Lan's #2 in 2008: Beauty Bar

Beauty Bar
2299 Mission Street
(between 18th St & 19th St)
San Francisco, CA 94110
(415) 285-0323

The rain was relentless yesterday, but we had dinner reservations at Farina...so we stood in the rain waiting for a cab (skirt & boots = no wet pants!) to take us to the Mission. After a lackluster dinner (mine resembled an airplane salisbury steak, minus the smushy carrots) and copious amounts of sparkling wine, red wine, and a finishing shot of fernet (gross), Say dropped us off at Beauty Bar a few blocks away.

Who chose this place? I think HH made a panicked decision. Nevertheless, it was a new bar for me so we went in. It was a lot smaller than I expected and more divey than I'd imagined the many times I've walked by. A shot of jager and an ice cold can of PBR (a request that surprised MinhCao) and we were ready to hit the very very tiny dance floor over by the bathrooms. A good mix of 80s/hip hop...stuff like Bel Biv Devoe, Technotronic, Boys II Men, and Madonna...can't go wrong with that!

I discovered a photobooth right next to the kind of really gross bathrooms, but didn't have $3 to get the machine going. So...we took some pics with my camera:

My bangs do a weird curl thing in the rain. After a few hours here, MinhCao, Jamie, and HH headed over to Club Six. Angelina & I picked up Josh from BART and called it a night. A good time was had by all.

When I got home, J & Alden were sitting in the dark trying to conquer Guitar Hero.

Strangely, I woke up in the middle of the night on the couch by myself...how'd that happen? Spoke to Alden this morning and when he left, I was in bed.

Assgass #37-39: The Daily Pint, Speakeasy, The Room

The Daily Pint
2310 Pico Blvd
Santa Monica, CA 90405
(310) 450-7631

Finally made it to this local Santa Monica bar that has been on my to go list since the beginning. A great, energetic place with Chimay on tap, and a ...coffee-like Patron? that Dave let us sample. quite tasty. Layout is just like Hinano's (bar#21), including the pool table, minus the sawdust (and other hints of divey-ness). People who appreciate alcohol would likely dig this place. A crowd pleaser bar that I'd imagine most people would enjoy. Had a great time meeting and talking to Becky who recommended the next bar to hit up. I actually have a selection of photos to choose from (thanks to G) so I'm copying Lan's format and putting more than 1.











Speakeasy
1326 Pico Blvd
Santa Monica, CA 90405
(310) 450-4989

Nestor described it as a hotel bar (he probably meant motel, a dingy motel), and G likened it to a bowling alley without the bowling. Both are fair descriptions. I dig this dive, where there was just as easily an older fella sitting there since noon, as there were folks coming from a black tie event. And of course your general drinking crowd. Do what ya like here, belt a tune on the karaoke machine (or just sing aloud like others), play quarter pool, drink and chat it up, or admire a hottie like Perry did. I felt appropriate here having come out in my pajamas. Not for everyone, but I could definitely see myself wandering in here in my pajamas again. Love it. Thanks Becky!







The Room
1323 Santa Monica Blvd
Santa Monica, CA 90404
Phone: (310) 458-0707

Wrapped up an awesome night of bar hopping here, dancing to awesome 90's throwbacks. A smaller hidden joint that you enter from the alley side, through a basement-like room that looks like a student could film a back-alley stabbing scene. Without the threat of course. It's Santa Monica. Like Barcopa (bar#8), another better alternative to the Arsenal (bar#6) as a bar with dancing for the 20's/30's crowd. Music is a little better at Barcopa, but the crowd here is more relaxed, less high-maintenance (though I would hardly call Barcopa high-maintenance). $5 cover, decently priced drinks, though I wouldn't recommend the girly special shots at $9. Unless that's your thing. I was excited to see the bartender wearing a 'Breakestra' shirt and excitedly jotted down some music recommendations. Ups to the same bartender who poured some whiskey shots and was genuinely friendly without being flirty. I like that. G dancing was probably the most entertaining thing that night. No pictures cuz the man with the camera was boogeying.
A well rounded night with the pub, the dive, and the dance lounge. 3 for 3 easy thumbs up.

Assgass #34-36: Barbara's, Footsie's, Le Blanc

Barhopping in (North) East LA

Barbara's/ Barber's??
by Corazon's house in the bushes
Los Angeles, CA

A hidden bar near the warehouses/artist lofts, or chop shops. Gotta go behind the bushes to find stairs that lead to this hidden watering hole. Once inside, I decided the surrounding warehouse buildings were more likely artist lofts than chop shops. I think there's a restaurant attached. Dead that night, but the bartenders were entertaining. Inexpensive drinks.


Footsie's
2640 N Figueroa St.
Los Angeles, CA 90065

Corazon and Natilie were surprised to find their neighborhood bar packed and thumping. I was dizzified by the strobe light that I insisted on staring into. CHEAP drinks. $24 for a round of 5 drinks! Macha said, "You bought me a drink and I feel like YOU owe ME money." That itself is worth going for. Danceable music though too thumpy for my particular mood that night. Pool table and $1 PBR. Macha and Natilie wanted to stay, but I'm on a mission! On we go-



Le Blanc
2834 N Broadway
Los Angeles, CA 90031
323-222-5705

If you look this place up on Citysearch, it lists "automotive, window tinting" as the type of business. Perhaps a bar that's open at 8am provides dual function. Greeted with, "buenas noches," and an, "hola mami," we were the sole non-latino patrons of this Latin bar with a French name. With the age range in here, it could've easily been a Mexican wedding reception; Older women dancing, men in cowboy hats watching soccer on TV, younger folks laughing and drinking, and Macha owning the dance floor. It looks like there may have been a live band earlier that night. There's alcohol, fun music, and it's across the street from Corazon's house. Can't complain. Thanks to my barhopping crew for helping me on my mission! Good times

2008: Lan's #1: Royal Exchange

The Royal Exchange
301 Sacramento Street
(between Battery St & Front St)
San Francisco, CA 94111
(415) 956-1710

A new year and thus a new count begins. This year should be a little easier for me to hit 50 since I'm moving to Evanston and almost every bar will be new to me (unless you count some stuff around downtown Chicago).

Met up with some fellow Kellogg admits for a few drinks at this FiDi pub. Lots of good beers on tap (did I order Fat Tire or Newcastle? I can't remember) accompanied by LOTS of suits. Although Kellogg's M:F ratio is 7:3, all of the SF admits so far are Asian girls. Go figure. We were pretty much the only girls in the bar. Lots of yelling required to keep up a conversation. Not the best place to try to get to know new people, but oh well.

HH swung by and we headed to Perbacco for a late dinner. A glass of champagne, a bottle of wine, and some REALLY tasty Italian food...

Last stop, Fly bar (which I frequented for their happy hour specials during my happy period of unemployment in 03/04) for a pear saketini (good thing I'm a girl!) while HH tried to convince me of the merits of 1984 (the venue, not the year). Lots of Santa Barbarians (tall white guys in flip flops), per usual.

I promise to take more pics this year.

Assgass 31-33: Joxers Daly, Saints & Sinners, Alibi

i am on a mission to hit 20 new bars this month to make the 50. gonna have to cut back on the drinks per bar to make that happen. and definitely no more 151. (yikes face!)




Joxer's Daly
11168 Washington Blvd
Culver City, CA 90230
(310) 838-3745

place immediately reminded me of a specific san francisco bar i can't remember the name of. a great, unpretentious bar, with the feeling of a sports pub. the kind of bar that would have regulars who sit on a bar stool all day, some thuggish looking people isn't uncommon, and a 60 year old wouldn't look out of place. pretty energetic vibe with a lot of people, but not too crowded. a decent band was playing on the small stage in the corner when we arrived, giving the place an even more lively feel. joxer's also boasts a pool table which is always a plus. all the standard beers and spirits. jack and coke was nice and strong, a round of 3 drinks ran $18, pool table, and it's a mile from my house. i'd come back.


Saints and Sinners
10899 Venice Blvd.
W. Los Angeles, 90034
310-842-8066

what was expected to be a mellow night ended when we imbibed one of saints and sinners' specials on the house-the hell fire, consisting of a flaming shot of 151 dropped into a glass of red bull. chased with an "angel dust"-a blue house martini concoction, and another martini special of tanq and ketel (which i didn't finish), any productivity the following day also ended. other than being completely smashed, this place is awesome! feels like you're in a funky designer's living room. padded ceiling over the bar with shell-like chandeliers, a low dividing wall with a white (quartz?) veneer, velvet textured wallpaper, and a modern fireplace that looks like the flame is coming from the same shiny white rocks. check out the pics on the website (saintsandsinnerslounge.com); i love the look of this place and apparently my drunk ass didn't realize my camera was on zoom when i was taking most of the pictures. crowd is like the more well-mannered, more put together neighbors of the crowd at joxer's daly. (and probably quite literally, being just a stone's throw away.) crowd is a great mix of everyday culver city folks and very friendly. we all know how drunk joyce thinks everyone is her friend, and in here i feel like they were. a very happy birthday to one of those new friends, Tatsyana, happy birthday! (forgive my sp.) i hope N and her homeboy didn't mind my accosting them too much. the music was awesome as well, a short set of all my favorites dancehall tracks, and hiphop that made me go back inside and dance as we were trying to leave. the tiny bar does get pretty packed at its peak, but i didn't mind it here. it really feels more like a good house party, and even all the staff seem to be having a good time. i'll def be back.




The Alibi Room
12236 Washington Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90066
(310) 390-9300

somehow we ended up at one more bar. can't remember too well. was pretty gone by then. was pretty empty, but it was probably near closing time. another place that looked like someone's living room, but much more sparse with not so desirable lighting, and not nearly as interesting. it was probably just the fireplace. i bought some drinks by pointing, and i'm a little afraid it might have been really expensive champagne or something. i think we abandoned them when perry started throwing up outside and we don't remember dave telling us he was leaving. i can't remember if there was music.

Assgass #30; My Fathers Office

My Father's Office
1018 Montana Ave
Santa Monica, CA 90403
310-393-BEER

THUMBS UP. all the raves about this place were pretty on. abundance of beer on tap, and possibly the best burger in town. the bartenders are good about recommending a good beer. waitress did me good with the alesmith esb, a kind of nutty brown ale with a bit of spice. sweet potato's not normally my thing, but they do a damn good sweet potato fries. only drawback is that this tiny pub gets really crowded and can be hard to find a place to settle. even at 730 on a thursday evening, our party of 3 had to wait outside until 3 people left. fortunately, we didn't have to wait too long and the doorguy was nice about it. a popular after-work bar located on montana st., it's definitely a white collar bar, but a personable doorman and helpful staff, great food, great beer, i'll be back.
know if you go:
-order food at the bar
-be aggressive in finding seating
-they do not have ketchup, don't ask. they do however, serve their fries with a very yummy garlic aioli, so who cares

Assgass #28 & 29: M Bar, Tokio

M Bar
1253 N. Vine St.
Hollywood 90038
323-856-0036

came here to check out an old film classmate from berkeley do a stand-up comedy show. he was pretty good! just seeing him up there would've been entertaining enough for me. place is an intimate restaurant bar, completely draped in red, reminiscent of an old speakeasy. drinks were made on the light side, and my ravioli tasted like a really good tv dinner. maybe it was, as it arrived in about 2 minutes, piping hot. dunno if i'd come here on a bar hop, but it was a nice venue for the comedy lineup i came to watch. we spent the rest of the night wondering if the last [musical] act dressed in a shiny shirt, sunglasses, and bling, singing songs with titles like "jacuzzi party" was a parody or not. the joke's on someone, we're hoping it was us.



camera phone pics :/




Tokio Bar
1640 Cahuenga
Hollywood, 90028
(323) 464-2065


full of interesting LA characters for sure. a lot of people, both men and women, i'm sure from podunk, usa, with hollywood dreams. i bet the "i'm a hollywood agent/producer" line gets used a lot here. def interesting people watching. i do like the cozy little raised corner where i feel tall. music was ok, $5 cover that friday night.

Assgass #27 Sachi Lounge

Sachi Lounge
6400 E. Pacific Coast Highway
Long Beach, CA 90803
562-252-8434

looks questionable from the outside, located inside the seaport marina hotel which looks like the location of a hitchcock knock-off. as you wait in line in the 2.5 star hotel lobby, you feel like you're going to ghetto prom, save for the 40 and older group waiting behind you in line. not that it's greatly different in the club, but once inside (and past the stuck-up door people), it's a lot of fun. highlights were a taco bar on the patio and a pretty awesome 80's cover band. and of course the man love circle featuring charlie and rob. hahaha, oh that was good. ended the night with all of us singing, "wake me up! before you go-go..."

Assgass #26 Elevate

Elevate Lounge
811 Wilshire
Los Angeles, 90017
(213) 236-9600

this fancier club with a dress code sits on the 21st floor with a view of downtown. space is pretty nice. the highlight being the "indoor patio"; the whole length of the lounge is lined with wall to wall, floor to ceiling windows that protrude a foot or so beyond the railing with a screen-like ceiling over the protrusion(well-ventilated, and great for smokers). i dig the flow of the space, very open with designated areas well connected, and some design details (although somewhat pretentious) to garner some "ooh, look!" drinks are mighty expensive at $12 for a regular drink. (thanks pat for hookin up the cover once again). charlie likes the way the alcohol is served at the bottle service table. at least the bartenders are good, and most of them friendly. music is pretty good. as with any fancier club, mainstream takes the main stage, but it's a good selection, and the dj knows his stuff. i tend to get whiny about having to dress up, but this is a well-run place, nice space, and definitely fun to be had here.