• April 28th, 2008mr meanerthe el rey

    The intersection of Wilshire and La Brea used to be one of the most famous crossings in LA. It was through here that the glitterati would be driven, gin-sodden, from an event in Hollywood to food, drinks, ladies of the night and (finally) bed at those catty-cornered sin bins of the Golden Age: The Brown Derby and the Ambassador Hotel. I guess scarcely a glance would be afforded to the Wilson Building, once listed for its historical importance (LA’s only dirigible landing station, destined to have flights direct from the Empire State), and now rudely emblazoned with a gaudy, blue neon Samsung logo.

    [googleMap name=”Wilshire and La Brea” description=”Little Bar” width=”480″ height=”320″directions_to=”false”]757 S La Brea Ave, 90036[/googleMap]

    Half a century since Charles Chaplain Jr. hung out at Pierinos, a drink of a very similar sounding name (Peroni) is making its way to that storied intersection by way of the Little Bar at 757 S. La Brea, only a block from Wilshire, and within easy walking distance of the El Rey.

    (see the Wilson building, center-right with the Samsung sign? UGH!)

    The Little Bar is a nice neighborhood joint with a balanced list of pros and cons:

    Pros

    • Great beer selection: 15 top-class beers on tap including rare brews like Chimay
    • Always easy to get a seat

    Cons

    • Indifferent, almost rude service
    • Locals and regulars get all the attention – they ride their bikes around the bar, push in front of patient customers (like me!) and get served whenever they want to.
    • The juke box is awful, the audio quality of the speakers is shitty
    • The credit card printer takes 5 minutes to process the fucking card swipe
    • There’s no hard alcohol
    • The seats (although available) are uncomfortable
    • People order pizzas constantly and eat them at the bar
    • There’s one man’s restroom which has dried puke on the floor (been there for over a month)

    BUT, I’ll probably go there a few times a month because you can park on Olympic and Cochran after 6pm, and walk to the bar easily. If the constant smell of pizza and inane music don’t put me off I might keep frequenting the place so I have the opportunity to become a regular and become assimilated into the holier than though clique called the Little Bar clientele.

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  • April 25th, 2008quarrygirlbands, the el rey, venues

    i love going to see opening bands when i don’t care about the main act. it’s awesome. i get to stand right up front in a semi-empty venue and watch the band as the rest of the crowd (who will have to wait hours until the show starts) pours in. and going home before the main act begins means i don’t have 3 hours of downtime, with nothing to do except drink ridiculously expensive and shitty bottled beer, as i wait for them to take the stage.

    so, imagine how happy i was when i went to see the fuck buttons open for caribou at the el rey, and i found out the bar was selling large cups of tap beer. they were plastic cups, i admit, and they cost $8…but they were 20 oz! budweiser, bud light, and even stella were all readily available. now i know even if i need to go see a headliner at the el rey and stand around waiting for several hours, at least i can pass the time by drinking cold draught stella.

    on a side note, the fuck buttons were awesome…totally unique. it’s not like at every show you get to see someone screaming unintelligible ramblings into a fisher price microphone.

    here is one of their tracks that i quite enjoy.
    sweet love for planet earth

    i recommend checking them out while they are still an opening act, then you can leave when they are done and still get home early just like i did! 🙂 i know that makes me sound fucking old, but going to gigs is a stressful hassle. thank god i always have the beer to rely on.

    overall, the el rey bar gets a B! I love the fact that they have stella on tap, but have to take some points off for the high prices and the plastic cups.

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