World Dive Bar Tour » East Side

January 11th, 2012: Smog Cutter

World Dive Bar Tour — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 04:38:51 +0000

WEDNESDAY, January 11th, 2012

Smog Cutter
864 N. Virgil Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90029
map

Some dive bars have no need for a glowing introduction. They simply exist, and will continue to exist, whether you like it or not. As to charms, the Smog Cutter has too few to mention, it is the antithesis of Hollywood nightlife. We at the World Dive Bar Tour wouldn’t have it any other way.

The Smog Cutter is generally shabby. The neighborhood is dodgy. The customer is most definitely wrong in all disputes. It has decrepit bathrooms. There is a rumor of vermin. And finally, the bartenders exhibit an overbearing insistence on Karaoke participation with a two drink minimum policy - two drinks which are not as cheap as typically found in such establishments. In short, the bar is perfectly bad in the finest divey manner. The only way it could be better (i.e. worse) is if they flaunted basic health and safety laws on a more predictable basis…..

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).

Carpe Drink’em,

Travis, host

for The World Dive Bar Tour Executive Committee

Ray "Bones" Barboni: “I’m from Miami-fuckin’-Beach and you wanna show me the ocean, huh? And what about sun, does it ever shine around here, or is this smog around all the time?”
Limo Driver With Sign: “They say the smog is the reason we have such beautiful sunsets.”
Ray "Bones" Barboni: “That’s what they say, huh? What a bunch of fuckin’ bullshit.”
~Get Shorty(1995)

October 19th, 2011: Hank’s Bar

World Dive Bar Tour — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 19:02:12 +0000

WEDNESDAY, October 19th, 2011

Hank’s Bar
840 S. Grand Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90017
map

Downtown is no longer the desolate place it once was. In years past, the empty spaces between the skyscrapers were more reminiscent of the American Southwest with silent breezes echoing between empty plazas. Today the hubbub of modern life has encroached, with kids from the suburbs shivering in lines outside of trendy nightclubs on Spring Street and searchlights seek meaning above LA Live.

There are a few nooks which still evoke the days of old downtown, and Hank’s Bar is one of these. It sits in the base of the seedy Stillwell Hotel, our second Hotel adjacent bar in as many dive bar outings. While just a stones throw from FDIM students picking out low fat salad dressing at the downtown Ralphs or v-neck t-shirts ordering cocktails at a 7th Street nuevo lounges, Hank’s bar has a spot at the bar for the working class patron who just wants a bud light, free popcorn, and a few songs on the jukebox. While it has been over two years since we have visited Hank’s, it still has ‘Yesterdays Charm’ as the bar’s motto states.

And best of all, two years ago in the small fish tank behind the bar, a young turtle swam endlessly against the flow of the recirculating pump - reminiscent of those old dive bars such as Charlie O’s and Crabby Joes who were powerless to resist the gentrification of the downtown scene. Today, thankfully, the turtle is fully grown, and Hank’s is still with us. May it always be so.

Carpe Drink’em,

Travis, Brian, and Neil; hosts

for The World Dive Bar Tour Executive Committee

“Looking for peace is like looking for a turtle with a mustache”

Ajahn Chah

September 28th, 2011: Back Door Pub

World Dive Bar Tour — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 19:50:40 +0000

WEDNESDAY, September 28th, 2011

Back Door Pub
813 South Flower Street
Los Angeles, CA 90017
map

Often on the Tour we escort our debauched devotees to dive bar landmarks. On a rare occasion, however, we have the pleasure to introduce our well-versed followers to a true unknown.

This week we venture into a recessed corner of downtown to check into the Back Door Pub at the Milner Hotel. With an entrance located off of the alley, this dreary dispensary of domestic lager is not your typical hotel bar. And why would it be? The Milner doesn’t really attract the convention crowd, choosing instead to advertise its accommodations through scanned photographs of hand-written customer surveys on its website. Feedback includes something that reads like “Feculent Hotel,” but upon further inspection is actually “Excellent Hotel.”

Very reassuring.

Navigate the hotel’s rear alley entrance (or, for the less adventurous, the main lobby entrance) and you’ll find that the Back Door Pub is neither a pub, nor directly accessible through the back door. Rather, the entry is located in the middle of a hallway and the bar itself feels a lot like an unfinished basement. But what it lacks in decoration it makes up for in dive bar comforts. Take for the example the self-serve popcorn machine, or the jukebox in the entry way greeting you like an old friend. There’s even a Golden Tee machine shoe-horned into a shadowy corner. Did I mention two for $5 on beer and wine for $2 a glass? Whiskey is cheap, too, and it’s served by a fresh-faced bartender who should be showing you his ID. Nevertheless, the service is adequate and seating is plentiful so invite your friends over for a nightcap at the Back Door Pub.

Carpe Drink’em,

Neil, host

for The World Dive Bar Tour Executive Committee

“Cause I’m a back door man/The men don’t know/But the little girls understand” – Willie Dixon, as interpreted by Jim Morrison

September 14th, 2011: Ye Rustic Inn

World Dive Bar Tour — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 13:32:46 +0000

WEDNESDAY, September 14th, 2011

Ye Rustic Inn
1831 N. Hillhurst Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90027
map

“What is that smell?”

“Chicken Wings!”

This week we go old, medieval. Or country. The name is confusing. The place is dark. The window is blacked. The interior is illuminated by a handful of TVs, a tequila shrine and the radiance of the inhabitants. The music is loud and the roar of Bachman-Turner Overdrive is wholly appropriate. Because tourists, you ain’t seen nothing yet.

Our stop is the Ye Rustic Inn. The name is confusing - everything else is straight forward. The wings are great. Do ye a favor and order a plate or do a favor for us all and get two. They have a late night happy hour that brings in the fun locals. And I don’t mean hipsters; they are across the street at The Drawing Room . Making an off color comment about Bristol Palin at the Rustic and you might meet the man that is producing her reality show or at least claims to be. (I hope he was telling the truth.) The Inn is perfect for a mid-week party and bullshit.

Carpe Drink’em,

The World Dive Bar Tour Executive Committee

“B-B-B-Baby, you just ain’t seen n-n-n-nothin’ yet” - BTO

August 17th, 2011: Red Lion Tavern

World Dive Bar Tour — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 21:08:17 +0000

WEDNESDAY, August 17th, 2011

Red Lion Tavern
2366 Glendale Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90039
map

In the second half of August, the WDBT will celebrate summer with two outstanding beer-centric establishments. While all dive bars serve beer to some extent, few reach the awesome range of the Dixie Cup Coors Light races at Big Deans Cafe (looking forward to August 31st) or the extensive selection of authentic German beer at this week’s stop, the Red Lion Tavern. Even considering the current explosion of high-end establishments dedicated to the Das Land Der Dichter und Denker, nowhere in LA will you find a Gasthaus so fine.

The Red Lion has been filling pints, steins, and large glass boots with Reinheitsgebot blessed beverages for over 50 years. While the bar started out as an English Pub, it quickly grew into its current format which provides: a lovely upper level beer garden where the sausage sampler platter reigns supreme; a small second floor bar and dining room where local kids hold trivia nights various evenings; and the ground floor dining room where it feels best to tuck into a plate of nurmberger bratwurst or share a lovely bauernschmaus while the guy at the piano tosses out various renditions of show tunes.

The outstanding beer selection can be found at each of the three bar areas where the various Warsteiners, Franziskaners, Spatens, and the classic Hofbrau Lager (the famous Oktoberfest brew which got its start in 1589) are available for relatively dive bar friendly prices. They also serve wine and cocktails, but it is hard to understand why you would order any. The only truly acceptable alternate order might be a tumbler of Jagermeister, but only if sipped slowly while reading Goethe in the native tongue.

As usual, the casual debauchery starts around 9PM and gets really interesting by 10:00. There will likely be some of us catching dinner somewhere on the premises beforehand as well. 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 and we’ll find you.

Carpe Drink’em,

Travis, host

for The World Dive Bar Tour Executive Committee

“I was not the lion, but it fell to me to give the lion’s roar.” ~Winston Churchill

June 8th, 2011: Tony’s Saloon

World Dive Bar Tour — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 03:56:55 +0000

WEDNESDAY, June 8th, 2011

Tony’ Saloon
2017 E. 7th St.
Los Angeles, CA 90021
map

This Wednesday the tour will throw Los Angeles a bone. Or more specifically, throw the Los Angeles bar scene a bone. As a careful reader of this humble newsletter and as a casual attendee of the tour you will likely know that we consistently rage, rage against the dying of the light. For each dive bar where the spark of perfect accessibility is fed into the incinerator of velvet ropes, doormen, and cocktails sporting infusions of acai berries, we shed a tear and often light a few devotional candles to St. Petersburg del Florida, the patron saint of dive bars.

This week we visit Tony’s Saloon, which is not really a dive, but more of a neo-dive. Owned by the same group behind The Golden Gopher and Seven Grand, Tony’s is located at the far eastern extent of the normal dive bar territories, well off the beaten path, in the midst of the confounding hybrid industrial trendy loft landscape between Skid Row and the Los Angeles river. Tony’s offers a quality pool table, darts, and a ping pong table on the patio. There is free parking in the lot right next to the bar, but carpool if you plan on attempting to make your way through the whiskey list…. as it is much longer than those offered at our usual dives.

And, if the scene is just way too upstanding for your taste, feel free to head back west on 7th street a few blocks to Campers Corner; a dive so deep it doesn’t even have a yelp review to its name and may also be a check cashing service. We might just decline to join ya.

Carpe Drink’em!

"Everyone kept telling me, ‘Just be yourself. Be yourself.’ I kept thinking, there’s got to be more to it than that!" -Tony Danza

November 10th, 2010: Tiki Ti

World Dive Bar Tour — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 08:28:15 +0000

WEDNESDAY, Novemeber 10th, 2010

Tiki Ti
4427 W. Sunset Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90027
map

There are some evenings when we must depart from usual form, fly far from the typical dive bar conventions, and stray into territory not often seen by those on the tour. While this often means far flung destinations (the valley) shady locales (venice) or the edge of the gentriverse (downtown) this week we will be smack dab in the middle of typical dive bar territory but it is the bar itself which is so different.

In fact this may very well be the most unique bar on the tour so far. Tiki Ti, as its name implies, is a Tiki Bar… one of the last of its kind. It doesn’t offer cheap beer or wine (other than a 10-year-old room temperature Amstel behind the bar available for $50, so they say) and rather serves only strong tropical concoctions in the neighborhood of 10 dollars apiece. This is tour worthy, as each drink easily has the alcohol of two, so be careful with your consumption, and plan accordingly. But we caution you, while you may be temped to knock back a Blue Hawaiian (Rum, Vodka, Blue Curacao, & Galliano) followed by a Scorpion (Lime & Fruit Juices, Virgin Island Rum, Jamaican Rum) and then a Stealth (Kahlua, 151 Rum, Amaretto, Grand Marnier, & Baileys) it might not be good for your morning. In addition to the rather epic beverages, you can smoke cigarettes, cigars, and pipes to your hearts content (and lungs determent) as the bar is family owned and operated, a holdover from a simpler time in the golden state.

There is a rumor that the famous Ray’s Mistake (made with Botanic Liqueurs, Passion Fruit, & Dark Rum) is available for 5 dollars before 9PM on Wednesdays, so you may well find us there just a bit before the normal hour. 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

"Bali Ha’i will whisper

In the wind of the sea:

"Here am I, your special island!

Come to me, come to me!"" - Bloody Mary : South Pacific

October 27th, 2010: Little Cave

World Dive Bar Tour — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 16:11:46 +0000

WEDNESDAY, October 27thth, 2010

Little Cave
5922 N. Figueroa St.
Los Angeles, CA 90042
map

In honor of the World Dive Bar Tour’s Halloween Spectacular, this week we venture into slightly more scary territory than usual — deep Figueroa in Highland Park, for LA’s best bat-themed dive. Welcoming friendly locals of both a hipster and non-hipster variety, Little Cave has thus far avoided the dreaded dance floor adding remodel and price hike that befell its closest neighbor, the dearly departed Footsie’s. "Well Wednesdays" further drives down the drink prices, so long as you don’t mind partaking in the cheap stuff, and while DJs are known to occasionally appear, their playlist generally skews towards 80s punk rock and a generously-sized drink-accessable smokers patio allows for conversing at a reasonable volume.

This being the Halloween Spectacular, costumes are encouraged but not mandatory, treats may potentially be provided (though we make no guarantees), and tricks are generally turned a couple blocks away in Hermon Park after nightfall.

Carpe Drink’em!

Alex, Damien, & Travis - WDBT Co-czars

Carpe Drink’em,

Alex, Damien, & Travis, WDBT Co-Czars

October 27th, 2010: Little Cave

World Dive Bar Tour — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 16:11:46 +0000

WEDNESDAY, October 27th, 2010

Little Cave
5922 N. Figueroa St.
Los Angeles, CA 90042
map

Carpe Drink’em!

Alex, Damien, & Travis - WDBT Co-czars

September 15th, 2010: The Roost

admin — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 18:41:51 +0000

WEDNESDAY, September 15th, 2010

The Roost

3100 Los Feliz Blvd.

Los Angeles, CA

This Wednesday, the World Dive Bar Tour will deviate slightly from our previously stated intentions with a visit to the Atwater Village landmark known as The Roost. A perennial tour favorite that this year’s original calendar bypassed under misguided concerns of geographical parity, The Roost is a roomy and comfortable environment for mid-week celebration, which is exactly what we’ll be doing this Wednesday as a result of some well-timed tour-devotee birthdays. Fun Fact: The first official WDBT after the reigning Co-Czars took over happened at The Roost many years ago.

Although you may find yourself mildly disappointed in The Roost if only drawn in by the promise of “BIG TV” on the bar’s vintage 1960s sign (the TV itself being only slightly more modern than a 1960s vintage), the cheap drinks, friendly service, and abundant free popcorn should quickly make up for it.

Carpe Drink’em,

Alex, Damien, & Travis - WDBT Co-czars