St. Nick’s
8450 W. 3rd Street
Los Angeles, CA 90048
map

It’s a Holiday Miracle! In recognition of an incredibly awesome 2009, and in the season’s spirit of giving, the World Dive Bar Tour Executive Committee has added a bonus venue to the calendar: St. Nick’s, located in the shadow of the Bev Center for convenient post-shopping libations.

Featuring decent pub grub and drinks that make up for mild priciness with their respectable volume ($7 gets you a mixed drink, but it fills a pint glass), St. Nick’s is an excellent casual mid-week watering hole that stands, with the passing of The Coronet Pub, as the only oasis in the vast dive wasteland between West LA and East Hollywood.

Additionally, our cleverness should be acknowledged in that the bar is named for the noted Turkish gift-giver and patron saint of pawnbrokers, St. Nicholas. As we all remember from fond childhood memories, over the centuries the legend of St. Nicholas was stripped of his Middle-Eastern appearance to more closely resemble the Europeans who worshipped him (just like what they did to Jesus), and this once frail desert-dwelling Saint now appears during the Christmas season as a jolly, fat white guy from the North Pole, extolling the virtues of shopping at Macys and drinking Coca Cola. Associations between his activities and the pawnbrokers for whom he patrons have also been stripped from most folklore, despite remaining a common occurrence during depressed economic times. Merry Christmas!

As usual, the casual debauchery starts around 9:00 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 Drinkem,

Alex, Damien, and Travis — WDBT Co-czars

Kid: Your beard’s not real.
Willie: No Shit! It was real, but I got sick and all the hair fell out.
Kid: How come?
Willie: I loved a woman who wasn’t clean.
Kid: Mrs. Santa?
Willie: No it was her sister.

–Bad Santa

Irish Times
3267 Motor Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90034 (Palms)
Map

Los Angeles has long been known for its poor emulation of the cultural trappings from other parts of the world, which is why if you’ve been to one Irish pub in LA, you’ve been to them all. We’ve been lead to believe that "authentic" Irish pubs these days are decorated with glossy, varnished bars, shamrock bric-a-brac, and plasma screens — the kinds of places that are packed to the brim every St. Patrick’s Day with underage college students who can’t hold their liquor. One trip to the land of majesty would quickly clear up this misconception…or you could just visit Irish Times with WDBT this week.

While all the amateurs are nursing hangovers and oxycleaning the vomit out of their clothes, WDBT is hitting up the only dive-worthy, authentic Irish pub in town. Capturing the ambiance of a quiet, Dublin watering hole, Irish Times offers Guinness on tap served by an acid-tongued Irish bartender (she’s really from Ireland, folks) in a dark , cozy space, where the pint is truly mightier than the game on TV. But, should you need additional entertainment, Irish Times provides some dive bar essentials like Golden Tee golf, 75 cent pool tables, and a juke box full of the best rock n’ roll.

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

Sonny McLean’s
2615 Wilshire Blvd.
Santa Monica, CA 90403

St. Patrick’s Day holds a special significance on the World Dive Bar Tour, as it’s the time of year when we pay homage to our Irish ancestors and the unique drinking establishments they’ve brought to this country. As the holiday itself will rarely fall on a Dive Bar Wednesday, we’ll celebrate it during the nearest prior week. Plus, WDBT has no desire to commingle with the insufferable crowd that comes out of the woodwork to get sloshed once a year on March 17th.

Alas, we head to Santa Monica to visit Sonny McLean’s, a place unlike any we’ve yet seen on the tour, fusing together the character of the dive with the fraternal warmth of the Irish pub. Step in the door and you’re bound to see a glasses of Guinness lined down the bar and two fellas yammering about all the guys named "Patrick" in their family.

Sonny’s has two..count’em…TWO Golden Tee games as well as pool, darts, and the naked-chick bar video game. They serve a respectable variety of the finest draught beer from Bud Light to Smithwick’s, and a pint of Guinness is under five bucks.

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

"The Irish ignore anything they can’t drink or punch."

- Irish Proverb

Irish Times
3267 Motor Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90034 (Palms)

As WDBT occasionally leaves us in a "haze," we neglected to check our calendars for important holiday that might land in proximity to our Wednesday gathering when creating the initial schedule. Not wanting to anger any Irishmen, we’ll celebrate St. Patty’s this week at one of LA’s finest pubs, Irish Times.

One could argue that if you’ve been to one Irish pub, you’ve been to them all. With the mandatory Guinness on tap, stained hard-wood decor, and Celtic music in the background, you have just about all you need to transport you to the land of majesty. However, complete with a Golden Tee golf, 75 cent pool tables, and a juke box full of the best rock n’ roll, Irish Times also brings together the best dive bar characteristics for the ultimate conglomeration of cheap entertainment and celebration of another culture through excessive drinking.

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 Drinkem,

Alex, Damien & Travis, WDBT Co-Czars

"The problem with the world is that everyone is few drinks behind."
- Humphrey Bogart