhere in the expense account, like mileage or something.

Want some more rundown? Check out the cascading waterfall behind the bar, cigar selection, reasonable drink prices, and the padded windowsills peering down women's blouses and Fifth Street from the second floor.

For now, feel free to crash this party while they build their membership six weeks into the job, but leave your sneakers and ballcaps at home. Let's call the dress code within a reasonable degree of fashionable, but relaxed enough to permit the clean jeans and designer t-shirt.

Considering this trio's past success, weighing in favor of any perceived failure is probably not a good idea. I'm betting on black, as in operating in the black. A niche may have been carved here considering the absence of this kind of exclusivity anywhere in the Center City.

I'll place them on the spot another day when my photographer's question about any membership referral credit left Kevin pondering. Not a bad idea...kind of like coveting that free seventh burrito on the lunch card.

Do you have any interesting comments, tips, or suggestions? Email Bryan at [email protected]. All emails will be answered.

 

I work accross the street. I have no interest in mingling with people that would go to a place like that.

 

But we can make fun of them while we drink at Connolly's

 

:xyzthumbs

 

How long do you think it will be before we see davew tagging along with somebody?

 

I thought that place was for the "in" crowd.

 

That's why he has to tag along. He's not in the "in" crowd, and he's too cheap to pay the joining fee. Duh.