Anthony Ramos never thought he would own a bar.
But after his favorite spot, the Caribbean eatery Negril BK, closed in Park Slope in April, he was looking for a place to fill the gap when he thought: Why not start my own?
“I love hosting people,” said Mr. Ramos, 34, a Brooklyn-born actor who starred as John Laurens and Philip Hamilton in the original Broadway cast of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “Hamilton.” “There are few better feelings than seeing someone having a great time at your place.”
In June, he opened Milly’s Neighborhood Bar — named for his mother, Mildred Ramos — in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, with his longtime friend Ron Leakey.
Mr. Ramos will next star in Ryan Murphy’s new science fiction horror series for FX, “The Beauty,” which is set to premiere Jan. 21. He described it as a show about “an injection that turns people into the most beautiful versions of themselves, and the lengths people will go to for this.”
Mr. Ramos, who splits his time between New York City and Miami, lives in a one-bedroom apartment in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, with his dog, Prince, a 6-year-old Alaskan Klee Kai/American Eskimo mix.
He spent a recent Thursday with The New York Times as he worked on a new musical he’s writing and popped by his bar.
This interview has been condensed and lightly edited.
SLEEPING IN When I have to be on set, I get up at 4:30 to be there at 5 or 6 a.m. But when I get to sleep in, I’ll get up at 7 or 7:30. I don’t use an alarm.
GETTING CENTERED Praying is something I’ve done almost my whole life, since I was a teenager. It’s how I get locked in. It centers me. When I’m not doing it, I’m kind of off-kilter. When I’m deep into it, I’ll do 15 to 25 minutes in the morning. I also recently started doing breath work, after my therapist recommended it.
SWEATING IT OUT I’ll get a workout in at Session Training in Greenpoint with my trainer, Alexa Javens. I’ll work out four or five times per week, usually two upper body and two lower body days. I was training for the New York City Marathon the past few months, and I’m about to start training for the half in March in Puerto Rico. I was never a runner, but I started in July and realized it’s amazing. It’s really meditative, and therapeutic, and good for my body and soul. I often listen to Chris Brown, or Christian and gospel music — Brandon Lake, Elevation Worship. Sometimes, on my longer runs, I’ll call somebody and talk for 30 or 40 minutes. Longer runs can get kind of lonely.
CARDAMOM BUN RUN I’ll get back around 10 a.m. and take a shower, then make a breakfast run. There are several local coffee shops I like: I’m a regular at Rhythm Zero, Eagle Trading Co. and Radio Bakery. I’ll get an oat milk latte with either a little bit of vanilla or hazelnut syrup. Rhythm Zero doesn’t really have breakfast, but they have this cardamom bun that’s incredible. I go there just for that.
YOUTUBE AND CHILL I’ll watch YouTube videos: business videos, comedians, catching up on the news. It’s not the most ideal way to start the day, but sometimes I find inspiration. Theo Von is hilarious. I love Andrew Santino and Bobby Lee’s “Bad Friends” podcast. Andrew Schulz’s “Flagrant” podcast is one I listen to most. He’s so funny.
GOOD BOY I travel quite a bit, so Prince often stays with Ron. We joke that we split custody. Ron and his girlfriend have a 9-year-old American Staffordshire terrier/Husky mix named Etta James, and she’s like Prince’s girlfriend. When I have Prince, I’ll take him for a walk around all the little parks in the area.
CREATIVE TIME Around 1 p.m., I’ll walk to a studio a few blocks from my apartment and spend the afternoon working on a musical I’m writing with my buddy Will Wells, who I met when he worked on the music team for “Hamilton.” It’s about the birth of Jesus and the events leading up to it. I was raised Christian, but there’s so much I didn’t know. It’s a wild story when you really start to dig into it. We started in 2018 and put it aside for around five years, but we picked it back up in late 2023.
It’s become my favorite thing I’ve done in life, because it’s been all the facets of my life, just meeting at one time. Writing the songs, thinking about the choreography, the dancing, how the ensemble will look in a song, who the spotlight will be on, digging into the characters’ minds. It’s been such a gift to work on. It’s definitely brought me closer to God.
MEET YOU AT MILLY’S I’ll pop by the restaurant around 7. I like to be there at dinnertime, just chilling and hanging out. I’ll ask Ron how it’s going, but I’m mostly just there to watch. I pay attention to everything; how the place mats are arranged, how fast people get their drinks, what music is playing during the day as opposed to night, what’s new on the menu. I’m way more involved than I thought I’d be, but only because I want to be.
My mom was always hosting people for their birthdays in her two-bedroom apartment in the projects in Bushwick, in Brooklyn. We never had room for people, but she always welcomed people with open arms. That’s always been the motivation for this place.
SEEING A SHOW I try to see a couple of shows whenever I’m in New York. I recently saw John Leguizamo’s new play, “The Other Americans,” at the Public Theater, and my boy Leslie Odom Jr. in “Hamilton.” I didn’t think he could get better, but he crushed it. And I saw my friend Chloë Grace Moretz in her play, “Caroline.” She crushed that, too.
WINDING DOWN I’ll head back to my apartment, and then, around 11:30 p.m. or midnight, I’ll take another shower and then wind down by watching podcasts or funny movies like “The Hangover.” Every now and then, I’ll put on an animated film like “Inside Out” that’s easy to go to sleep to.
Sarah Bahr writes about culture and style for The Times.
The post How a ‘Hamilton’ Star Spends a Day at His Brooklyn Bar appeared first on New York Times.
