What an exciting time to be a Martignetti brother! First their new restaurant, Brinkley’s (in the old Bar Martignetti space) opened its doors. Then, the twosome and hundreds of their closest friends broke an untold number of fire ordinances at Southside’s wall-to-wall packed 1st anniversary party. And tomorrow, Tom Martignetti is set to marry Bailey something in Newburyport, MA. Congrats to the happy couple and good thinking on the timing- it’s a lot harder to forget three approaching anniversaries than one. More»

[Bella's (R), Southside (L)] Anthony and Tom Martignetti will toast the 1st birthday of their Soho club, Southside, on November 5th (invite below). But what are they really celebrating? Besides its name, little about the venue has changed since the brothers brought a loyal preppy crowd to 1 Cleveland Place in 2006 with Bar Martignetti and its downstairs bar, Bella’s.  More»

More news from Broome Street. Brinkley’s is getting set to open. After a long (LOOOONG) period of dormancy, it looks like the Tom and Anthony Martignetti may finally be getting their act together. Kudos to the pair for managing to schmooze the neighborhood board. The upstairs bar/restaurant above Southside is set to be called “Brinkley’s” and, since its blocks away from the GofG offices, we thought we’d walk on over and see what the story was.  The exterior looks to be completed. How are things on the inside?

More story and photos below… More»

[Disco mans the door at Bungalow 8] Last fall, when Southside first opened, we wondered if Anthony Martignetti’s newest role was channeling Amy Sacco. After giving the basement of his Center and Broome St. “Bar Martignetti’s” from “Bellas” into “Southside” we noticed quite a few similarities from another hotspot…Bungalow 8.First Anthony swiped Amy’s palm trees and black tiles. Now he’s stealing her doorman, Disco. Sacco’s Bungalow 8, rumored to be closed last week but actually just renovating, has lent its imposing gatekeeper to Martignetti’s Harvard-friendly SoHo lounge.

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Southside’s door-worker Timmy Sheldon broke with his polite streak by copycatting the velvet-rope-swinging ways of Marquee’s Wass Stevens.  We’re not exactly sure why his Ascot got into a bunch, but we hear that Southside’s owner and adled bottle-monger Anthony Martignetti decided to let go of Sheldon after the incident.

The recent rise in door person violence might be some indication that times are tough in clubland…. More»

[Where there's smoke...there's Southside]

Southside, the more “upscale” clubby NYU-student version of the former Trinity-frat alumni bar Bella’s has managed to attract the Union Square and UES crowd for some months now.  Is it the presence of DJ Nick Cohen, the ambiance, or the smoking that makes it a draw for these kids?  It’s clearly no longer the defunct Bar Martignetti’s restaurant upstairs which floundered under neglect and a weak menu offering.  Check out these photos that showed up in our inbox today. Although Mayor Bloomberg outlawed smoking in public establishments ages ago, perhaps the boys Martignetti are between a rock and a hard spot like other club owners in the city.  If you charge people $1500 dollars a table, you pretty much have to let them do what they want right?  More photos after the jump… More»

Towards the end of January, we reported on the closing of Bar Martignetti’s, our neighborhood joint on Broome street with the downtown Dorrian’s (Southside) in the basement.  We decided to check in on the place today, which was supposed to be reopening “in a few weeks” according to the sign posted on its doors on Jan 28th.  And what did we find? Not much.  Take a look for yourself at the progress of the place.  Perhaps Anthony Martignetti has his hands full with all of the ruckus downstairs, or maybe they are spending their time worrying about the rumored location out east they are opening this summer?  Or, maybe, just maybe, they have a case of the recession blues like the rest of us.

In any event, whatever happened to those ambitious “plans” Martignetti told Grubstreet about a few months ago is anyone’s guess. More photos after the jump….  More»

[Windows papered at BarMart]

A tipster sent in word today that our neighborhood joint, Bar Martignettis, the place which started Bellas then Southside has CLOSED!  Didn’t notice?  Probably not since the restaurant has been virtually empty the past couple of months.  But don’t worry, it’s only for a couple of weeks for “renovations” (apparently the place is going to have a much more “pub-like” feel with a new bar in the back of the restaurant), but we are wondering if anyone will care?

More including note from owners below:

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[Bungalow 8 on the left, Southside on the right]

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, or so we’ve heard.  And Anthony Martignetti has cited Indochine and Le Colonial as muses for his bottle bar Southside, but he hasn’t mentioned Bungalow 8. Curious because the two places seem to have so much in common with respect to design (much like our website).  It’s as if Amy Sacco had her hand in it.  For kicks let’s take a quick look at the two places and see what they have or don’t have in common.

Tall, Large Doorman

Bungalow8 - Disco

Southside - Q

Expensive Signature Fruity Cocktail

Bungalow8 - $18 Watermelon Martini

Southside - $17 Piña Colada More»

“It’s $1500 Tonight, But I’ll Let You In For $1200″

What unscrupulous club bar proprietor said this recently…

It was none other than Anthony Martignetti. We’ve long been the proponents of Martignetti’s and the old inexpensive dive bar Bella’s, however, Bella’s latest iteration, Southside, is an expensive dive bar. One which Martignetti is desperately trying to turn into a bottle service type atmosphere where they hawk bottles down patrons throats. It’s highway robbery, and quite frankly, in this economy it’s an insult. More to come as we chronicle this fledgling bar as it tries to pretend it’s something it’s not…

Oh and remember what Anthony recently told New York Magazine (gulp):

The emphasis won’t be on bottle service. Instead, Martignetti says that he and his bartender, Dennis Denisoff…are working on a “gourmet fishbowl.” [NYMag]

NOT!

Update: A look through better times:

[RIP Bella's 2006-2008]
[Best $2k I Ever Spent! Southside Is Here!]
[Socializing At Southside: Let The Party Begin]
[Introducing Southside: Reincarnation Never Looked This Good]
[Socializing At Southside: Hey Mr. DJ!]
[I Can't Believe It's Not Butter At Bar Marts]
[James Willis Blessed From The Party Gods]

And Now:

[It's $1500 Tonight, But I'll Let You In For $1200]

What unscrupulous club bar proprietor said this last night?  Find out after the jump… More»