Four Great Places to a Get Drink in Hollywood on a Sunday Night

The portion of Sunset Boulevard around Highland Avenue used to be so seedy. I drove through here a couple years before the entertainment complex at Hollywood and Highland went up and remember plenty of wig shops, graffiti, and homeless people. Aggressive redevelopment anchored by the Kodak Theater has helped push out the neighborhood's grittier elements, replacing them with gaudy, overwrought tourist attractions like the Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum, and not one but two wax museums. But no place in the world tries to be more things to more people than Hollywood, and its bars are no different. To enjoy this once-forgotten, now fresh again part of Sunset Boulevard sans the crowds, visit on a Sunday and stop in at these four completely different bars.


Boardner's - Sunset & Cherokee at 1652 N. Cherokee Avenue, Los Angeles, CA. Phone: (323) 462-9621



Boardners in Hollywood, California

Boardners in Hollywood, California

Boardner's has been in business since 1942. Enter and walk down the tight passage between the dark grey granite bar on your right and the booths on your left. The black ceiling, black leather booths, black metal chairs with black cushions, subdued lighting and ornate lamps make you feel like you're in some Raymond Chandler detective story. Red neon signs advertise Oscar's kitchen, open until 9:30PM. Try the build-your-own B52 burger if you're hungry or the chicken quesadilla for something tasty and light. Food is half off all day Sundays. Down a narrow hall at the back is Club B52 and the outdoor patio. Sit on one of several couches, talk with locals under disco lights, or just listen to chill music while admiring the massive candelabrum dripping wax into a water fountain. Enjoy the $14 Caribou Lov (Malibu Rum, pineapple juice, and Bacardi 151) on a warm summer night, or spring for a $650 bottle of Dom Perignon Rose to celebrate your movie script getting picked up.

Full Bar
Food (half priced all day Sundays and 4pm to 8pm Monday through Friday)
Open Monday through Thursday 5:30pm to 2am. Open Friday through Sunday 4pm to 2am


The Power House - 1714 North Highland Avenue, Los Angeles, CA. Phone: (323) 463-9438




Power House in Hollywood, California

Power House in Hollywood, California

A welcome oasis in a desert of velvet ropes, manufactured glitz, and pretentious wannabes. Christmas lights hang all year around just inside the entrance. The Sunday night crowd is mostly 30-and-40 somethings wearing old jeans, witty T-shirts, and worn flannel. It's dark, so try not to stumble on a concrete floor so old the top layer has been worn through in places. Look up and count the missing ceiling tiles. Pull up a stool and enjoy $3 Pabst Blue Ribbon on tap at the kitchy Formica bar with fake wood grain. The green vinyl booths look new enough, but the brick wall they're against looks like it was built when Greta Garbo first strutted down Sunset. Throw darts at one of two dart machines in the back while listening to the juke box and munching on the bar's freshly made popcorn. For just a second, I'm back in Pittsburgh.

Full Bar
Popcorn
Darts


Hollywood Happy Ending - 7038 Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA. Phone: (323) 469-7038



Hollywood Happy Ending

Hollywood Happy Ending

Two words: college bar. Beer company and sports team pennants are strung from post to post at this brightly lit bar and restaurant. The attractive, preppy, barely post-fraternity and sorority crowd gets loud, lively, and flirty. One of those machines with a controllable, drop-down claw is at the back, but it's filled with water and live lobsters instead of teddy bears. Try your luck for $2. Don't like cheap cans of PBR? The bartenders pick a hot blonde from the crowd to spin the Wheel of Specials hourly so $5 Irish car bombs are just a lucky turn away. Enjoy a full food and drink menu. There's even a popcorn machine.

Live music lovers will definitely want to come Sundays for the Frank and Todd Show. I saw these two amazingly talented acoustic cover artists mash-up The Momma's and The Poppa's California Dreamin' with Kanye West's Heartless and never heard a bar crowd cheer so loud at the end. When they closed the show with a fully beat boxed version of It's Peanut Butter Jelly Time, I knew I found the band for my someday wedding. Frank and Todd play every Sunday night from 9:30PM until midnight.

Full Bar
Food
Nightly Events
Open Monday through Saturday 11am to 1am. Open Sunday 11am to midnight.


The Woods - 1533 North La Brea, Los Angeles, CA. Phone: (323) 876-6612



The Woods in Hollywood, California

The Woods in Hollywood, California

Formerly the tiki-bar Lava Lounge, the owners redecorated this cozy bar into part Minnesota hunting lodge and part forest. The small vestibule just after the entrance is lined with wallpaper depicting fishing, hunting, and other summer outdoor scenes. Step into the bar proper and look up. The black painted ceiling is pierced with twinkling pinhole stars. Did you find Orion, or were you distracted by the elk antler chandeliers? The big frosted glass window behind the bar is painted to look like a field of thin, dead trees against a white winter sky. Dark brown seats against a wall of sawn wood blocks face small tables carved to look like cut tree trunks. A DJ spins chill out music in a black corner, only soft blue and red light from his mixing board betraying his hidden redoubt. It was summer when I walked in, but Grey Goose straight up sounds real good right now. In fact, make it a double. Winter's here.

Full Bar
Open seven days a week 8pm to 2am

Special thanks to local resident and my guide, Paul Fontana.

Three Hours in Los Feliz - Part II

From Half-Off Clothing on Vermont Avenue, I walked south to the corner of Vermont Avenue and Hollywood Boulevard, and then west across Vermont Avenue. I ended at the corner of New Hampshire Avenue and Hollywood Boulevard, across the street from Barnsdall Art Park.



Barnsdall Arts Park in Los Feliz

Barnsdall Arts Park sits atop Olive Hill, on the border of Los Feliz and Little Armenia. The park was originally the property of Pennsylvania oil heiress Aline Barnsdall. Aline settled in Los Angeles after visiting from Chicago in 1915. She hired architect Frank Lloyd Wright to build her residence on Olive Hill, the Hollyhock House. The Hollyhock House was Frank Lloyd Wright's first project in Los Angeles and second in California. Aline donated the park, Hollyhock House, and all other structures on Olive Hill to the city of Los Angeles in 1927 with the intention of maintaining an active arts and recreation center for the local community.



Today, Barnsdall Arts Park has five major attractions. First, the park itself is a large grass open area city cut by concrete walkways and interspersed with kinetic and stationary modern art sculptures.



Hollyhock House in Los Feliz

The Hollyhock House was built between 1919 and 1921. The house is named for Aline's favorite flower, the hollyhock. At her request, Wright incorporated abstract hollyhock patterns into the structure including in the planters and stained glass windows. A small colonnade leads from the park and its modern art exhibits to the house. The house is situated around a central courtyard with one side open. Split levels, terraces, and steps surround the courtyard. The exterior walls are tilted back 85 degrees, giving the exterior a "Mayan Pyramid" look. In fact, this look is sometimes referred to as Mayan Revival Style. Wright also designed a grand fireplace with bas-relief and a moat. The great lawn in front of the house offers a commanding view north towards the Hollywood hills and west towards Century City and the Westside. Hollyhock House is open for tours Wednesday through Sunday at 12:30PM, 1:30PM, 2:30PM, and 3:30PM.




Los Angeles Municipal Arts Gallery

The Los Angeles Municipal Arts Gallery is a 10,000 square foot venue large enough for extensive retrospective arts exhibits and thematic exhibits showing the work of multiple artists. The junior gallery offers 2,000 square feet of exhibition space for a more intimate showing. The gallery shows about nine contemporary art exhibits per year. The gallery's mission is to promote, interpret, and present to the public the work of Southern Californian artists. The gallery exhibits paintings, sculpture, photographic, architectural, design, video, electronic, , performance, and installation works. Exhibits server 45,000 visitors annually.
The Barnsdall Gallery Theater is a 299 seat venue for live theater, music, dance, spoken word, lecture, and film events. Its goal is to present artistic and diverse cultural events at the lowest possible admission price to maximize attendance and audience development. The theater also co-produces a variety of free community events including the Independent Shakespeare Company and the Silverlake Conservatory of Music's Music Summer Camps.




Barnsdall Arts Center in Los Feliz

The Barnsdall Arts Center is housed in a building designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and provides college level arts instruction to the local community. The center also provides arts instruction to children and teens, and offers gallery space for students to display their work.
For further information on the Barnsdall Art Park and its programs, visit www.barnsdallartpark.com or call the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs at 213-202-5500.

My afternoon in Los Feliz passed too quickly. I loved how the neighborhood's charming and crowded sidewalk cafes sat next to discreet, dark old bars that hearkened to an older film noir Los Angeles. I also liked the trendy apparel boutiques for that younger, tragically hip crowd whose patronage keeps one of Los Angeles' last major independent bookstores in business. It's cliche, but there aren't too many places in Southern California where tattoo wearing, skinny jean sporting, big sunglasses wearing 20 (or 30) somethings can share the sidewalk with the stroller pushing, sportscoat wearing, leather shoe shod, BMW driving crowd sporting their own more subtle counter culture body marks.

Three Hours in Los Feliz - Part I

Los Feliz is a Los Angeles neighborhood just east of Hollywood, south of Griffith Park, and west of Silver Lake. Los Feliz once housed movie studios, including Walt Disney's first studio in Los Angeles, and movie royalty including Cecil B. DeMille and his family. Today, Los Feliz's apartments and Victorian, Queen Anne, and Mission Revival homes house twenty-something singles, thirty-somethings just starting families, and retirees. Residents enjoy an eclectic neighborhood of trendy boutiques, sidewalk cafes with hardly an empty seat to be found, and classy old bars that hearken to a previous era. The Village is the heart of this bohemian neighborhood and is bordered by Vermont Avenue on the west, Hillhurst Avenue on the east, Los Feliz Boulevard on the north, and Sunset Drive on the south. This article covers a walking tour of the Village along Vermont Avenue.

I started at Franklin Avenue and walked south on the east side of Vermont Avenue. I first passed the Electric Lotus, an Indian and Punjabi restaurant with outdoor seating (1870 N. Vermont Avenue at the corner of Vermont & Franklin. phone: 323-953-0040). Peeking in to the shadowed interior, I could see candle lit tables covered in white linen and surrounded by dark brown chairs. I also glimpsed stautes and painting depicting Hindu gods. Next door is Psycho Babble, a coffee house with outdoor seating and a wall painting showing the Tower of Babel.

Further down, I passed Palermo Italian Restaurant (1858 N. Vermont Avenue. phone: 323-663-1178). The interior is separated into sections by faux archways and columns. A skylight opens above one section, natural light flooding in. Patrons sit on overstuffed leather seats in booths, or at tables surrounded by metal chairs. Red linen covers all the tables. Beautifully detailed wall paintings depict the Italian coast. Palermo is open every day except Tuesday.

Fred62 is difficult to miss with its bright green exterior, orange awnings, and sidewalk tables (1850 N. Vermont Avenue. phone: 323-667-0062). The extensive menu features an extensive selection of colorfully named breakfast omelettes, sandwiches, pancakes and cereals. Try the Dime Bag if you're hungry or the Fred McMurray if you're not. Lunch and dinner also offer many choices of sandwiches, burgers, pastas, salads and entrees. The Manhandler is a classic Sloppy Joe, the Hippy Sandwich goes meatless, and the Noo-Deli Noodles are almost Pad Thai. Wash it all down with fruit juice, shakes, sodas, beer, wine, or even champagne and finish up with Red Velvet Cake (the best kept secret in Los Feliz). Fred62 is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.

The Los Feliz Theaters are at 1820 N. Vermont Avenue (phone: 323-664-2169). The theater marquee announces that the theater has been here since 1934. Today, its three screens show first-run and independent movies.

Skylight Books (1818 N. Vermont Avenue. phone: 323-660-1175; web: www.skylightbooks.com) is one of the last major independent bookstores in Los Angeles. They specialize in literary fiction, books on film and theater, alternative literature, and Los Angeles and regional culture and history. Skylight has nearly nightly readings by authors and I have found numerous autographed books on the shelves. Stop in, call, or visit their website for a calendar of events. Oh, and there's a living fifteen-foot tall tree in the middle of the store under which you can sit and read.





Figaro Bistro (1804 & 1802 N. Vermont Avenue. phone: 323-662-1587; web: figarobistrot.com) takes up two storefronts and has ample sidewalk seating that was nearly full when I visited. The interior provides leather booths and table seating on a red and beige tiled floor and can be a pleasant oasis from the noise outside. Dressy waiters take lunch orders of croque monsieur (toasted bread, French ham, Swiss cheese topped with bechamel sauce), pastramis et mozzarella (sliced pastrami beef with tomatoes, mozzarella cheese and mustard), salad de mangue et crevettes (mixed green salad served with beet, heart of palm, hard boiled eggs, sliced tomato and feta cheese) and other sandwiches, salads, pizzas, soups, and entrees. Come for dinner for richer French fare like Cote Beouf pour deux (grilled boneless Rib eye steak served with French fries, green beans, and cognac). Figaro Bistro is open Sunday through Thursday from 8:30AM to 10:30PM and on Friday and Saturday from 8:30AM to 11:00PM.

Y-Que Trading Post (1770 N. Vermont Avenue. web: yque.com) sells ironic t-shirts, action figures including ones of Jesus and Edgar Allan Poe, vintage lunch boxes (I knew I should have kept my Pac-Man one from 2nd grade), incense, and ruffled panties. The 20-something to and 30-something hipster crowd soaked up the humor and barely noticed the well-pierced cashier dancing to 80's era Madonna music booming over the speakers.

The Dresden Restaurant (1760 N. Vermont Avenue. phone: 323-665-4294, web: www.thedresden.com) has operated since 1954. Its lounge has been shown in Swingers, That Thing You Do and other movies. Caricature sketches of famous Los Angelinos line the lounge's stone walls. Marty and Elayne perform Monday through Saturday from 9:00PM to 1:15PM. Don't forget to try the Blood and Sand, the Dresden's signature drink. Next door, the dining room holds only cozy white leather booths -- no tables -- surrounded by dark reddish-brown walls highlighted by something like mother-of-pearl. The menu is small, but offers seafood, pasta, beef, and Italian specialities. Dinner served 4:30PM to 11:00PM Monday through Satuday and 4:30PM to 9:30PM on Sundays.

Half Off Clothing (1748 N. Vermont Avenue. phone: 323-665-1626) at the corner of Vermont and Kingswell sells new T-shirts, button down shirts, jeans, and accessories for men and women. They stock independent designers. I saw a lot of Dragonfly, Chaser of Los Angeles, Kinetix, Zoo York, D-Soul, and Helmet Off The Wall. Ask friendly associate Joseph for help.