Atlantic City’s New Hotspot: Inside Angeloni’s Club Madrid with Julia Vain

We welcome Julia Vain to discuss the exciting transformation of Angeloni's Club Madrid in Atlantic City. Julia, a South Jersey native, shares her journey from working at various local establishments to becoming a co-owner of this historic venue. The conversation kicks off with Julia recounting her early days in the fast-paced hospitality industry and the mentors who shaped her career.

Julia provides an in-depth look at the rich history of Angeloni's Club Madrid, originally Club Madrid in the 1920s before becoming Angeloni's in the 1980s. She explains how the team discovered original elements from the Club Madrid era during renovations, which inspired them to honor both the past and present in their redesign.

Listeners will hear about the unique events that have made Julia a well-known figure in the area, such as the wildly popular Christmas in July and Sopranos brunches. Julia also discusses the creative process behind these events and how they have helped her build a strong community presence.

The episode highlights the collaborative spirit of Atlantic City's local businesses, with Julia mentioning partnerships with Alibi Gin, Rando's Bakery, and The Seed brewery. She emphasizes the importance of supporting each other to ensure the community thrives.

Julia also introduces the concept of memberships at Angeloni's Club Madrid, offering exclusive perks and personalized experiences for loyal patrons. The discussion wraps up with a look at the diverse dining and cocktail options available, designed to provide a memorable experience for every guest.

Tune in to discover the vibrant culture, innovative dining, and deep-rooted community spirit that make Angeloni's Club Madrid a standout destination in Atlantic City.

@angelonisclubmadrid

Music: "Ride" by Jackson Pines
jacksonpines.com

Thank you to our sponsors:
New Jersey Lottery: njlottery.com

Make Cool Sh*t: makecoolshit.co

Albert & Whitney CPAs:  awcpasllc.com

Mayo Performing Arts Center: mayoarts.org/events-calendar

Contact the show: mike@greetingsfromthegardenstate.com

Transcript

Mike Ham [0:21 - 0:32]: All right, what's up, everybody? Welcome back to another episode of greetings with the Garden State, powered by the New Jersey lottery. I'm your host, Mike Hamm. We are here in Atlantic City, New Jersey. We're back a year later almost. We're at Angeloni's club Madrid with Julia Vane. Julia, welcome to the show. 

Julia Vain [0:32 - 0:34]: Hi. Thank you for having me. 

Mike Ham [0:34 - 0:37]: Absolutely. So this place is really cool. 

Julia Vain [0:37 - 0:38]: Thank you. 

Mike Ham [0:38 - 0:44]: And, yeah, just like I was walking around while we were getting all set up and everything, and it's crazy. You guys did a really great job. 

Julia Vain [0:44 - 0:55]: Thank you. We had a road design team based out of Philadelphia who did a fantastic job of working with us on creating this incredible space, and they really got the vision that we were going for. 

Mike Ham [0:55 - 1:21]: Very excited about that, for sure. So let's learn. Let's learn a little bit about you first, because I feel like that has now become, like, the tagline almost of this place. Like, who the fuck is Julia Vane? Basically. But so we kind of. We met last year when we did the episode of Tony's Baltimore Grill, which was great. And then, you know, as we kind of. We've been following the whole process of this, but let's talk about you a little bit. Are you jersey? 

Julia Vain [1:22 - 2:01]: Yes. So I'm born and raised in south Jersey. I'm local. I grew up offshore in Northfield, but I've lived in Ventnor Heights for the past six or seven years. I've been working in the industry in Atlantic City since I was 18. My first job in Atlantic City was at Bungalow beach bar that I worked at for a few years, and that really threw me into the fire with fast paced, high volume hospitality, and I had some really great mentors there. Justin and Patty are fantastic, and I thank them heavily for where I am today. And then from there, you know, I worked at a couple different places, eventually finding my home at Shuffola's for the past five years, which really made me fall in love with italian food in, like, traditional Atlantic City. 

Mike Ham [2:01 - 2:02]: Yeah. 

Julia Vain [2:02 - 2:06]: And then I made my way to Tony's, and from there, here I am. 

Mike Ham [2:06 - 2:33]: Yeah. So, like, what? One of the things that I think is interesting about you in particular is just the, like, all the extra stuff, you know, like, we did Christmas in July last night, the Sopranos brunches, but I feel like those have basically kind of, like, made you famous to a degree, like, put you on the map in certain, like, outside of Atlantic City, but just across the state, across, you know, this region and all that kind of stuff. So, like, what were the impetuses like, how did that. How did that start? 

Julia Vain [2:33 - 2:56]: So it's kind of a funny story. I applied to work at Tony's Baltimore girl as a bartender because George, who worked there forever, was retiring. And he was like, you're the only person I want to take my spot. I sat at this bar every Saturday for, like, hours before I went to work. And I applied to Tony's, and the owner was basically like, no. Like, what are you doing here, girl? Like, this isn't for you. 

Mike Ham [2:56 - 2:57]: I don't know if you know anything about this. 

Julia Vain [2:57 - 5:02]: He's like, you're too, no, we're not doing this. And I was like, no, please, please. Like, I promise you. And we argue back and forth for a good hour, and he's like, fine, I'll hire you. So Nino, the bartender at Tony's, one day, really regrets this decision. But he was talking about how coming up was Christmas in July, and it's his favorite because he gets to sit on a sheep on the beach and relax. And I was like, oh, that's a great idea. Let's do a huge party at Tony's. So I asked the owner, and I was like, hey, I kind of want to do this event. And he's like, I don't give a fuck. Do whatever you want. I was like, sure. I was like, perfect. So I took all of the hundred year old Christmas decorations down from Tony's, decorated it for a night, and we had, for the first one three years ago, a line out the door of people from 10:00 p.m. until 03:00 in the morning. And from there, we've done it every year. But after that summer of me working at Tony's, I realized, yeah, he was right. This place isn't for me. As much as I love it, I'm a patron. I'm not someone who is meant to be behind the bar there all the time. So I did a Galentine's day at my own home for my friends. And the owner of Tony's again, saw it online, and he was like, you should do a brunch here and cook and make some cocktails. And I was like, dude, like, I'm not a chef. Like, I don't like. I like doing these things, but I don't know. And he's like, no, trust me, I don't care about the money. And in quotes, I I would buy a restaurant with you, Jules. And I was like, fine, let's do it. So we did Jules x TBG about two and a half, three years ago, and it sold out for, like, 40 people, the bar side of Tony's. And from there, we kind of realized that the impact that these events have on the area and how fun it is to be able to be creative and curate everything from the music to the vibe to just the clients that we attract. And then we did a collab with our friends alibi, gin and down beach native. We did another Christmas party. We did cowboy bar. And then the Sopranos is what I really think tied it all together for us. We're like, how the fuck do we top any of this? So me and the owner of Tony's sat down and we're like, all right, how do we top this? And we said, sopranos brunch. Duh. So we hit up a couple people. We had our friend Kandy, who's a dancer, come and do the. 

Mike Ham [5:02 - 5:04]: But with last night for, like, the. 

Julia Vain [5:04 - 5:17]: Whole night, she's the awesome absolute best. So she came and did the whole bada bing spiel. We had Agent Harris come and we had such a fucking fun time making those cocktails and drinks. And that event sold out in about three minutes for 120 people. 

Mike Ham [5:17 - 5:18]: Yeah. 

Julia Vain [5:18 - 5:24]: So after that happened, we were like, how the fuck do we top that? And then we opened this restaurant, and I think we might have topped it. 

Mike Ham [5:24 - 5:49]: Yeah, I feel like opening an entire new restaurant does top just, like an event or whatever. But the other thing that I think is interesting, too, because we're talking about, like, an event, and that's one thing to kind of put on a good party, basically, but also at the same time, just, like, the details and the drinks and what the food, the different food stuff that you're going to offer for those types of events too. So where's that coming from? Are you just sitting at your home just making cocktails and trying stuff out? 

Julia Vain [5:50 - 6:24]: Yeah. So, I mean, it's fun. I love making drinks, obviously. And when we get to do a theme, such as, like, christmas in July, it's tiki cocktails, I get to really go outside of the comfort zone of drinks that I would be not able to execute for volume every single day in a restaurant. So I can just fuck around, like, and do a coconut negroni. And I just think about something that's fun in season and what I want to do, and I just kind of run with it. And I get a lot of inspiration for the names from, like, fans and songs that I like, and I kind of just put it together there and it ends up making sense, sort of. 

Mike Ham [6:24 - 6:24]: Yeah. Yeah. 

Julia Vain [6:24 - 6:56]: So yesterday I, one of the bartenders from here actually Carla and Jesse, who also works at Tony's, they both worked the event with me last night, and me and Carl were shucking coconuts on Atlantic Avenue at 04:00 in the afternoon with hammers. That's not an atlantic city right there. Yeah, but from there. So, basically, when we pick an event and I sit down and think about what drinks I want to do, I really think about what's the theme of the event, what produces in season, and what I haven't done yet, because we haven't repeated any cocktails yet. So, yeah, that's basically it. 

Mike Ham [6:56 - 6:57]: No, that's cool. 

Julia Vain [6:57 - 6:59]: And then hope. I hope people like them. 

Mike Ham [6:59 - 7:03]: Christy had a couple last night, and she loved them, so that's great. 

Julia Vain [7:03 - 7:03]: Thank you. 

Mike Ham [7:03 - 7:26]: Yeah, so one of the things I also think is interesting, kind of just about this whole story we're gonna get into Angeloni's, and all the stuff that's going on here in a second is, like, because you're a local, and one of the things that I've really come to appreciate about Atlantic City is, like, getting out of the casinos and seeing what old school ac places are like, you know, like going to docs, going to Tony's. 

Julia Vain [7:26 - 7:26]: Absolutely. 

Mike Ham [7:26 - 7:47]: Places like that, you know, I think, are what built Atlantic City, but then also at the same time, they're just kind of like these beacons of, you know, like, what still could be in the area and stuff, so. And I know, just kind of, like, following you for the last year is that you spend a lot of time at those places and kind of, you know, being part of that community, I think, is like, a really cool thing. 

Julia Vain [7:47 - 8:33]: I completely agree. The community docks, Oyster House, Ducktown Tavern, Tony's, obviously, these are the places that I grew up going to and that all my friends work at and all my friends go to, the community of industry workers in Atlantic City is truly a family, as cheesy as it sounds, but everybody supports each other and looks out for each other, and if you don't work together with the people in your community, none of us will succeed. And I think that's what we really keened in on, especially when we went to look at the menu for angelones. We really wanted to represent Ducktown as a whole, from the restaurants to the people. And in general, when I go out to a bar on my day off or after work, I'm going to the same places that come out and support me and Mike and the whole crew. 

Mike Ham [8:33 - 8:34]: So. Yeah, for sure. 

Julia Vain [8:35 - 8:35]: Hey, Mike. 

Mike Ham [8:35 - 8:50]: Hi. Hi. Yeah. So then, like, as we're talking about this and we're kind of going through this whole story, and you mentioned, like, the message was, I would buy a restaurant with you type of thing. Like, did you ever, like, did you just think that? Just kind of, like, tongue. Tongue in cheek, like, that'll never happen. 

Julia Vain [8:50 - 8:53]: I totally didn't think he was serious, but he. 

Mike Ham [8:53 - 8:55]: When we kept doubling down on it. 

Julia Vain [8:55 - 9:01]: I mean, we kept doing these events, and he kept being like, who is this bitch? Like, what? Excuse my language. 

Mike Ham [9:02 - 9:06]: We both said fuck already. And it's a podcast, and it's a podcast about Jersey. 

Julia Vain [9:06 - 9:07]: So, yeah, I can very much say fuck. 

Mike Ham [9:07 - 9:07]: Great. 

Julia Vain [9:08 - 9:30]: So he was like. I mean, when the owner said that to me, I didn't think he was serious. It's something I always saw myself doing eventually. I've always wanted to go to the next step, but I never thought in any magnitude I would be able to open a place like this with the team that I have. It's a complete honor. And I definitely thought he was fucking around. 

Mike Ham [9:30 - 9:43]: Yeah, right? Yeah. When obviously he did and you guys did, and then this process started. Picking a place or finding a place was something this a place that you had on your radar. 

Julia Vain [9:44 - 10:40]: So kind of exactly what happened is him and his wife looked at this place when it's sold. He took me, he's like, let's go to dinner in Philly. Let's talk some shit. And I was like, sure. And he took me to this restaurant, Palizzi, for the first time that I was telling you about earlier. And it's like a no phones, no hats, no bullshit place. Like members only. And we sat there. We had, like, a five hour dinner, and he told me about the spot and asked me if it's something I saw myself doing or being interested in. And I didn't even hesitate. I didn't think about any future plans I had, anything I had in the past. I thought about how I could graciously leave the place that I was currently at and do it respectfully, but I was tunnel vision that this was meant for me. And I knew that this is the group of people that I wanted to work with for the rest of my life. And I also knew as soon as he asked me to do this, that this would not be our first and only restaurant that we've been together. 

Mike Ham [10:40 - 10:41]: Yeah. 

Julia Vain [10:41 - 10:41]: Stay tuned. 

Mike Ham [10:42 - 10:53]: Oh, cool. So, when picked, this place, basically, and obviously, we'll get into a little bit of the history here in a second, but this place does have a lot of history in and of itself. 

Julia Vain [10:53 - 10:54]: Absolutely. 

Mike Ham [10:54 - 11:09]: And then when you're getting your own vision almost put together, Washington did. At any point you'd be like, let's just do something totally different? Or was there like a resolve to be like, we want to make sure that we're tying back into what makes this place special? 

Julia Vain [11:09 - 12:10]: So when the club Madrid started in Philly in the twenties, they lost their Cabernet license and moved to Atlantic City. This building, before Allen and his father bought it, was club Madrid, which was this super sexy bar that was doing burlesque and all this crazy shit. And when Allen and his dad bought it in the eighties and turned it over to Angeloni's, it was this awesome old school italian spot that really brought the neighborhood together. So when we purchased it, we really thought we were just going to lock in key, fix a couple things and reopen Angelone's. But when we started doing some digging and renovation, we found the original floors and the ceiling from the club Madrid. We found old postcards and it was kind of just a time capsule that we opened. So we decided that we wanted to operate a place that was as if when Allen and his father bought it in the eighties, they kept it, the club Madrid. So we wanted to do everything we could to honor Alan and his family and the legacy they built over the past 40 years, but also honoring what this place was before them and what this place will hopefully be for another hundred years. In the Ducktown community. 

Mike Ham [12:10 - 12:17]: Yeah. What. Where does Ducktown come from? Do you know, like where that neighborhood thing is from? 

Julia Vain [12:17 - 12:19]: I should. And you can't put that. I don't know. 

Mike Ham [12:20 - 12:23]: We'll take that part out. I'm gonna write down that time. So we take it out. 

Julia Vain [12:23 - 12:25]: I all get trashed. 

Mike Ham [12:26 - 12:27]: Okay. 

Julia Vain [12:27 - 12:28]: Yeah, sorry about that. Yeah, thank you. 

Mike Ham [12:28 - 12:49]: That's okay. Make sure we take that part out. So, you know, we're talking about all these things and you find all this history to it. So when they sold Angeloni's, what, like, what's the timeframe between, I guess like you guys buying it? Was it. How long was it open for as Angeloni's? 

Julia Vain [12:49 - 12:53]: And then it was open from Angeloni's. I have the correct date written down? 

Mike Ham [12:53 - 12:54]: Yeah, sure. 

Julia Vain [12:54 - 13:09]: Alan and his father bought it in 1981 and it operated till 2023. They closed like a couple. Little bit after Covid and we were closed for like a year before we reopened it a little bit more because of some, you know, everything you run into along trying to restaurant. 

Mike Ham [13:09 - 13:12]: Someone has a plan and then it just doesn't go that way. 

Julia Vain [13:12 - 13:20]: So we were closed for like a year and some change before we opened the space and we reopened it mid June, so it's been open for about a month. 

Mike Ham [13:20 - 13:20]: Cool. 

Julia Vain [13:21 - 13:22]: Pretty crazy. 

Mike Ham [13:22 - 13:23]: How's it been going? Good, right? 

Julia Vain [13:23 - 13:24]: It's been a pretty good month. 

Mike Ham [13:24 - 13:25]: Yeah. 

Julia Vain [13:26 - 14:04]: Yeah. We really didn't know what to expect. I mean, we knew that doing this much to this space would ruffle some feathers, but we have gotten 99% good feedback. Even the people that come in and expect old angelonis have really been giving us an opportunity and a chance, which is more than we could ask for. And of course, there's a couple people that come in here and they don't get what they wanted, and that's fine, too. And they kind of just take it or leave it. But so far, the response has been more than we could have imagined. And the space people are receiving very well. I mean, look, you can't really walk into this space and be like, that place sucks. You have to at least appreciate what. 

Mike Ham [14:04 - 14:32]: We did a little bit. Yeah. I literally walked in, I texted Christy. I was like, this place is dope, and we're coming tonight for, like, 830 or whatever, so I decided to check it out. So. And that the other question that I have, too. We'll take our break here in a second. But when you're finding all these things and, like, the postcards you're talking about and all that, and then basically getting yourself to a point where you're like, okay, we know we can tie in a lot of the history of both club Madrid and Angelones. Were you, like, also doing, like, research on. 

Julia Vain [14:32 - 15:05]: Oh, absolutely. Like, we went to. We've had. We have a whole team of people that helped us in this process. Our friend Zach and our friend Brett. They're the masterminds behind, like, finding all this old art and architecture and building plans. We went to the library in Atlantic City and dug up old records to just. We did our homework on this space. We didn't want to fuck around and be like, oh, yeah, this is Club Madrid, and not have anything to back it. We really fought about every detail, and we had a good team of people to help us kind of tie back the history of it, for sure. 

Mike Ham [15:05 - 17:10]: Yeah, no, I love that. And it's good because to me, we're talking about, like, old Atlantic City and, like, all the spots that we've mentioned already. And then this place kind of in that whole, you know, lexicon of history, a part of the Atlantic City history and being part of the community that exists around here and kind of helping push it up, basically. So. All right, let's take our break, and then we'll come back, we'll talk about what this is and all that. So, this is the Greensborough State podcast powered by the New Jersey lottery. I'm Mike Hann. We're here with Julia Vane at Angelones Club Madrid in Atlantic City, New Jersey. We'll be right back. The Mayo Performing Arts center is the heart of arts and entertainment in Morristown, New Jersey. MPAC presents over 200 events annually and is home to an innovative children's arts education program. To see Impact's upcoming schedule of world class concerts, stand up comedy, family shows, and more, head to mayoarts.org or just click the link in our show notes. Hey folks, I want to tell you about the crew over at make cool shit. These are the magicians who recently gave our podcast a jaw dropping makeover. You know how we roll here at greetings with the Garden State podcast, right? We're all about that garden State attitude. Well, make cool shit shares that same vibe, and they've got something absolutely epic to offer. It's called the unlimited cool shit design subscription. It's a game changer, my friends. Imagine this. Unlimited creativity, one flat monthly fee, and none of that boring stuff. It's like having your very own army of design superheroes on speed dial. Whether you're a fresh face startup or a seasoned business looking to shake things up, the team at makeool shit has got your back. It's all about making your brand sizzle, no matter where you are in your journey. So if you're ready to turn your ideas into mind blowing realities, then it's time to connect with makecool shit. Check them out on instagram at wemakecoolshit. Or visit their website, wemakecoolshit Dot Co. Remember, that's co.com. all right, we're back. Segment two of this episode of greetings for the Garden State, powered by the New Jersey lottery. I'm Mike Cam. We're here at Angeloni's club Madrid in Atlantic City, New Jersey with Julia Vane. So first segment, we learned who the fuck is Julia Vane. We learned a little bit of the history about Angeloni's and club Madrid and kind of how you guys have basically put this together here. So I want to learn a little bit about. Cause like right now we have a martini here and gummy worms, something like that. 

Julia Vain [17:10 - 17:11]: Yeah. Girl dinner. 

Mike Ham [17:11 - 17:21]: Okay, this is girl dinner. Can you talk to us about what this is? And then we'll kind of take it from there and get into like, a little bit of the guest experience at Angeloni's. 

Julia Vain [17:21 - 17:59]: So this is girl dinner, if anybody knows who I am, what I typically end up eating, as well as most of my gal pals in this area after a long night's work, is a alibi gin dirty martini with blue cheese, stuffed olives, and some sort of trash candy. So I was like, we have to put this on the menu somehow. So girl dinner is iconic. It is a dirty alibi martini with olive juice from castle Toronto, olives imported from Italy. So it's this, like, insanely smooth olive juice. Hand stuffed olives that we use. Gorgonzola, actually, instead of blue cheese. So it's a little bit more mild. 

Mike Ham [17:59 - 17:59]: Yeah. 

Julia Vain [18:00 - 18:02]: And then, of course, our sour trolleys. Gummy worms. 

Mike Ham [18:02 - 18:03]: Yeah. 

Julia Vain [18:03 - 18:04]: And it's, uh. It's pretty damn good. 

Mike Ham [18:04 - 18:05]: So, yeah. 

Julia Vain [18:08 - 18:09]: If I didn't say so myself. 

Mike Ham [18:10 - 18:24]: So I think that that's, like, a pretty good starting point of, like, what? Because, I mean, I don't know yet, because I haven't dined here or drank here yet, but all the stuff that I see, like, the 40th high life in the ice bucket, who likes to. 

Julia Vain [18:24 - 18:25]: Be a little cheeky, one of them. 

Mike Ham [18:25 - 18:28]: Has a cigarette on it. I feel like. Is that right, or is that, like, a joke? 

Julia Vain [18:29 - 19:02]: No, it's true. Okay. That one. So, apparently, my friend gab told me it's something called a brat girl summer, allegedly. It's what the girls are saying these days. And it's like a green album that I don't want to butcher it, so no one kill me. Anyway, the girl, it's for the girls. And essentially, there's a song by this chick who put out this record, and one of the lyrics is, I'm so Julia. So I felt like I needed to make a green drink with a marble red and serve a facade gummy worms, because that's so Julia veen. 

Mike Ham [19:03 - 19:06]: But side of gummy worms is, like, the ultimate topper of, like, all these. 

Julia Vain [19:06 - 19:23]: Things, as well as the marble red, for sure. But it plays well with each other. So, yeah, we try to have a balance, you know? No one has the balls to serve a cocktail of a cigarette, at least around here. So we said, why the fuck not? Yeah, I don't know if we can, but if we can't, it's fake. 

Mike Ham [19:23 - 19:23]: You're right. 

Julia Vain [19:23 - 19:24]: It's not real. 

Mike Ham [19:24 - 19:26]: It's one of those cartoon or, like, those. 

Julia Vain [19:26 - 19:27]: It's like. It's a funny cigarette. 

Mike Ham [19:27 - 19:47]: Yeah. Right? Yeah, funny cigarette. So, like, the more we're talking about it. So when people come here, like, what if they can't already get it by the cocktails? And stuff that you have on the menu for there. Like, talk to me a little bit about what it is. Like, you have the dining room here. There's the couple bars outside. So, like, what are people coming here. 

Julia Vain [19:47 - 19:54]: For when you walk in? We have the original bar that we restored from Angeloni. So that's the original bar when you walk in. 

Mike Ham [19:54 - 19:54]: Cool. 

Julia Vain [19:55 - 20:13]: My friend Ian, he built us the beautiful sconces and the chandeliers above the bar. He did a fantastic job, as well as all of the shelving that holds our vintage tv and everything like that. And so that's if you're looking for, like, an old school neighborhood, Atlantic City, you can walk into that bar and just feel like you're home. It feels like Tony's almost. 

Mike Ham [20:13 - 20:14]: Yeah, yeah. In a way it does. 

Julia Vain [20:14 - 21:18]: In a way, it does. You can. So we have little cocktail seating that you can sit around that bar as well. And then if you walk through, we have the super sexy cocktail lounge with the red chandelier and the neon and that we wanted to give people a space because before, when you would come here, there would be dining room clients, and there'd be bar clients. And if it's a Friday night and the bar is full, like, you want to go sit, like, with your boy and, like, have, like, a romantic dinner at a table or something? Like, no, not everybody wants to do that. So we decided to say, fuck it, full send cocktail lounge, which there isn't really a lot of them anymore around here, especially in this area. Like, we wanted to make a place. So if the bar is full and you don't want to sit down and have dinner, you can sit down and have a cocktail or eat and just relax. So we have the cocktail lounge, and then we have. Where we're sitting is our dining room, and then it leads to our private dining room, which we seat about 15 people. So we try to have a place for everyone. But what we've come to realize is people start at that bar, and then they're like, okay, let me get a drink. To get me going. I'm gonna do apps in the cocktail lounge. And then they move to have dinner in the dining room because they want all three experiences, and it's super cool. 

Mike Ham [21:18 - 21:25]: Yeah. And so I'm assuming, like, each kind of ties back into, like, an Angelone's or a club Madrid. 

Julia Vain [21:25 - 21:26]: Absolutely. 

Mike Ham [21:26 - 21:29]: This most likely is probably the club Madrid. 

Julia Vain [21:29 - 22:01]: So this one is very much so Angelone. So the wall paneling that you see there is original. We had this fantastic dude replicated all over the dining room. As well as the millwork. And this is kind of reminiscent. So before Angeloni's dining room was over there, but we wanted to give it its own little life because in the eighties before, when they had the dining room, no one had their cell phone, no one had their hats on. Here there's no phones, no coats. You kind of just come in and you live in the moment and have a dinner with your friends or your family. 

Mike Ham [22:02 - 22:15]: Yeah. And then let's talk about the food, too, because obviously there's more than just gummy bears or, excuse me, gummy worms on the menu. So, like, what's the food like? Is it like, kind of hearkening back to, like, the italian red sauce type deal? 

Julia Vain [22:15 - 24:16]: So with the food, there are a lot of places in the area, including our own Tony's Baltimore Grill, that you can get a red sauce and ville par. And we love all of that. We didn't want to compete with areas who were we could never do it better than. So when we made this menu, we wanted it to be super sexy, light, and like, portions that made you still want to have a good night afterwards. We've all been to dinner and eaten, and we haven't been able to get up. So, yeah, we have, all of our pasta is fresh, it's made in house. We have rando made us rosemary focaccia. We have warm olives, a lot of apertivo snacks. So the section of the menu follows with apertivos, which are nice little bites. We have apertivo hour Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday from four to six. And with every alcoholic beverage, you get a free snack. And then it moves on to our hot starters. My favorite thing on the menu is our hot cherry bruschetta served with a lemon yogurt. It's fabulous. If anybody comes here, you should really try it. You won't regret it. And then we move on to our fresh pastas. We have six fresh pasta dishes on the menus as well as our mains. We do a chicken pomodoro, and it's very spicy. And I feel like a lot of places when you get something spicy, it's like, you're like, this isn't spicy, but it's spicy. It's spicy. And everything that is spicy on our menu has an s for sexy, not spicy. And then from there, so, I mean, there's a little bit something for everybody as far as what Angelini's used to serve. Back in the day, we didn't keep any of the exact recipes. We took dishes that they had and gave it our own spin. Because even if we had Alan back in the kitchen himself cooking, people would still say we fucked it up. We have plans in the future to bring back some dishes like the crab cakes. We actually had Diane, who makes the crab cakes, come today and make them for us to serve this weekend on special. So you might be able to try some tonight. And we're working our way into that now that we got our feet underground. But this is our opening menu. That is room for expansion. You can expect, if you eat here, fresh pasta, faultful snacks, and some sexy spicy food. 

Mike Ham [24:16 - 24:27]: Yeah. Let's also talk about, and you had mentioned off Mike about just, like, the values of this place as well as Tony's. And I made sure I told the owner last night because that was the first time I ever met him. 

Julia Vain [24:27 - 24:28]: Oh, really? 

Mike Ham [24:28 - 24:33]: And I told him when we were walking out, so you could imagine how many times I told him how much. 

Julia Vain [24:33 - 24:36]: I love him after being boozed off because it's in July. 

Mike Ham [24:37 - 24:45]: I was like, I love you, man. You guys do such a great job. But, I mean, I remember a few months ago, like, I put up a post because I just, like, watched this whole interaction with. 

Julia Vain [24:45 - 24:46]: I remember seeing it again. 

Mike Ham [24:47 - 25:01]: Like, I just watched this whole thing, and I was like, this place, that's what makes Tony's special. But obviously, like, that trickles in over here as well because it's the same people, you know, kind of running it. So talk to me about, like, the values of this place and kind of how. 

Julia Vain [25:01 - 25:01]: Absolutely. 

Mike Ham [25:01 - 25:04]: And, you know, being part of this community and all that. 

Julia Vain [25:04 - 25:56]: So first things first. Our staff always comes first. The only core values that we look for are honesty, trust, being welcoming and caring about Atlantic City. How well you are at your job comes second to our core values. We obviously always appreciate the customer, and they're always right. If they're kind, if you're not kind to our staff, we would just respectfully ask you to exit. So that's pretty important to us. What we hope our guests connect with from what we're trying to do is they get the history behind these walls. And we basically tried to give people that experienced Atlantic City in the high life of the eighties another go at reliving it. And people like me, who was born in 1998, who didn't get to experience that, a chance to really relive Atlantic, live Atlantic City in its prime for the first time. 

Mike Ham [25:56 - 25:57]: Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. 

Julia Vain [25:57 - 26:14]: So that's what we were trying to do. And I feel like so far, I mean, we've had people come in that are my parents age and be like, partying till 02:00 a.m. with our dj. And we've had people in their twenties just being like, holy fucking shit. Is this what it was like in the eighties? And I'm like, I think so. That's what they're telling me. 

Mike Ham [26:15 - 26:26]: And then when you're working on all these things, do you have more, especially in mind for this space, more stuff you want to do, or is it like. 

Julia Vain [26:26 - 26:28]: Cause you had as far as renovation or. 

Mike Ham [26:28 - 26:32]: No, just like, I don't know. We talked about the events at Tony. 

Julia Vain [26:32 - 27:20]: Doing stuff like that here. We do have a lot of fun things planned. It's kind of cool because at Tony's we have events like Christmas in July and our Halloween event that we've done yearly for the past couple years. So we have a chance to do a new line of hopefully yearly lifetime events here. We already have been in talks of some cool shit for New Year's Eve and stuff like that, and some really cool collaborations for brunch with some of our friends that I can't name any names yet, but we do have plans ahead to do more collaborations here and more events that just fit the vibe differently than they do at Tony's. And we'll still continue to do our pop ups at Tony's, our brunches, our Christmas in July, because we want to show both places all the love. And eventually we'll do Tony Saxangeloni's and that will be the coolest one. 

Mike Ham [27:20 - 27:41]: Sure. Yeah, like a mashup. So also, we talked about this a little bit, and you kind of mentioned a couple things that I feel like if people aren't super familiar with at the Atlantic City community as far as, like, businesses and all that stuff that you guys work with. So, like, alibi and rando and, like, all these places that are pretty local to the area, right? 

Julia Vain [27:41 - 27:48]: So a couple of our faves. So anytime that I ever do an event, Amanda and Sean own the seed. 

Mike Ham [27:48 - 27:54]: And I went to the first time a couple months ago, and I was like, this place is. Can't believe it's been hiding it on me. 

Julia Vain [27:54 - 29:11]: They're fantastic. They make great beer, and I always, anytime I have an event, me and Tony's, they make us a beer for us. We actually have a custom beer that they made for us here called carrying on tradition, and it's our house IPA. We're the only one that has it. We have custom cans of them, and it was a really special project to do and Alibi gin, John Finger and Brian Ireland are two very good friends of mine. They are local Atlantic city bartenders. They created a gin company called Alibi Gin that you will see a few times on our cocktail menu here. And, of course, in any event that we do over Atlantic city. And they're fabulous. Rando's bakery makes our bread for here and for Tony's pizza dough as well. And everything else as far as, like, our menu here, we have a white house chopped salad that is similar to a White House sub you would get. Over there, we have a citara style eggplant dish that is French Afghani themed from the restaurant that opened up across the street, and pancho style chicharrones. So we tried. And Barbara's seafood stew. So, with our food, we tried to show some love to all of the places in Ducktown that have been around. Half of these places have been over 50, 60 years to 100 years. Find me anywhere in the country that you're on a block of people that have been here for that long. It's crazy. 

Mike Ham [29:11 - 29:17]: It is crazy. And, like, in some cases, like, over 100 years in a couple, it's wild. 

Julia Vain [29:17 - 29:59]: And we have the docherty, which is our caviar martini, to pay some respects to the Og. Best happy hour in Atlantic City. Doc's oyster house. I frequent there, maybe too often, but I had to show them some love there, because they always show us so much love. And then we have a couple cocktails named after people from the community. Johnny Axe, his father, was someone who really made an impact on Ducktown. Rest in peace. And we have a nice mezcaloni named after him and a few other things like that, where we just tried to show some love there. It was a really special thing when creating the cocktail menu to be able to honor these people that really gave Atlantic City the life that it is. 

Mike Ham [29:59 - 30:08]: Yeah. And I think, like, I would imagine, like, the community that exists here, like, you talk about rest. Like, other restaurants. Like, people can eat here, or they could eat. 

Julia Vain [30:08 - 30:08]: Yeah, we want them to. 

Mike Ham [30:08 - 30:25]: You know, like, they could eat wherever, of course. And. But I think it's, like, almost, you know, like, a sign of respect, like you said. But also, I feel like the people that are in this community that are making the community itself work. It's like the rising tides thing. Like, if you guys are doing well, everybody else is doing. Doing well. 

Julia Vain [30:25 - 30:26]: Absolutely. 

Mike Ham [30:26 - 30:27]: And I think that's a big thing. 

Julia Vain [30:27 - 30:53]: And I think with us opening here, we've had people, they come from docs, and they're like, the bartender sent us over to Angeleni's. Check it out. And then of course, like, when people are leaving my bar at midnight, I'm like, you better go to Docktown for your nightcap. And the same thing. If someone comes in here to get happy hour, I'm like, go to docs for dinner. Go to ponchos. You always want to spread the love around because these are the people when we don't in the off season that are gonna be coming and we're gonna pay each other's bills. 

Mike Ham [30:53 - 30:54]: Yeah. 

Julia Vain [30:54 - 30:58]: So, hey, you wanna come say hi? What's up? What's up, dude? 

Mike Ham [31:00 - 31:06]: Oh, yeah, we're rocking it wrong. We're almost done up a throwback. 

Julia Vain [31:08 - 31:13]: Enjoy. But anywho, so, yeah, that's basically, you know, that's the vibe, right? We fuck with everybody around here for sure. 

Mike Ham [31:14 - 31:22]: Exactly. As you could see. So I also, the last thing that I do wanna talk about, and I can't believe we haven't mentioned this already, but you could have a membership. 

Julia Vain [31:22 - 31:23]: Oh, yes. Who forgot about that? 

Mike Ham [31:23 - 31:29]: We totally forgot. So can you talk? I mean, I feel like it's like a little bit secretive. Not secretive. 

Julia Vain [31:29 - 32:51]: As far as the memberships go, if you would like to apply for one, you can go to clubmadridac.com and figure out how to use that fun website and apply for membership. And then after your application, you'll receive an email that essentially tells you the perks and benefits. And if you are approved, you can purchase one. But essentially, what we wanted to do as far as the memberships is in this area. A lot of places that are established have the ability to take care of the clients that have supported them throughout the years. We are starting fresh and anew, and we wanted to give priority access to the people that support us from the beginning. This membership allows us to gather info on the clients that come in here before they walk in the door. We know what they like to drink. They know when their kid's birthday is. We know if they're bar clients, dining room clients. If we know someone is doesn't non alcoholic, we want to send them out a mocktail or a pear. And we know what kind of snacks they like or allergies. So it's a way for us to just really make the experience special for the people that went out of their way to want to be a part of what we're doing. And essentially the membership, you get a monthly credit, there's some additional perks, and we have two tiers. And the main difference between the two tiers is able to reserve a bar seat with a higher tiered membership and able to. You get a higher monthly credit. And the rest, I can't really say sure, because that's the. If you know, you know. 

Mike Ham [32:51 - 33:15]: Yeah, if you know, you know. I love that. And that's what I think that makes this place cool. And I think that's a really good indicator of how much thought went into this. Not just on the space, but or on the drinks or on the food or whatever. Or just like naming stuff after some of like the legendary places and people around. Around the area, but also just in a sense of like, you know, like that exclusivity kind of thing and try to. 

Julia Vain [33:15 - 33:27]: It's cool to be exclusive without being non inclusive. Yeah, anybody can come here. We are not a members only club. We just give priority access to the. 

Mike Ham [33:27 - 33:28]: People that, yeah, a little extra love. 

Julia Vain [33:28 - 33:31]: A little extra love. And we love everybody equally. As long as you're nice to us. 

Mike Ham [33:31 - 33:32]: Exactly. 

Julia Vain [33:32 - 33:36]: And our members. We have this lovely limo out front that has some fun parks to it, too. 

Mike Ham [33:37 - 33:38]: I saw, I parked right behind it. 

Julia Vain [33:38 - 33:40]: So we'll check that out later. 

Mike Ham [33:41 - 33:44]: Okay, so people have been listening to this. They're like, I gotta get down there. I gotta. 

Julia Vain [33:44 - 33:45]: Sure, yeah. 

Mike Ham [33:46 - 33:49]: Where would you send them to go do that socials website, that kind of stuff? 

Julia Vain [33:49 - 34:22]: I would say to follow us on instagram at Angelones Club Madrid. And as of now, we only take reservations for the dining room for non members, so you can inquire there. We do not have a listed phone number as far as anything else. Just pull up. We're walking. First come, first serve. And we don't have the menu online for a reason. We gave you a little sneak peek of what's on there, but in the eighties, there was no websites. You just had to pull up if you wanted to see what was good. So pull up. Sweet, sick. Love it. 

Mike Ham [34:22 - 34:36]: So we'll make sure we put those in the show. Just go click them, check it out, come down, see it, and. Yeah, this has been great. I was really excited to come check the place out. I told you that. You know, I remember when it might have been like, maybe one of the first few days that you guys were open. 

Julia Vain [34:36 - 34:37]: Yes. 

Mike Ham [34:37 - 34:40]: The guy. Is it TJ that runs escape plans? 

Julia Vain [34:40 - 34:41]: Yes. He's awesome. We love escape planes. 

Mike Ham [34:41 - 34:50]: He came through and was like, I messaged him. Cause I saw he was here. I was like, oh, my God, that looks so cool. And I also saw you were talking about the beer label and I, like, collect them. I pulled them off the camera. 

Julia Vain [34:50 - 34:51]: Oh, I have to give you one. 

Mike Ham [34:51 - 34:57]: Put them in a book. That's sick. And I was like, I need that. Cause it looks so cool. It would be a nice addition to. 

Julia Vain [34:57 - 34:58]: What we'll get you on for sure. 

Mike Ham [34:59 - 35:24]: But he said that he was like, this place, they did such a good job, like, every detail, every whatever. And we're pumped for later. So come you. Yeah. So we'll put the links to the show notes, people. Just go click it, check it out, come down, have a drink, have some food, whatever. We'll also put greetings from the garden estate.com in the show notes as well. So you can go click our website, check out all of our episodes that we've kind of gone through this year because we're crushing it and we continue to crush it. 

Julia Vain [35:24 - 35:24]: Love it. 

Mike Ham [35:24 - 35:26]: Thank you so much for having me. 

Julia Vain [35:26 - 35:27]: Thank you. Thank you for having me. 

Mike Ham [35:27 - 35:38]: Yes, yes. Thank you. This has been the grease, really hard to say podcast powered by the New Jersey lottery. I'm Mike Ham. She was Julia Vane. We're at Angelones Club, Madrid in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Thanks for listening, and we'll catch you next time. 

Julia Vain [35:38 - 35:54]: Bye. You go all the way to alive.