Circle Bar

6/1/10 8:55 PM

 This semester’s Barfly has seen a full gamut of beertastic drinkeries, from country bars to gay bars to posh-ass whiskey bars; from the relaxed and refined to the utterly chaotic. We’ve done whiskey flights, tequila flights, and flights of liquor shop libations right at home sweet home. We’ve experienced such local bar-fare flair as turtle races and line dances. Bringing this spring semester full circle: Circle Bar. If you’ve heard anything at all about this bar, you already know it’s cramped. Not just standing-room-only cramped, but 405-at-5 cramped. Because the real estate is dedicated largely to their spacious, name-sake bar, the narrow walkways leading from the front door to the dance floor are usually occupied by customers, and then by waiting...

The Abbey - LA's LGBT G&T HQ

5/26/10 5:27 AM

Summer is here, people. There will be agonizingly long days where you’ll watch every second tick by at work, yearning for your shift to end so you can get out of the office, saddle up at a nice bar, and make the entire afternoon your personal happy hour as you bathe in the warm summer sun sipping perfectly-made, ice-cold mojitos. There will also be times when all you can think about is staying up all night grinding against sweaty strangers to some deafening, rhythmic dance beats as you bathe in multicolored strobe lights ordering endless shot combinations for absolutely no reason at all except that it’s summer, and you’re horny, and – damn it – it’s what you have a job for in the first place. For the best of both worlds, Barfly highly recommends The... 1 comment

Barfly - Home Edition

5/20/10 10:19 PM

Here’s the deal: sometimes, as college students, a bar is just too expensive; and with all the exams, midterms, and a homework we have to get through, sometimes there’s just not enough energy on tap to spend a night out on the town. For those of us who are low on cash flow and energy levels, the Barfly happily suggests some home schooling. The first problem that drinking at home solves is the energy crisis. Unless your local hole in the wall recently started serving up Five Hour Energy cocktails, tired patrons are forced to slam red bull and vodkas all night, and honestly: yuck. However, en route to any dignified drinking institutions (including your living room) there are neon-illuminated liquor stores stocked with a myriad of energy-infused alcoholic beverages. For this... 2 comments

Country Corner

5/12/10 2:33 AM

Confession time: I’m an Okie. Born and raised on the giant, shiny buckle of America’s Bible Belt, I grew up driving pick-up trucks, skipping school to hunt, and drinking lots of PBR back when it was just cheap beer and not ironically chic. So I might be a little biased about finding a country western bar that’s this remarkably close to my redneck roots in the concrete jungle of Los Angeles, but Cowboy Country just fuckin' nails it. Cowboy Country is actually located in Long Beach, but it’s worth the drive since it offers not only one of the most spacious honky-tonks I’ve ever been to, but one of the most distinctively countrified. This giant, two-story saloon features not one, not two, but three spacious dance floors for boot-scootin’, two full bars... 1 comment

Roosterfish Bar on Abbot Kinney

5/5/10 1:27 AM

“You know this is a gay bar, right?” Jim Faulkner was the first person I talked to at Roosterfish, and he wanted to make sure I knew what I was getting into. I was well aware. In fact, I had spent the evening trying to find exactly this gay bar. Its patrons unanimously agree that it’s the only gay dive bar this side of West Hollywood, but you’d never know it if you were just stopping in for a cold beer on a hot summer afternoon (except for all the male erotic art). For the best in gay-friendly whistle wetting, hit up Roosterfish in Venice. Barely noticeable from the street, Roosterfish’s understated exterior is reflected by its interior, with exposed brick walls, cement floors and cases of beer stacked against the walls as furniture. The minimalist...