Assgass #18: Sangria

Sangria
68 Pier Ave
Hermosa Beach, CA
310-376-4412

When Cy said, "Sangria at Hermosa Beach," I thought we were going to drink sangria on the beach. Maybe my disappointment in not swigging a jug of Carlo Rossi on the sand carried over. This place is whack. 3 out of 3 drinks that are impossible to mess up, 7&7, captain&diet, and jack&coke, all tasted like a giant lump of cherry syrup. And they replaced my jack with some knockoff without telling me. Two different bartenders, 3 different alcohols, 3 different mixers, still 0% on the drinks. Definitely stick to the bottled beers. Do they even have Sangria? I'd be hesitant to try it. Vibe/crowd kinda reminded me of Agenda in Man Jose, which is not necessarily a bad thing. I think anyone of color out in Hermosa Beach that night was here. I looked at the website's calendar which actually looked like it might have potential with live flamenco and latin jazz on some nights. Unfortunately on this Saturday night, it was a 20 minute wait in line for a $10 cover charge, shitty drinks and un-mixed r&b/pop music. Definitely not horrendous enough to prevent one from having a good time, but damn, at least preparty and try to sneak in through the back if you must go here. Michelle Kwan must not be doing so well to be celebrating her birthday at this spot. For some reason all the pictures I took here are of people's butts. Pretty representative of this place. "this place is ASS." Oh, and parking is also a pain the ass.