Nice improvement.

It's been a year or more since my last visit to 5th Avenue, and there are some very good and a couple not-so-good updates to report. It's mostly good, so let's get the bad out of the way. Prices went up. A Heineken (bottle) was $8 and the girl I spent time with ordered some kind of mixed drinks (looked like vodka & cranberry) and they were $12 each. More pricey than the last time I went and knowing this place, I'll bet there was very little (or possibly zero) alcohol in the girl's drinks - not that I give a shit. The other thing was the excessively loud music. I don't care that they're playing Spanish (or Portuguese?) dance music while nobody's dancing, but for fuck's sake my ears are still ringing.

5th Ave was renovated a few years back. Obviously the sound system was upgraded - Lol. The layout is still the same. Long narrow place, at most 20 feet wide and probably 35 yards from front to back. Bar is to the right and runs the whole length of the building, so the layout makes it kind of difficult to get a look around. There's a "stage" behind the bar which is about a 6 inch step up from the floor and not used. If you go there to see dancing, you'll be disappointed. On the other hand, the place is basically a whorehouse, so you'll enjoy the visit, unless you're a faggot like 2Icee.

The granite bar is actually very nice and classy looking. Old rickety bar stools serve their purpose and are relatively comfortable. The outside and surrounding neighborhood still look like shit, but I've never had a problem either before or after the renovation.