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Mike's Place Jerusalem Jerusalem Jaffo 37 02-6252386

http://www.mikesplacebars.com Show on GoogleMap Parking available

Mike's Place offers an island of sanity in a region torn apart by conflict. For those wishing to put their differences aside, the bar has always provided a safe and relaxed haven to enjoy live music and good company. Mike Viggoda, a retired photo-journalist started this tradition in 1993, when he opened a cozy little bar in downtown Jerusalem, where he welcomed all, regardless of religion, politics or ethnicity. This tiny little pub that many people mistook for a private living room later became a prominent Jerusalem landmark. From the very beginning, Mike's Place attracted the most eclectic assortment of individuals: from travelers to native Israelis, foreign students to Russian immigrants. Arabs, Jews and Christians all sat together with, journalists, diplomats, soldiers and UN personnel - all sharing the good vibes, good music and great beer. All this in the most disputed and fought-over city in the Middle East. In the background, unique and unmistakable, the signature of Mike's Place; free, live music - every night. Assaf Ganzman Among the original regulars, or the irregulars as they became known - was Haifa-born, Jerusalem-raised Assaf Ganzman, who had just returned to Israel from playing the blues and managing nightclubs in Nashville, Tennesse. In 1995, in what became Mike's Place folklore - Ganzman inherited the bar when Vegoda threw in his bar-towel, tossed him the keys, wished him well and headed back to Canada. Within months - Mike's Place became one of the best known secrets in Jerusalem, with customers spilling out of the door, the bar so crowded that drinks passed from the bar over people's heads, crowds of people hanging out outside, drinking and partying while passers-by would just plant themselves on the sidewalk and enjoy the live music. It really never stopped being that living room.