Memories Lounge

Awful experience.

So I came down to Margate for my friend's father's birthday. After the fun-filled birthday party, myself and 5 friends, all in our mid-twenties, headed off to Memories for some drinks and dancing. After paying the cover, my friend and I, smiling and laughing, head to the dance floor. After dancing for about 30 seconds, the owner, Jerry, grabs my friends shoulder and tells us to calm down or "we're outta here." Up until that point, we had NOT tried to talk to ANYONE else at the bar. We were dancing for 30 SECONDS amongst ourselves, NOT BOTHERING ANYBODY. However, to appease Jerry, we calmed down a bit by refraining from dancing...even though Memories is known as a place where you go to dance. (I'm not positive who Jerry is, but afterwards, my friend from Margate informed me it was, indeed, Jerry)

After a couple of minutes go by, we see our friend Mike's lovely parents on the dance floor. Excitedly, we go over to greet them, smiling and lauging...kisses for his mother, handshake for his father. As I'm in the middle of talking to Mike's mother, Jerry storms out from the DJ booth, forcefully grabs my shoulder, and screams "YOU GUYS ARE FINISHED! YOU AND ALL YOUR FRIENDS - OUT OF HERE!" Confused, I exclaim that I was merely talking to my friend's parents. Jerry doesn't want to hear it - he continues to grab my shoulder, while shoving me towards the door. He hands back the $10 covers to myself and my friends and that's that.

Directly after, Mike's parents follow us outside and try to reason with the staff that we are their son's friends, and we were merely talking to them, doing nothing wrong. Despite Mike's parents trying to reason with them, neither Jerry nor his staff wanted to hear any type of rebuttal. They had apparently drawn their conclusions on my group the second we walked in.

After it was clear that we were kicked out of Memories, I stood there perplexed. In my ENTIRE life, I have NEVER been kicked out of a bar. I'm a polite, friendly person who, on the weekends, has a few drinks and looks to have a good time. My friends and I walked into Memories smiling and laughing, looking to have a good time AND NOTHING MORE. I'm not sure why Jerry assumed certain things about us - I'm still left in bewilderment as I write this. Jerry embarrassed the 6 of us for NO good reason (although, now that I think about it, I think it's safe to say Jerry embarrassed himself). We were well dressed, well groomed, and perfectly cordial to the other guests at the bar. My take on it is that, the second we walked in, Jerry pinpointed us and, for some reason I am not aware of, drew up a conclusion on us. He seems to be a narrow minded jerk who is desperately trying to keep a certain image at his bar (what that image is, I have no clue...he promotes Memories as a fun, dancing bar, yet kicks out 6 people who were ONLY dancing and socializing).

There's an EXCELLENT bar down the street called Tomatoes - it's a blast. You can dance, you can relax on the sidelines with a cocktail - whatever kind of night you would like, you can find it at Tomatoes. DO NOT waste your time at Jerry's Anti-Fun, Restrictive Dancing, "Footloose"-esque joke of a bar.

Memories? Not such good ones.

Sincerely,

EZ

If you have never been to Memories on a summer Saturday night, you are missing out.  The dance floor is packed all night, the soundtrack is hits from the 60s and 70s, and the party is led by the legendary Jerry Blavat.  Jerry is part MC, part host of the party.  He seems to know everyone there (Memories has been around for a long time) and gives shout outs to friends and the occasional celebrity in the crowd.  (Google "the geator with the heator" if you're curious.  Or read his book).

The crowd ranges from mid 20's to 60's.  Cover charge is normally $10.  It's most crowded on holiday weekends.

The reason for 4 in stead of 5 stars was that on a whim, we decided to go back Sunday night, and it was a totally different experience.  We thought that since it was labor day weekend, it would be like Saturday night...  not so.  They let us pay the cover even though the band (not the geator) was wrapping up.  We went in at 11:30, and the crowd emptied out pretty quickly at 12.  Saturday nights only!