Tony’s 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 the those offered at our usual dives.

And, if the scene is just way to 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.

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, & where the hell is Travis? - WDBT Co-czars

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

Shatto 39 Lanes
3255 West 4th Street
Los Angeles, CA 90020
map

This week the World Dive Bar Tour takes its annual rite of spring, the bowling night. While our exploration of the Los Angeles dive bar bowling alley has ranged far and wide, from joints named ‘Mar Vista’, ‘Midtown’, and ‘Bay Shore’, it has never led us to this corner of Los Angeles. Yes, Shatto 39 Lanes is one of the first destinations for the tour directly adjacent to Little Bangladesh*. For the whole story on Little Bangladesh, you’ll just have head on down to the the bowling alley so we can give ya the scoop. In addition to exhaustive explanations of neighborhood politics and low impact intrigue, Shatto Lanes offers cheap bowling in a wonderful 60’s styled decor (which was installed in the 60’s when it was just plain old decor), a full bar with inexpensive Oat Sodas and Caucasians, a collection of vintage arcade games, and diverse cross-section of Angelenos including the aforementioned Bangladeshis.

Free parking is available in the garage, and is likely the most shady element to encounter. We would also encourage all bar goers to check out the neighborhood nearby where in addition to the pulse of Bhangra there is a literal menagerie of sights, sounds, and flavors.

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

*neighborhood designation still pending

Proposed Name of Community: "Little Bangladesh"
Street Boundaries / Area: "Area surrounded by Wilshire Blvd, Western Ave, 3rd St., and Vermont Avenue."
Reason for name change: "We have a lot of people of our Bangladesh commnity living within that boundary."

-from City of Los Angeles application to name or rename communities

Bar 107
107 4th Street
Los Angeles, CA 90013
map

This week, the World Dive Bar Tour heads downtown to visit one of the dwindling holds in this once-beleaguered city center. Wasn’t it just yesterday that any adventurous soul could find themselves downtown, tiptoe around questionable sidewalks, and duck into a dark establishment to find a cheap drink within easy reach? Now there is a different movement afoot around our historic core, one which requires dress codes, cover charges and lines of credit; things well beyond the scope of our Wednesday night mandate.

Luckily, when converted from an old Latino gay bar several years ago to its present state, Bar 107 eschewed any of the trappings of gentrification and instead installed copious amounts of taxidermy, a 50’s style jukebox, mildly pornographic bible art, an extremely large doorman (if we are lucky), a few old school video games, a photo booth in the backroom, and tall cans of fine macro-brews (such as Pabst, Tecate, and rumblings of Olympia) for just a few dollars. While all this might seem like a bit much rest assured that it all hangs together for a ramshackle good time.

An item of note: the weekends can get a bit busy, with a DJ often spinning for the dance floor, sometimes a cover at the door, and as the bar is the official after party destination of the Los Angeles Derby Dolls.

As it is our compulsion to visit such dives mid-week, we will miss such distractions and should expect plenty of room in the comfortable booths for a relaxing drink or two. As usual, the casual debauchery starts around 9PM an 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,
Alex, Damien, & Travis - WDBT Co-Czars

"One Hundred And Seven is the 28th Prime Number"
- Wikipedia

Lotus Lounge
1135 N. Vermont Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90029
map

There are times when this city can still surprise and delight. It’s the feeling one gets in a slightly grimy neighborhood, which you have passed through hundreds of times, when you wander in a slightly grimy doorway, which you have never before noticed, and find a dive bar that warmly welcomes you and serves up the most inexpensive pitcher of beer seen in years. It is harder and harder to uncover a new dive never before seen on the tour, but this week we will bring such a bar into the fold.

This week sets us down smack in the middle of town, on axis with the great dive bar heaven of San Pedro and somewhere between the neighborhoods we often call "east" and "west." The bar is just a block from a stop on our often neglected subway system between downtown and the valley. It is just a stones throw away from the 24 hour Mexican restaurant known affectionately as ‘The Gran’. A pitcher of beer will set you back just 12 dollars. There is a dart board, a pool table and over sized 80’s macro-brew posters all over the walls. If you do decide to drive (rarely has a dive bar destination been so accessible to public transportation) you will find copious amounts of street parking and a small lot in the back. Stay long enough and you might find yourself in a crackpot conversation about the economic future of the United States of America with a nice old-timer. With all these factors taken into account, I am beginning to think the Lotus Lounge could be a lynch-pin of the entire Los Angeles dive bar universe.

As usual, the casual debauchery starts around 9PM an 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,

Alex, Damien, & Travis, WDBT Co-Czars

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

This might be the most important dive bar of the year. It will be the first night after the epic election of 2008, and quite possibly the first dive bar night of a new epoch of humanity. Okay, maybe not an epoch of humanity, but surly a epoch of the next four years. And no matter if you are all about environmental conservation or conservative economic theory, you will find common ground in the conservative prices for your standard mixed drink and support the continued bar’o'diversity of the downtown food-web. No matter if you are way down with unconditional discussion or conditionally applied freedoms, don’t worry your little heart, we will be unconditionally welcomed with the liberty to drink as we please, on the condition we keep up on the tipping schedule. But there is one reminder of the new deal or the welfare state that cannot be ignored. There is free popcorn.

Located to one side of the entrance to the wonderfully shady Stillwell Hotel, Hanks bar was founded in 1959 by its late namesake, Hank Holzer (who unfortunately passed on in 1997), and is a gem of the type. The bar is approximately 8 times longer than it is wide, the TV’s are smaller than a typical shoebox, the jukebox is not connected to the internet, there seems to be a table in the back with a crock-pot, a microwave, a toaster, and a huge supply of mustard, and behind the bar (hopefully staffed by the wonderful Wanda) is the sign ‘Yesterdays Charm’.

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,

Alex, Damien, & Travis - WDBT Co-czars

Cosmos Saloon
333 E 1st St.
Los Angeles, CA 90012

For those who have followed the ebb and flow of dive bar for many years, the name Cosmos might sound very familiar. Last season, on an ill fated full moon, we attempted to visit this fine establishment. Unfortunately for the intrepid group of dive bar goers that night, on the dutch door of the bar entrance a handwritten note was posted. Written mostly Japanese characters, it was the final line in English which hurt the most. "Bar Close Tonight." Those assembled, who had gathered for the promise of a Japanese pre-’scent of a woman’ Al Pacino bartender, karaoke in languages we can’t even speak, and Suntory Whiskey, found solace in a nearby shady hostess bar followed by a local brewery.

On that night, just like General Douglas MacArthur in retreat from the Philippines in the face of Japanese aggression, we of the WDBT vowed to return.

This week marks the day we make good on that promise, and return to Little Tokyo. Where with the help of a few big bottles of Kirin, we will be belting out Japanese pop songs like regulars, smoking an odd cigarette, swapping stories with the old man who always seems to be firmly planted at the bar, and otherwise raising quite a ruckus. Comfortable with the knowledge that in this Cosmos, yes, we can all be a star. Just remember - no dancing.

As usual, the casual debauchery starts around 9PM an 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

"Here we are. Earth. Full of things as usual."

-King of All Cosmos

Bar 107
107 4th Street
Los Angeles, CA 90013

This week, the Would Dive Bar Tour heads downtown to visit one of the dwindling holds in this once-beleaguered city center. Wasn’t it just yesterday that any adventurous soul could find themselves downtown, tiptoe around questionable the sidewalks, and duck into a dark establishment to find a cheap drink within easy reach? Now there is a different movement afoot around our historic core, one which requires dress codes, cover charges and lines of credit; things well beyond the scope of our Wednesday night mandate.

Luckily, when converted from an old Latino gay bar several years ago to its present state, Bar 107 eschewed any of these trappings of gentrification and instead installed copious amounts of taxidermy, a 50’s style jukebox, mildly pornographic bible art, an extremely large doorman (if we are lucky), a few old school video games, a photo booth in the backroom, and tall cans of fine macro-brews (such as Pabst, Tecate, and rumblings of Olympia) for just a few dollars. While all this might seem like a bit much rest assured that it all hangs together for a ramshackle good time.

An item of note: the weekends can get a bit busy, with a DJ often spinning for the dance floor, sometimes a cover at the door, and as the bar is the official after party destination of the Los Angeles Derby Dolls. If you happen to duck in sometime late this Saturday, look for the celebrations of the winners of the first bout of 2008.

As it is our compulsion to visit such dives mid-week, we will miss such distractions and should expect plenty of room in the comfortable booths for a relaxing drink or two. As usual, the casual debauchery starts around 9PM an 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,
Alex, Damien, & Travis - WDBT Co-Czars

"One Hundred And Seven is the 28th Prime Number"
- Wikipedia

View Larger Map

Cosmos Saloon - (Cinco de Mayo/WDBT Japanese Cultural Appreciation Month Pt. 1/Full Moon Extravaganza!)
333 East 1st St.
Los Angeles, CA 90012

For many years, Los Angeles stood as the only city in the world where a standard citizen would respond to an invitation to visit the city’s downtown region with, a cry of "but that’s so far away from everything!" We on the executive committee argue that this may not have been a bad thing. In a way, Los Angeles’ geographical fubaritude helped over the years to insulate its varied neighborhoods from becoming too… well… LA. Such was the case with the downtown of old, populated solely by lawyers, politicians, crackheads, jewelry merchants, and Crazy Gideon. But now, with the introduction of million dollar lofts, bouggie dress-coded bars, and some sort of alleged thing called "LA Live", that’s all changed.

"Little Pedros" became "Bordello", the Redwood got an elaborate pirate makeover, and just as quickly as joints like Broadway Bar and Golden Gopher sprouted up and earned Tour recognition just for being trailblazers in the downtown scene, pop-collared frat boys descended upon them to guzzle Newcastle and speak loudly of how drunk they got the night before. Yet in the shadow of this massive scene of development lies a largely untouched land called Little Tokyo, and a bar called Cosmos.

Manned by a tuxedo t-shirted gentleman resembling a Japanese pre-"Scent of a Woman" Al Pacino, and with a floor-plan approximately 3 feet wide by 200 feet long*, Cosmos stands with undeniable character as your place for cheap drinks with a Japanese flair, and karaoke the way it should be: primarily in languages you don’t even speak. But don’t worry, after a couple shots of whiskey or a round of big-bottled Kirin, you’ll be belting out Japanese pop songs like a regular, comfortable with the knowledge that in this Cosmos, you’re a star.

As usual, the casual debauchery starts around 9PM an 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,

Alex, Damien, & Travis, WDBT Co-Czars

"Up there in the immensity of the Cosmos, an inescapable perception awaits us. National boundaries are not evident when we view the Earth from space. Fanatical ethnic, religious or national chauvinisms are a little difficult to maintain when we see our planet as a fragile blue crescent fading to become an inconspicuous point of light against the bastion and citadel of the stars." - Carl Sagan

"Jerry, it’s L.A., nobody leaves. She’s a seductress, she’s a siren, she’s a virgin, she’s a whore!" - Cosmo Kramer

*Note: This email not written by any of the assorted architects on the Executive Committee, and measurements may not necessarily be to accurate scale.

Little Pedro’s - Closed in 2007, reopened as "Bordello"
901 East 1st Street at Vignes
Los Angeles, CA 90012

We venture this week to the western banks of the mighty LA river, and the legendary watering hole known as Little Pedro’s. In days of yore, when brave travelers explored westward in covered wagons, those seeking the burgeoning metropolis of Los Angeles would arrive upon one final test of fortitude in the violent waters of the LA river, with a life or death decision to either pay for a ferry, ford ahead, or wait for low tide.

Those too timid to cross the stagnant 2 inch waters never saw that low tide, and remained on the eastern shore to found the settlements of Monterey Park, Montebello, and Commerce. Those daring souls who charged ahead would be treated on the other side to a stiff drink from a little man named Pedro, and thus, the legend was born.

Little Pedro’s was once a Moroccan inspired Mexican restaurant, converted into a cop bar, before ultimately being converted into an artist district watering hole for downtown loft-dwellers. This most recent conversion was achieved with the addition of a large polar bear, shuffleboard, and Stella Artois on tap at a reasonable price. DJs occasionally spin music, but fret not, as the bar can not be considered hipster when there’s still an overweight ponytailed man with gang tattoos sleeping in the booth next to you.

As usual, the casual debauchery starts around 9PM an 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,

Alex, Damien, & Travis, WDBT Co-Czars

"What is life? A madness. What is life? An illusion, a shadow, a story. And the greatest good is little enough: for all life is a dream, and dreams themselves are only dreams." - Pedro Calderon de la Barca