WEDNESDAY, May 27th, 2009 

The Gas Lite
2030 Wilshire Blvd.
Santa Monica, CA 90403
map

Every year America observes Memorial day, a solumn day of rememberance for those brave souls who have fallen in battle serving our country. The World Dive Bar Tour would like to extend the holiday into the week and officially dedicate the following Wednesday to the memory of the great Dives of the Los Angeles that have shut their doors, never again to see the light of a neon beer sign.

In observance of WDBT Memorial Day we visit The Gas Lite, a bar that represents the rest, a place that sets the gold standard of dives that others can only dream of reaching. It’s a place that brings the best characteristics of all dives together into a melting pot of shabby "dive-ersity." It’s one of the greats on the west side that has withstood the test of time and remained a rock in the community, unchanged by the gentrification and modernization of the city.

The Gas Lite harkens back to a day when all bars opened at 6am and men could drink their breakfast to the soft sound of clinking glasses and the crackle of a spinning 45. Today, the glasses have been replaced by cheap plastic cups and the 45 by an internet jukebox and nightly karaoke that is anything but quiet, but doors are still open at the crack of dawn, giving a solid 15 hours to imbibe before the ruckus builds.

In the unlikely instance you should you arrive late Wednesday night only to find yourself standing amongst a lot of gelled hair and popped-collars, we assure you this is only temporary. In the past few years, the Gas Lite has absorbed some of the overflow from trendier bars and clubs in the area, and with that has come a slightly higher douche quotient and the presence of the occasional recreational drug. A WDBTour-goer once recounted finding a small baggy of powder on the floor of the ladies room that may or may not have been cocaine.

As usual, the casual debauchery starts around 9PM and gets really interesting by 10:00. Come for one drink, or stay for one too many. Bring anyone and everyone, and join us for a great time in the middle of the week. If you arrive early or late, look for the people having a damn good time (it’ll be us), or start having a damn good time on your own (we’ll find you, if the friendly regulars don’t find you first).

Carpe Drink’em,

Alex, Damien, & Travis - WDBT Co-czars