One of our forum members has brought up a hot item concerning Miller’s. The bar is certainly THE dive bar of the downtown mall. It attracts everything from the train people to regular Charlottesville joes. Molokuoltra writes:
I have been a patron of Millers for over 10 years and in the past few months I have observed the following incidents:
bartenders & managers serving underage drinkers until the point that have had to be carried from the bar (2 occasions within a month)
at least 3 employees (1 bartender/manager & 2 servers) allowed to work (i.e. serve food & drinks to the public) while having & showing physical signs of staph infection
• evidence of drug use in the bathrooms & I don’t mean weed, I mean the kind where bllod shoots out of your arm onto the wall.I like a dive bar as much as the next dirtbag, but it has gotten down right disgusting at a place that was once the focal point of the downtown music & social scene and it’s very sad. I understand if this post is blocked, but I will say again there is no untruth to any of the above, because I have seen it with my own eyes, & I have heard it from current employees.
Sorry, but people need to know what’s going on there.
Has anyone else observed similar problems? Of course drug usage doesn’t have anything, necessarily, to do with their staff. I’ve always thought Miller’s had a great patio and servers that don’t give a flying d*g about anything. So, I usually avoid Miller’s late at night and grab drinks during the day or the afternoon.
So, Charlottesville, what are your thoughts?
Related posts:
- Where the industry goes
- Bang!
- Of All the Bars on the Downtown Mall, Why Would You Break into Millers?
If you check out some of the patrons, you shouldn’t be all that surprised, though I still am a little about the hard drugs and the staph infections. It’s pretty damn seedy…..but in a lot of ways it always has been. That’s one reason I have never, in nearly 20 years, eaten a meal there. They still serve good Bass Ale though.
My one meal there was a “hairy situation,” “figuratively speaking.”
I think the place has its ups and downs. Last night, I stopped in for drinks with a few friends. We had spectacular service and a few cool interactions with some other (outside) tables. n=1, of course.
Miller’s has, since I’ve been here (‘95), always been a huge vortex of ’suck’
Just about the only place on the mall I won’t go
-gary
Drug use at Miller’s?!? I’m shocked…SHOCKED!
That’s extremely well put.
The last time I ate at Miller’s was twenty years ago and there was a cockroach in my salad. The staff thought it was funny. I’ve never been back.
Protein, man. Don’t be such a species-ist.
Drug use is not shocking. The kind that involves needles is, or maybe I’m just more naive that I should be.
I liked eating at Miller’s on the patio. The food was decent and affordable, but this story turns my stomach if it’s true. I have a hard time buying heroin use in the bathroom by employees though.
Seems like the consensus here seems to be anti-Miller’s. I’ll dissent a bit…
If you’re judging Miller’s by its food, I think you’re missing the point entirely. Take a place like Blue Light: if you think about it, there’s not much to it in terms of food, drink, ambience, or clientele. It’s not upscale, but attracts people who really groove on paying for the appearance of being upscale. Blue Light charges you for an image without delivering any substance, and it’s replicated up and down the mall. That’s why I love Miller’s. Sure, it’s dirty and the bar maitrons cop attitudes. Sure, the clientele might be a little bit odiferous. But goddamn it if Miller’s isn’t the only honest bar in the area. It’s completely unpretentious and, in my opinion, a really interesting place to take in a representative sample of the local population. Plus, when all you want to do is sit and drink a few beers, why suffer the pomp of the trendier joints?
Miller’s must be doing something right. Anyone who’s tried to sit outside after 5pm since the weather warmed up knows how difficult it can be to find a table. And the crowd, more often than not, is more yuppie than vagrant.
I’m pretty sure Miller’s can’t go downhill; it was never uphill. And that’s kind of the point.
Oh yeah…the drug use and high potential for a good bar fight on any given night just serve to endear it to me further.
BusRider, I have a blog crush on you. You had me at “suckitude,” and now “why suffer the pomp?” I wish there were more fights in general, for my personal entertainment. I’ll never marry a man who gets in fights, but there really is something special about leaning in to someone and saying, “I think the blonde chick is going to lose!” Don’t roll your eyes. I bet you watch Olympic boxing. Bar fights are the amateur league.
Millers is what it is. I’m not getting my panties in a bunch over grime in the mall’s only “dive,” and I’m pretty sure the folks at Millers prefer it that way. Let’s watch what we suggest takes place in the bathrooms… if Google’s “feeling lucky,” you might not be at some point. Thanks!
Yeah, I third BusRider here. There’s a bit too much clutching at pearls about Miller’s here. A “dive” bar? Break me a fucking give.
Charlottesville’s “dive” bars:
#1: Outback Lodge — it really doesn’t get much “divier” than Outback. Even when you’re going to watch your friend’s band, the second you walk in, you know you’re not welcome.
#2: Durty Nelly’s — It’s strange because they’re right plop in the middle of college city, but this shit is what you’re looking for if you’re going to actually use the word, “dive”.
#3: Coup’s — this is a dive bar at it’s fullest potential; nothing but low-lifes can be found here, no matter what time of year you decide to visit such an establishment.
Miller’s??? pfffff….!!!
Please. Just because smelly crust punks like to hang under the canopy doesn’t mean this is a dive bar. They have the largest patio on the mall; sure, the service will more than likely be slow as fuck, but whatever, if you’re a “c-villain”, than you should expect nothing less. Stay at the X-Lounge, because to real “C-villains”, you’re nothing but a fucking joke.
Dijon- Hah coup’s as a dive bar? Are you serious? Coupe’s is an underage, college hangout. You don’t know jack. Ooh and to prove you know even less apparantly your definition of a “dive bar” is “gets in Playboy magazine,” because Coupe’s recieved a mention from Playboy years ago. OH SNAP.
Also for you “dive bar” gastapo, as far as I’m concerned a dive bar is just a not so fancy, locally focused bar.
If you are a townie you know not to eat at Millers. Thats a big joke with townies you can always tell the people who are eating on Millers patio are not from here. Millers back in the 90’s used to be an awesome bar, with great music and a staff made up of truly good looking people. If you knew someone you got a drink fast, but no one ate more than maybe the chips and salsa from a jar there. When Steve Tharpe sold it in September of 2001 the new owner changed a lot of things and by “mid-2002, most of the waitstaff had turned over, pool tables had been added on a new third level, the menu had been completely overhauled, and it had lost most of its long-time crowd of regulars.” The new owner wasn’t interested in preserving millers, but instead wanted to make it a sportsbar setting…..Millers became a joke to townies, and everyone stopped going. Then came the Dave Matthews fans and the transient train kids and all the daytime drunks. The food sucks, the staff is unattractive and drugs, hard drugs seem very believable to me.
I don’t think I’d call Miller’s a dive, either. I think it’s kind of lame these days, though I’ll have a drink there before a show once or twice a year.
Wait…scratch that. I haven’t gone since they set up a table out front and sold t-shirts for $20 to people who came to town for the DMB shows at JPJ. I heard that they also were charging a cover that weekend and the drink prices were jacked up to DC levels. I’m all for them making some money off tourists who want to see the place, but it seemed so slimy, especially when most of the customers were teenagers who probably saved up to make a special trip here.
ok ok ok … i take it back … it’s not a dive
a cover?!
GOD FORBID Miller’s employ unattractive people! Perhaps Downtown should issue a dictum proscribing ugly people. We don’t won’t *those types* ruining the beautiful scenery with the beautiful people on the mall. Are you really that vacuous, Caroline? You disgust me.
By Wikipedia users’ standards, Coupe’s is a dive. But by mine, Coupe’s really isn’t. I think location and general reputation is a factor for being a “dive.” It has to be slightly off the beaten track and definitely shouldn’t be packed with people in Brooks Brothers and Lily Pulitzer spending [their parents'] expendable income. Dives sometimes have a self-exclusive celeb like a regular drunk or musician, and I think Benny Dodd meets the latter criteria for me. And most bars are dirty and have old signs and sell cheap drinks. I feel uncomfortable calling X, OXO, or Zocalo “bars.” “Lounge” seems more appropriate.
Like Miller’s, it is what it is. And it’s a $#!%-show. The fountain has probably been ralphed in more than the toilets in the bathrooms. I’ve had some friends work there, so I’m not just making it up. The point is that it’s the preppiest $#!%-show I’ve ever seen.
this post is gettin wild.
Coupe’s = drive bar according to Wiki? SWEET. I mentioned more as a jest because their crowd/music can s my d — it only fits my definition because of that. Playboy probably mentioned it so all their male UVA readers would know where they approve of finding a young, shit-canned lady to take advantage of. DIVE.
Futhermore, I think if a bar is in the trendiest part of town, that it automatically puts it outside of the “dive” category. Miller’s is the best place to sit outside and get drunk and smoke cigarettes on the mall. Escafe’s too isolated, that other place next to is too froo-froo(and is not even open till two, I believe), you can’t smoke at Zo-Ca-Lo, Blue Light’s too small, and Rapture is a meat market(meaning their crowd is Coupe’s, but all grownz up). Actually, C&O’s outside is pretty awesome, but you can’t people watch.
Lillith: Preppiest? I think the crust punks scare the preps away. The preps hang out at Blue Light.
should I sugar coat it for you ethan? beautiful people=$$$ and a place where people want to keep coming back, ugly people=bad for business!
So if Miller’s hired a bunch of beautiful people, would that trump the smell of beer and cigarettes inside? Would the Blue Light crowd suddenly flock to Miller’s? No, I think there’s a lot more to a bar/restaurant than what the people on the inside look like. Little John’s is popular on the corner despite not employing any males or females whose physical attributes are not radiant enough to make one’s loins quiver. Miller’s is–bar none–the most popular place to eat dinner on the mall when it is warm out, mostly because the dining experience is pleasant and inexpensive, It would continue to do well regardless of the looks of its waitstaff.
Obviously an establishment like X-Lounge or Blue Light requires a staff that is easier on the eyes, only because this is where the insipid and vain Charlottesvillians who feign class go, i. e. the shallow types who put more stock in looks than personality. Miller’s has personality. That’s why people go there.
If people actually looked around at Blue Light would they continue to think it’s high end?
What I mean to say is that it’s pretentious, not high end. It’s the bar for the 25 year old former fratboy and sorority girl.
I gotta say the only thing Miller’s has going for it is location. If it was on the far end of the Mall (let alone a side street or not on the Mall at all), nobody would go there except maybe the aforementioned undesireables (aka people who smell like vomit and are totally okay with that) and the unviersally agreed upon as annoying DMB tourists. You can get most of the same drinks for the same low prices at The Nook with food that, while not good, probably won’t result in food poisoning (let alone a Hep B infection). And if all that Miller’s has in the plus column is the patio, then a patio that smells like a two week bender with a side of dog piss qualifies as a descent into “suck” to borrow a phrase.
Ethan, I agree with you in the sense that most days I refuse to pull on a pair of designer jeans just so I don’t get scoffed at when I go out for a simple Maker’s Mark on the rocks, but I also don’t want to feel grateful for the cloud of cigarette smoke because at least it covers up the BO.
you are so going to be identified… a chick who wears designer jeans and drinks makers..
I’ll spot you before you spot me, as you’ll be the only guy who ever orders gelato at Milano’s ; )
oh ethan, people go to Littlejohns at 3 in the morning when they are wasted, the staff probably looks pretty good by then. I’m worried for you if you think the food is good at Millers and it’s “a pleasant dining experience.” Lys is right, people go to Millers for the patio, for beer and smokes, NOT the food. If Millers lost it’s patio it would go out of business. My point is, Millers USED to be a really cool place, and since 2002 it sucks.
haha.. shit… must change habits…
Uh, Caroline, Little John’s is the second most popular place to eat lunch on the corner, after Bodo’s. A lot of medical center staff eat there. They seem not to care what the Little John’s employees look like. Perhaps they are not as sophisticated as you. Or maybe you were just trying to make a joke. It failed.
I said the food was decent at Miller’s; as in, not bad. I have had worse food in town. By “pleasant dining experience” (referring only to patio dining), I mean that one can eat outside in the nice weather without being rushed, have adequate service, and eat for less than $10. There aren’t many places left on the mall that allow you to eat for that little. Sure, if Miller’s didn’t have a patio, it probably would go out of business. And my point is if Miller’s cast their ugly staff from the Tarpeian Rock and replaced them with young, hip, sexy sophisticates, it wouldn’t change their business. It’ll still smell like cigarettes and stale beer, and it’ll still attract its regular, highly-diverse crowd. You’d have to renovate the entire place to bring in a different sort of customer, and by this point, it would cease to be the Miller’s we all know and love (or love to hate), and just become Miller’s Lounge or something.
Ok..to summarize:
This is playing out like an S.E. Hinton novel. Miller’s folks are the Greasers, the Blue Light/Zo Ca Lo/[insert wannabe-cool bar name here] are the Socs.
Let’s have a good old-fashioned rumble down at Miller’s. You bring a cardigan, I’ll wear my Frye boots.
Pony Boy and Johnny send their regards.
ooh, yeah – and 216 can be the Sharks and the Jets!
This by far has to be one of the best posts/debates/rants I think I have seen on here…..
p.s. – I think i may have to buy a new keyboard since I my drink all over it after reading your comment “oy”
XSV
mean to say I spit my drink
can we have an edit button?
Yeah, the thread kind of rocks. Millers… as long as you subscribe to the “negative attention is better than no attention” adage, consider this free advertising and consider yourself the coolest kid on the block. I promise to buy a beer from you this weekend, and I bet a lot of other cVillains will too. We love your manufactured beer.
Damn, I started some $#*!, huh. Most excellent! Was anyone there this past Monday night (Feb. 18th) when the tatooed bartender clocked M. Wilner? I would have loved to have seen it.
Molokoultra, someone awesome just introduced me to Moloko. Which is awesome. So you’re awesome by default.
thanks lilith, but my nomenclature is a semi-contraction of a person & group from a crazy film, can you guess which one?
@40 – A Clockwork Orange?
Horrorshow! Russian influence. Great book.
you got it Street!!!
I feel so intelligent now. I believe I’ll reward myself with a nice glass of chianti….who am I kidding? Bring on the space bag!
they should serve space bags at Millers!
@45 Bahahahaha!
(I am so glad I brought my towel)
I just heard a bartender there was found passed out on the floor one morning this week by a delivery guy! Party on dude!!
I’d rather he sleep it off at the office than drive home drunk. If he has one. Seriously, I vigorously uphold the right of people to sleep wherever and whenever they want. Not everyone one can jog home for a cat nap or whatever people call it who live in $400,000 houses downtown while they run little knickknack cafes on the mall. “Passed out” indeed.
A little birdie told me the offending (and fired) bartender is the same one who punched M. Wilner on Monday.
I have never had a problem at Miller’s, in fact I always meet the most fun and interesting people there. Didn’t one of own Cvillains recently comment (I think in the “Where to Study” post) about what an improvement Miller’s has made over the past few months?
I happen to know you just don’t like Miller’s, Thor…but just when is the last time you actually graced it with your higher than thou presence?! Shame on you.I expect you to have visited it at least once more before slandering it again
So sez the person who blasted Boheme because of bottled water from Norway.
Also, Wilner, well, I wouldn’t punch him, but…
(he’s good as long as he stays on stage).
Hey! That was cocoNUT. I blasted Boheme cause their food was NOT good. I want water out of the tap…or better anything with alcohol will do! The gravy was watery…that is just unacceptable.
hazyview — at least know who said what if you are going to get onto someone.
I was the one who commented about Miller’s in the Where to Study post, Lu. It’s still in the flux of change/improvements.
oops. my apologies, lu sid.
Well, I appreciate your positive comments. I agreed completely with them.
Thank you hazyview.
I don’t think anyone has mentioned that Miller’s had a major shakeup about a month ago. The owner had his management team from the Carrollton, Ga. Miller’s move up here so he could fire Danny, the previous manager. (that’s right, Miller’s has been franchised – though the Georgia Miller’s is much more a fine dining type restaurant)
Since then, the place has been scrubbed, polished and revamped, including new smoke-eaters and a brand new menu. It’s still bar food, but it’s way better. Most of the staff has been replaced, and all in all, it looks like a brand new day for downtown’s greatest dive.
After five years playing every Sunday over there, it feels great to have management that actually cares about what’s going on inside. Yay, Mike and Anna!
Oh, and it’s true about bartender Johnny (who was actually a Carrollton import). He’s been having a rough time at home, got all tore up, took a swing at Willner (who’s not even mad about it), and passed out on the floor. Poor bastard. Wake up, Johnny!
6,000 people a day read this blog. seriously.
be mindful of names, and consider how much it would suck if it were yours being tossed around on here.
That was an awful serious comment coming from you parlie. I would feel pretty bad right now if that had been directed at me. Remind me never to get on your bad side.
oh, thanks?
it just seems like sometimes people forget how many eyes are on this site. i’m the reminder. i get to remind.
i promise i won’t be serious any more.
parlie hour is a “drama” today
I’m the decider. And I decide that parlie’s the reminder. And the sarcasticer.
Or is it sarcasmer?
I like it…drama on Cvillain…stay tuned for more serious news and love triangles.
Thank you for retiring the seriousness for the day parlie. (We may have all needed the reminder anyway)
sarcasmatron
sarcastrator
today, on a very special parlie hour…
sarcasm takes a quick nap, and smiley makes an important decision.
do not miss!
gobbler wins the internets today!
we actually decided to revoke his internet award after we saw comment 57 on the armageddon thread. it was too lame to ignore.
why the dump has nobody but cruddy b commented on the STAPH INFECTIONS. Good lawd.
oh! i know that one:
it’s because we don’t know what a staph infection is.
Staph infection is a bacterial infection where you get a nasty-ass skin (or any other kind of skin, badoom ching!) infection. Big deal at hospitals where antibiotic resistant strains have evolved. But even the low level ones mess you up big time and when you get something like this (http://www.lewrockwell.com/klassen/staph2.jpg) on the arm of someone bringing you out a plate of wet, warm crinkle fires and cigarette butts at Millers, it’ll take you aback.
That, btw ,was one of the least gross pics I could find.
Love,
Tuffy
Click to enlarge:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/staph-infections/DS00973/DSECTION=2
What you saw at Millers was probably just a tattoo.
tattoos usually don’t usually look like bruised needle marks with blood oozing out, mmmm, I’m getting hungry
It was death/metal tattoo. You’re used to the regular “emo” style of tattoo I’d wager.
well I have seen many tattoos, punk, metal, sailor, etc & I have also seen plenty of junkies, I’m pretty sure it wasn’t a tattoo, colfer
Its true and unfortunate that Danny allowed an employee to continue working even though she was heavy into heroin use and sores were visible on her arms. This is one of the reasons Management has been changed. I am sorry I let things go on, such as poor service and lack of detailed cleaning and upkeep. I wanted the employees that were with me for so long and a few that saw this as a career position to perform at the highest level. Sure Millers is a bar, but it should be clean. You should get a cold drink and a sandwich in a timely fashion.
The sports bar comment upsets me. I never intended for Millers to be a sports bar. There are no TVs and no video games on the first or secund floor. I have always had the greatest respect for what Millers meant to the community. The main reason I fell in love with the place and purchased it was the old cabinets, tile floor and tin cieling. The atmosphere that attracted the homeless, the buisness man, tourist, occasinal redneck, blue collar workers and late night drunks is something I wanted to preserve. This is the kind of place I look for to hang out in every where i have lived
. Theres a place in Atlanta called Atkins Park, its the oldest bar in Ga. If you were to walk in and have a cold beer you could swear you were in C’ville at Millers. The one thing that I saw when I bought the buisness in 2001 is that the service was poor and drinking for free was enjoyed by a lot of patrons. Atkins park has been around since 1937 and the reason for that success is its neighborhood appeal, great service and quality product at a good price. Improve the level of service and foo , end the free ride for the bartenders and waitress friends and restore the cieling were the only things I wanted to change. Since day one I have been accused wanting to turn Millers into a sports bar. I have been yelled at for wanting to hang tv’s from the back bar cabinets. My only responce is “what the hell are you talking about”. I have hired a few servers over the years that people have said don’t fit the Millers requirements for employment.. The idea that you had to be hip (Millers Hip) and a artistic genious to work as a waitress i have never understood. Get me a drink quickly and bring me another one before my glass is empty is the only thing I care about when I am at a bar or restraunt. Male or female, ugly or hot, WHO CARES!!!. I hire and my managment should hire on the same principle. The previous managers in the end where only hiring there friends and refused to fire them when they didn’t do there job or had other serious and obvious problems.
Drugs have never been sold by me or my employees to my knowledge. Do I think that occasionally things occur that I don’t condone between one guest to another, probably.
I think every bar and restaurant in the country has hired an employee that turned out to be ceedy. When we find a employee breaking the law in anyway he is fired. It does take longer than you would like to discover these things about an employee if you are not in the market for his product. Especially if he is a hard worker.
The Pool Room on the third floor was never intinded to be truly a part of Millers. I have always seen it as this separate place that you can hang out in without leaving the building. When I step into the Pool Room I know I have left Millers, but after a game of pool the old charm of Millers and John D’earth are waiting for me.
I hope that the service, cleanliness and food have greatly improved. Trusted long-time guests tell me things are greatly improved. I tried to pass out comment cards but it got the response i thought it would. “Comment cards at Millers? Is this a joke!!”
Anyone that has any complaints or compliments please send email to millersdowntown@gmail.com
Well said. I think times have changed. I go to miller’s all the time and it’s always great whether I eat, drink or do both.
@79
that’s awesome, thank you for taking the time to reply. i’ll always love the place, and always go there.
I’m sure you have done and will do it justice, if only for your own fond memories of the place.
the place took a bad hit when steve tharpe left, of course.
and a terrible hit when all the WV potheads were hired to replace the old staff of bright, educated etc.
and a terrible hit when the pool-room went in.
and a terrible hit when the middle floor (Upstairs) stopped being open–EVER.
and a terrible hit when someone ILLUMINATED BRIGHTLY the Upstairs.
and a terrible hit when college students started coming in
… (on any night other than when they were required to see John D’Earth for Jazz Studies Class)
however–you can’t be blamed for:
the service has always been painfully slow and the staff has always been
made up of addled potheads even back when most of them had Master’s and PhDs.
however:
it no longer stocks camels nonfilters
i was there a couple weeks ago and there was NO champagne. at all. even the cheap shit.
NO champagne???. I’m sure as hell not going there then.
it used to be a lot of fun during 9-to-5 hours to sit on that particular patio and
drink way too much VERY CHEAP champagne and laugh at pedestrians.
For me, Miller’s used to be the place where you would order a drink, then wait way too long for it, and then when it finally arrived, it was way bigger/stronger than it should have been. This always seemed to me a happy compromise. Last few times I was there, I waited way too long for a drink, and it was normal, if not smaller and weaker than it should have been. This seemed to me an unhappy non compromise.
/used to love it. I still give it another chance every two months or so.
Otter, I had no idea you were a Champagne drinker! I grew up smoking cigarettes (camel unfiltered) in Miller’s and drinking bud bottles when I came home on weekends from Boarding School.
@84
very true. i must admit it was a shock when the NEW miller’s came,
and for what seemed like the first time ever someone had the crust to ask me to PAY for what i drank.
@85
it was the Pilgrim’s Progress, T. I moved here at 21 and started on Gin Rickeys, then Sloe Gin Fizz, then Pimm’s Cup #1, then Gin and Bitters, then straight rail gin with club soda. The Champagne exclusively for celebrating when i frequently got fired or quit or got dumped.
i don’t think i’ve ever bummed a cigarette in my life, but i hope i was there to gladly give you some of mine.
cheers to you, then, Friend of my youth.