In 1995, Assaf Ganzman, an Israeli blues musician and vocalist for a band called SOBO, became an owner of the bar after Vigodda returned to Canada.[2]
Locations
Mike's Place bars
Mike's Place on the beachfront promenade in Tel Aviv
In 1999, the bar moved to Jerusalem's Russian Compound and in 2005 to Jaffa Road. In 2001, a second branch was opened in Tel Aviv, next to the American Embassy on the Tel Aviv beachfront. The Jerusalem branch closed on January 4, 2009, when the 19th-century building in which it was housed was demolished.[3]
In October 2010, Mike's Place re-opened in Jerusalem at a new location also on Jaffa Road. The Jerusalem branch, the first Mike's Place franchise, is owned and operated by Jerusalem architect Reuben Beiser.
As of 2020, there are 3 branches of Mike's Place:[4]
The Jerusalem location is kosher.[4] The other locations are in primarily secular areas of Israel where Jews do not typically keep the laws of Shabbat. Therefore, if the locations were to be kosher they must close on Friday nights, a very popular night for bars in secular areas.
^Zohar, Gil (January 8, 2009). "Here's looking at you - one last time". Jerusalem Post. Jerusalem, Israel. Retrieved January 11, 2009. Though the Nahalat Shiva bar had 36 months remaining on its eight-year lease, last fall the landlord Darinel Business Inc. invoked a demolition clause in that agreement to force the bar out.[permanent dead link]
