NightWatch is a regular feature about bars and clubs by nightlife columnist Tara Nieuwesteeg.​

Mickey's 19th Hole Bar & Grill
2739 E Oakland Park Blvd, Fort Lauderdale
Call 954-561-1911

Mickey's is the kind of place that doesn't change much. Regulars are so comfortable, they'll interrogate anyone whose face they don't recognize. It's nothing personal; they just feel entitled. They own the bar, so why shouldn't they know what you're doing in it, taking notes?

"Have you written about me yet?" asked Patrick, a boisterous, ruddy-faced patron in a tan sport coat.

"No, any suggestions?" I asked.

"You can tell them that I'm a potato farmer from Rhode Island," he said. "And I say it's all about love and happiness."
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Mugs
2671 E Oakland Park Blvd, Fort Lauderdale
Call 954-566-7782 or visit mugsbar.comMore >>

Shooters Waterfront Café
3033 NE 32nd Ave, Fort Lauderdale
Call 954-566-2855, or visit shooterscafe.comMore >>

​Night Watch is a regular feature about bars and clubs by nightlife columnist Tara Nieuwesteeg.

JByrd's Muddy Waters Restaurant and Raw Bar (2237 W Hillsboro Blvd, Deerfield Beach Call 954-428-6577, or visit muddywaters.biz)

Out front, the patio area is replete with glider booths, palm trees, and parrot cages. A small island-like oasis sits in the center with a running-water fountain. A statue of a sexy lady-pirate, boobs very nearly popping out of her ruffled shirt, stood beckoning near the door.

The expansive inside was decked out, from floor to ceiling, with island swag and accessories that would please the Margaritaville maestro himself: Caribbean flags, giant plastic sting rays, and sea sponges and fishing nets. The brightly colored walls were more crowded with glass globes, miniature ships and fishing photos than the Fort Lauderdale beaches are with piss-drunk college kids during spring break. Nearby, a giant barrel had been labeled "J Byrd's rum," presumably so that any would-be liquor pirates would think twice.
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​Night Watch is a regular feature about bars and clubs by nightlife columnist Tara Nieuwesteeg.

Here in sunny South Florida, we have the privilege of visiting the beach, with its white sands, surrounding palm trees, turquoise waters, and scantily-clad sunbathers every day of the year.

But sometimes (especially with the recent uncharacteristic cold!) even we need a change of scenery. This week, Night Watch scoped out a couple nightspot replicas of legendary party places. Think New Orleans and Key West too are too far to drive to for a few drinks? Get the same experience without racking up the mileage.

First stop: French Quarter Bar & Grill (2341 N Federal Hwy, Pompano Beach Call 954-781-5222, or visit frenchquarterbarandgrill.com).
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​House music reigned supreme at Vagabond Saturdays throughout 2009, with weekly performances by such classic house luminaries as Frankie Knuckles, Little Louie Vega, Jellybean Benitez, and Jesse Saunders. So far the soulful house vibes promise to live on at the downtown hotpot in 2010, and Saturday night brings a special show by DJ/producer Julius the Mad Thinker, one of the great enduring exponents of the Chicago house sound.

As co-founder of the internationally-renowned DJ collective 3Degrees Global, JtMT has garnered a solid reputation since the '90s, spinning alongside legends like Frankie Knuckles, Farley "Jackmaster" Funk, Derrick Carter, Louie Vega, Derrick May and Ron Trent, among others. He's made his mark playing at top clubs in the house birthplace of Chicago, in addition to the Detroit Electronic Music Festival, Louie Vega's Roots at Cielo in New York City, Marques Wyatt's DEEP event in Los Angeles, and various parties in Boston, San Francisco, Washington D.C., and Miami.

In June of last year, JtMT came down to Miami to shoot the music video for "Dejame", a soulful upbeat Afro-Latin house number produced in collaboration with Kaialexander. The video pays homage to Miami's small but loving house music scene and laid-back Latin flair. Saturday's performance at Vagabond comes on the heels of the music video's premiere, which will get a screening in the club's main room at midnight on Saturday. Julius The Mad Thinker will be joined on decks by Saraswati resident DJ Ivan Diaz.

Julius the Mad Thinker at The Vagabond, Saturday, January 9, doors open at 10 p.m. 30 NE 14th Street, downtown Miami.

Check out the video teaser for "Dejame" after the jump.
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​Night Watch is a regular feature about bars and clubs by nightlife columnist Tara Nieuwesteeg.

The Isle Casino & Racing in Pompano proved a good place to erase a bad day.

After sampling $1 happy hour specials at the bar inside the casino, my friend Beard and I made our way to the Sports Bar:

Past the poker room was the betting room-- featuring a degenerate sight of mostly middle-aged men clutching pieces of paper and tiny pencils, and staring at screens, all of which were projecting a different horse race, dog race, or some other bettable activity.

We wandered out the glass doors to the deck above the race track, and watched as harnessed horses--which actually are cart-pulling horses, each attempting to out-trot the next--whipped around the track. The audience included businessmen clutching betting cards and massage girls out for a cigarette break.

More booze was necessary.
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​Night Watch is a regular feature about bars and clubs by nightlife columnist Tara Nieuwesteeg.

The Isle Casino & Racing in Pompano has its own universe of bars and restaurants to explore -- and if you're dressed well enough, you can hit all of them. 

When my friend Beard and I were there last week, we walked to the escalator, past the "Wow" fountain--a sculpted monolith consisting of water and light pouring over stanchions of stacked, twisting glass--and up the escalator, arriving at the closed glass doors of Farradday's.

"I'm not going in there," announced Beard. We glanced in at the classy bar inside Farraddays' and quickly discovered that we were painfully underdressed.
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​Night Watch is a regular feature about bars and clubs by nightlife columnist Tara Nieuwesteeg.

The Isle Casino & Racing in Pompano is seriously like Disney World for degenerate adults.

Seriously, you lose entertainment-and-booze filled hours in a casino and walk out to find it's already dark (or light, whichever the case may be). So when my buddy Beard was having a bitch of a bad day, I told him that I had the perfect remedy: casino time.

When he wasn't so sure that gambling and drinking were appropriate ways to deal with bad feelings and general depression, I innocuously told him about the $1-drink happy hour.

We were Pompano-bound in minutes.
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​Night Watch is a regular feature about bars and clubs by nightlife columnist Tara Nieuwesteeg.

Tryst
4 E. Atlantic Ave, Delray Beach
561-921-0201

The halls of Tryst had been more than significantly decked. The tree in the back patio dining area was full of lights; inside, poles had been wound with red- and white ribbons to resemble candy canes. There were wreaths en masse, poinsettias covered every spare surface, stockings clung to the walls, and garland snaked around everything.

Johnny, managing partner of the place, had black hair and endless energy.

"So, tell me about your place," I said.
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