Jan. 18, 2018 By Tara Law
The owners of Astoria bar Judy & Punch have opened a Jersey Shore themed bar.
Madam Marie’s bar opened at 35-15 Broadway in December and is owned by Mike Higgins and Barry Spellman. The pair own Judy & Punch which they opened two blocks away in 2014.
Higgins and Spellman have two other partners with the Madam Marie venture. They are Ted Gayler, owner of the bar/restaurant Union Grounds in Brooklyn, and first-time bar owner Paul Raferty.
Higgins grew up in a beach town in New Jersey. He said that he wanted a bar that reminded him of his childhood down by the shore.
“It’s garish and it’s in your face, but it always made me feel good,” Higgins, who now lives on the Upper East Side, said referring to the Jersey Shore.
Madam Marie’s has many touches inspired by trips to the boardwalk. Customers are invited to play an arcade game or pick a song from the jukebox.
Madam Marie’s serves cocktails named for Jersey Shore music.
Southside Johnny, named after a Jersey Shore based band, is made with cucumber, mint, syrup, lime and Hendrick’s Gin. “Spirit of the Night” is named for a Bruce Springsteen song, contains bourbon, maple syrup, bitters, and is served with a cinnamon stick in a highball glass.
The bar also features 14 draft lines and 23 beers in cans in bottles.
The bar takes its name from Marie Costello, a psychic who worked at a booth for many years on Asbury Park’s boardwalk. She was immortalized in the Bruce Springsteen song “4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy).”
The bar features a mural depicting a fortune teller like Costello, which was painted by artist Danielle Mastrion.
Mastrion has painted on several walls by the Coney Island boardwalk.
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11 Comments
A blight to the neighborhood. Windows wide open. Shitty music blasting. Drunk screaming hipster douchebags smoking. Korean restaurant next door already had a window smashed in. The Scorpio was nuts but they kept to themselves. Now the scenesters and their cheap spirits will be puking all over Broadway. Hurray!! This is not Asbury Park. please fuck off
More like Coney Island inspired.
Great bar with great people behind it. If you like Judy and Punch on 30th its the same vibe. Check out trivia night on Wednesdays!
Why not just name it dumb and dumber
Do they have tanning booths, free weights and laundry?
Great News and Best of Luck! So many people were so upset about one old bar closing in Astoria just a couple of days ago and now they must be jumping for joy!
Ugh, the bros and woo girls will be all over this place.
God bless them keeping the spirit many devoted people who cared and worked hard to stay loyal to the Jersey Shore is wonderful I’m from Philly but always loved the Jersey Shore spent many days there with my kids and now with my 6 yr old granddaughter who loves the shore and talks about it all the time, I hope to visit your place of business thank you.
Out of business in about a year.
Don’t be so negative.☹
Still going strong my friend ?