The Painted Lady has everything you would want in a dive bar: indoor smoking, dim lighting, lots of character, reasonably priced drinks, hit or miss bands, a juke box, and a pool table. There are even a couple of arcade games (one of them is Pacman, if I'm not mistaken)
There's a front entrance that is only for bands, and a side entrance for patrons, so sorting the regulars from the newbies is easy(funny) when you see people walk right up, hesitate, look around and then shuffle into the parking lot behind someone who knows where they are going.
The bartenders are friendly, funny, and tattooed. The whole place is a delight for the eye, with stickers and scribbles all over the place in the bathroom, and posters/flyers of previous bands on the walls in the main room. Â There's even a projector to play movies in the background. Â
Even though you'll leave reeking of smoke, at least you won't have to worry about weak drinks.
Ignore how seedy the surrounding neighborhood looks and go there!
A smoky, grimy, booze-soaked place for seeing shows.The decor is practically a shrine to Pabst Blue Ribbon with some awesome cheesecake art from the 40's thrown in for good measure. Â It's also a good place to throw the end of your hamburger from Checker's at Ely. They have Ms. Pacman and a Tommy pinball game. Rockin! Â Also - a good place to stand on the toilet and marker up the bathroom ceiling!
Review Source:I want to like this place, because it has some cool things going for it, like the antique carved wooden back bar and its history as the former Lili's 21, not to mention pretty cheap drinks. Â But the negatives greatly outweigh the positives. Â I understand that this is a dive and a shoestring operation. Â But... the place does virtually nothing to promote its bands and shows. Â The stage layout is odd (but not entirely unworkable, I guess). Â The sound system is marginal. Â But the WORST aspect of the Painted Lady is the thick concentration of cigarette smoke in the air; there is no ventilation whatsoever. Â I believe you can catch TB just by walking in the door... it is that bad. Â Yes, this establishment freely allows smoking in flagrant disregard for the state law (like most Hamtramck bars)... and it is noxious. Â The last time I was there, I had to step outside every 10 minutes to catch my breath and prevent a heart attack. Â No. Never. Again.
Review Source:I was impressed with the talent. Â the pretty things peep show was worth the 10$ cover. Â and annette's friend passing out yelp goodies made it much better.
my boyfriend got to pull the proverbial sword out of the girls gullet and it made for a show. Â the emcee was hot in a john waters gay kinda way, which is right up my alley. Â
the thing i was most disappointed with was the drink prices. Â maybe they need to charge a higher price, but this was not dive bar prices. Â
sorry, i will be back, just for the open smoking, but i thought it was more birmingham prices.
i loved the tin ceiling and the clientele
love juston
I came here to see the Pretty Things Peep Show, so I had no idea what I was in store for. The place is a total dive...but I loved it! There's an old piano, some vintage light fixtures, they serve PBR on tap, awesome bathroom grafitti, cool bartenders, laid back vibe, but.....they allow smoking :( That totally turned me off. Other than that, I had a great time here. I'm sure I'll be back when I come down for the Polish Fest.
Review Source:The Painted Lady...
Total dump with tons of character (think Old Miami without the backyard). We were totally thrown off when the front door appears to be the entrance- but no - that's the bands entrance. Well, we tried to buzz ourselves in there, and felt like total idiots when we were told to enter thru the side door. Â Geez, a sign might be nice, but I guess that's a quick way to identify (or dissuade) the newbies. We were thrown off by the $6 cover, but since we were already there, wth.
We sat down at the bar, only to be overwhelmed with cigarette smoke (seriously, how did we go so long allowing this - its disgusting). Â The first of two bands started when we were there. Decent band, horrible sound.
They do a good job updating their Facebook page - it is intriguing enough for me to check them out. Now I know.
I was excited by the sight of the cute exterior, and the random location. Â And I was even more excited by the divey interior, and the fact that they have Spaten Optimator on tap ($4). Â
But then, they let people smoke. Â I mean, everyone was smoking except me. Â This is gross (and illegal).
It was like a flashback to bars of yesteryear, in the worst of ways. Â I guess the hipsters will at least keep the healthcare system alive and bloated, but I'm never returning here again. Â Even though I love Optimator on tap. Â Just plain gross.
The numbers on the building have a lot of history in Detroit music lore. The name is an homage to the wonderful woman who owned it before she passed away. There is no pretension here, it is just a damn fine place to grab a beer and enjoy whatever raucous noise is bouncing off of the walls. I love it to pieces and I am going to miss it like hell when I move out of state. Go get sauced and rock out to a great juke box during the week or open up to new sights and sounds at weeks end.
Review Source:Just wanted to balance out the avererage rating for one of my favorite spots. If your usual night out consist of Martini's, fashion and $50 per plate dinners, this likely wont become your favorite hangout, infact you'll probably hate it. However if you're laid back and open-minded and aren't terrified of being bumped into, I think you might be able to have fun here.
As noted below, the bands are hit or miss, the drinks are good and fairly priced, the stage is small, but enough for most of the bands that play there. The burnt out house next door have been torn down and is now use for parking.
If you like loud, grungy and cheap, you will love this place. Â This place has a wonderful dirty punk rock feel. Â They usually have live bands during the weekends. Â To be honest, the bands are hit or miss, I've been there for not-so-bad bands and some where...albeit terrible. Â
Overall, I always enjoy this bar. Â One of the reasons, I love this place so much is because of the great bartender! Â Andrew will make you some of the best drinks you'll ever have!! Â He's hands down my favorite bar-tender.
...side note, you'll always find an eclectic group of people here and some will even tear their shirts off ;-)
I find myself here a lot. Usually to see a band that's playing. I have caught the B movie night once. It was pretty sweet, I'll be back for it again. They usually have a cheap beer on tap and the bartenders are friendly. Scuzzy bars are my favorite kind. It's one of the reasons I love Detroit so much.
p.s. If you mention to the bartender that the bathroom is out of tp they'll come to the rescue. It maybe too late for you but the next person will be eternally grateful!
Prototypical (prototypal?) sweaty skunky Detroit dive bar. I spent my last New Year's Eve in detroit here with friends for a Miss Alice White show, before going to another dive bar for an electro-art-grunge performance show thing; an evening that pretty much cured me of needing to return to Detroit any time soon. Not much to say about the 'Lady, other than it's the textbook definition of a filthy, scuzzy Detroit bar. Seriously, the shit should be in wikipedia.
Review Source:i really like this place... i've only been here to see music, so i can't speak to it when there isn't a band playing, but it's a great little sh*thole music venue.
the band sets up right by the front door, which you can't enter... you've got to walk down this really creepy side alley that has a door that opens into the back area of the painted lady. Â there's no danger in the alley, as it doesn't lead anywhere... it's just small and dirty... but it's part of the charm.
the bars got your standard fare on tap... and the crowd is always diverse.
pretty awkward stage setup for the band, it's always hot as hell and the sound isn't that great... a real first class place!!!
but it's those things that make for a good experience at this place. Â the kind of place you'd only find in detroit. Â it's tough to find, too. Â it's right at the end of a row of houses, and looks like a house itself. Â it's one of those places you feel cooler for having visited... b/c most of detroit doesn't even know it exists.
park in the lot across the street, it's quite safe and never have i had my car messed with.
There's a creepy randomness I love about Hamtramck's Painted Lady that always brings me back. Located among houses and a McDonalds' this sorta seedy music venue is the place to go if you wanna see a band that is at the heart of the Detroit music scene.
It's an easy venue to miss and a bit disheartening on your debut visit when you realize that to get into the joint you have to walk through a slim, chain linked lined alley to get in, but once you do expect to experience something truly Detroit.
Cluttered with couches, retro chairs and a juke box from everything from Ray Charles to the Descendents to Marvin Gaye, the Painted Lady has featured some of Detroit's best as well as indie national acts like Thunderlip. This is a hardcore beer and whiskey sort of bar, so come prepared in jeans and boots.
The bartenders are a blast and drinks afforadle, just b.y.o.t.p (Bring your own toilet paper), ladies,. For some reason every time I go to the loo here, there's no t.p.
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