Michael's Pub in Columbia is closing tomorrow. The Columbia Patch has a nice story about the bar that has entertained folks at King's Contrivance village center since 1986.
17 comments:
Milton Friendly
said...
Best burgers in Columbia if you're a purist. No seasoning or duck fat (!!!) on the natural cut fries. Always a relaxed, friendly atmosphere. So long, Michael's. You will be missed.
Good riddance. Compared to Milton above, I felt the complete opposite about the place. Yes, there was a relaxed atmosphere about the place... but that was mostly from the workers not doing their jobs.
i knew this would happen and so glad it did. maybe now they will open something decent in there with new staff. this bar is for the staff and their cronies only. no wonder they lost money. the staff drank it up. bye, bye.
tried to tell shane the staff were giving free food and liquor away to their friends and he didn,t believe it. too bad it takes going under for him to see the light. so glad these trashy people have lost the business. so rude to paying customers and free drinks for the hanger on trash they run with.
I'm not a smoker, but totally agree that this is a direct result of the smoking ban. I thought Howard County had a pretty good system, smoking areas had to be enclosed and seperately ventilated. Restaurants like Michael's invested tens of thousands of dollars to meet that standard, costs that couldn't have been recouped.
When the ban was being debated proponents often said "Business went up when bans were enacted." I think those stats were juiced by a robust economy where every restaurant had higher income annually because people spent more. But when the economy tanks and Michael's is still paying off their expensive rennovations and then they lose customers who normally sat in the smoking section...well it all adds up.
Many of us have wonderful memories! Good food....Good Company! Did your mother ever teach you...If you have nothing nice to say..... People, real humans poured 25 years of hard work into this business, heart and soul. God bless the Pub! We'll miss you!
Good, bad or ugly, Michael's was the place to be in the early to mid 90's the night before Thanksgiving in Columbia. That was before cell phones but everyone knew where to go to see friend's home from school. I had not been there since 1997+\- a year, so I have no idea what it was at the end.
only good reviews on here are from the cronies who got free drinks all night or who were intimate with the married bar tenders. use to see them getting it on in cars when you left the bar. too trashy to get a room. i hope no one hires these bums anywhere else in columbia or it will be the same. they almost killed a man on march 11 th in there. the drunker the staff get the more violent. they bashed his head in with a bottle.
Honestly it sounds like most of the bad reviews are from the same person. Same writing style in each. I am not a cronie or have I ever received anything for free from there. But have never had a bad time or been treated rude there. I agree that food sometimes took a long time to come out, but other then that it was fine. My office always used that place for Christmas parties during the years when times were tough and couldn't afford better places. Any bets on how long the place will stay empty?
That's really too bad. Since Village Centers are so outdated and poorly planned (in a 21st Century sense) it will probably be vacant for a couple of years then will be replaced by dollar store.
Michael's was the place to go in the 90's but over the past 15 years or so it has gotten progressively worse. The employees were definitely robbing the owner blind and the food was really not that good. They were in desperate need of some renovation as well. It's sad to see it go like this but Columbia really needs to have a throwback pub of the 80's 90's like JK's, Old Michaels or Last Chance. The places here now are really of no comparison and the villages are very rundown. I hope this becomes another bar and doesn't sit empty for years.
17 comments:
Best burgers in Columbia if you're a purist. No seasoning or duck fat (!!!) on the natural cut fries.
Always a relaxed, friendly atmosphere. So long, Michael's. You will be missed.
Good riddance. Compared to Milton above, I felt the complete opposite about the place. Yes, there was a relaxed atmosphere about the place... but that was mostly from the workers not doing their jobs.
A victim of the nanny state's smoking ban finally speaks up. I'd love to hear freemarket's take on this. Does anybody know what happened to him?
good riddance indeed. worst service ever. from the hostess all the way to their single, one-armed cook (not to be taken literally)
their burgers were decent, though.
i knew this would happen and so glad it did. maybe now they will open something decent in there with new staff. this bar is for the staff and their cronies only. no wonder they lost money. the staff drank it up. bye, bye.
tried to tell shane the staff were giving free food and liquor away to their friends and he didn,t believe it. too bad it takes going under for him to see the light. so glad these trashy people have lost the business. so rude to paying customers and free drinks for the hanger on trash they run with.
I'm not a smoker, but totally agree that this is a direct result of the smoking ban. I thought Howard County had a pretty good system, smoking areas had to be enclosed and seperately ventilated. Restaurants like Michael's invested tens of thousands of dollars to meet that standard, costs that couldn't have been recouped.
When the ban was being debated proponents often said "Business went up when bans were enacted." I think those stats were juiced by a robust economy where every restaurant had higher income annually because people spent more. But when the economy tanks and Michael's is still paying off their expensive rennovations and then they lose customers who normally sat in the smoking section...well it all adds up.
Many of us have wonderful memories!
Good food....Good Company!
Did your mother ever teach you...If you have nothing nice to say.....
People, real humans poured 25 years of hard work into this business, heart and soul.
God bless the Pub! We'll miss you!
Well there goes the restaurant.com gift certificat to Michael's that I never got to use. :-(
@Anon: Contact restaurant.com - they'll trade it for a place that is still in business!
Good, bad or ugly, Michael's was the place to be in the early to mid 90's the night before Thanksgiving in Columbia. That was before cell phones but everyone knew where to go to see friend's home from school. I had not been there since 1997+\- a year, so I have no idea what it was at the end.
only good reviews on here are from the cronies who got free drinks all night or who were intimate with the married bar tenders. use to see them getting it on in cars when you left the bar. too trashy to get a room. i hope no one hires these bums anywhere else in columbia or it will be the same. they almost killed a man on march 11 th in there. the drunker the staff get the more violent. they bashed his head in with a bottle.
Honestly it sounds like most of the bad reviews are from the same person. Same writing style in each. I am not a cronie or have I ever received anything for free from there. But have never had a bad time or been treated rude there. I agree that food sometimes took a long time to come out, but other then that it was fine. My office always used that place for Christmas parties during the years when times were tough and couldn't afford better places. Any bets on how long the place will stay empty?
That's really too bad. Since Village Centers are so outdated and poorly planned (in a 21st Century sense) it will probably be vacant for a couple of years then will be replaced by dollar store.
Michael's was the place to go in the 90's but over the past 15 years or so it has gotten progressively worse. The employees were definitely robbing the owner blind and the food was really not that good. They were in desperate need of some renovation as well. It's sad to see it go like this but Columbia really needs to have a throwback pub of the 80's 90's like JK's, Old Michaels or Last Chance. The places here now are really of no comparison and the villages are very rundown. I hope this becomes another bar and doesn't sit empty for years.
mabye all you people crying and now sayin how great the place was should have continued to patronize the place it was and is dead get over it
Wah Wah, Call the Waambulance. The smoking laws did not kill these place. Look at the urbanspoon and yelp reviews.
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