Barr hopping
"I'm keeping Tabs on some of my favorite Bars!"
Check out some of my favorite bars and see where I've been @BarrHopping Lately.
Tell me about some of your favorite Bars @LukeBarrMC #BarrHopping
Tell me about some of your favorite Bars @LukeBarrMC #BarrHopping
Los Angeles
Alfred Hitchcock once said “A good film is when the price of the dinner, the theatre admission and
the babysitter were worth it.” I can personally tell you that birds is like a good film and the dinner
is definitely worth it. An eccentric dive café themed specifically after
Hitchcock’s 1963 classic “The Birds” is located right next to the Upright
Citizens Brigade Theatre that is definitely worth the price of admission and a
great place to migrate in between the happy hour Chicks and the late night Owls. Perch yourself on a tall barstool or fluff
out your feathers in a giant bird cage booth hanging over the bar and order up
some delicious rotisserie chicken that is never fowl, because at birds, you never eat crow.
Barr Note: It’s a Hoot with Hooch! |
Walk through a
garage sale refrigerator and into 1977. It's the "Caddy shack" crew
spending a “Wet Hot American Summer" inside "That 70's Show"
living room with “Meatballs” BBQ and a #BarrTabs to match "The Times". I’m
happy to announce that creative risk is not dead but very much “Staying Alive” with
a thriving “Boogie Nights” vibe and hipster jive about fortune and fame, it’s
always “Good Times at Davey Wayne’s.” You need to experience the "Good Times" for
yourself.
Barr Note: Making the Speakeasy Outspoken! |
Seven Grand & the Jackalope Bar
515 West 7th Street 2nd Floor Downtown LA, CA 90014 www.SevenGrandBars.com |
There
is a song that goes “whiskey, whiskey, whiskey… water, water, water… sleep. Wake
up, shake it off, and repeat!” Never has
a bar made these lyrics more potent than Seven Grand & the Jackalope bar in
Downtown Los Angeles. I envision Hemingway poetically straining together quips
of his adventures while sipping down a Sazerac; the barman melting onto the bar
in marvel while mixing a Manhattan as an odd fellow leans over the pool table
to share his Old Fashioned english. Words of infamous authors seem to whisper
from the ole blackened beams and worn bricks. Timeless but complex cocktails transport you
back to when the world spun a little slower and there was no rush to get home
early in order to get up early. I
believe that certain bars make your soul feel at home, some make your soul come
alive, and some keep part of your soul long after you’ve closed the tab. Seven
Grand & the Jackalope Bar have found a way to do all three. Much like the
devils cut of whiskey, this whiskey bar keeps a part of us all.
Barr Note: Whiskey, Whiskey, Whiskey… Repeat! |
Pearls Liquor Bar
8909 Sunset Blvd West Hollywood, CA 90069 www.PearlsLiquorBar.com |
Pearl’s isn’t about cash and dash. The place invites
you to come in, sit down, and stay a while. With three levels each with their
own individual bar it’s hard to believe you wouldn’t find your niche in one
corner or the next, or even someone attractively fun. Did I mention the rooftop
patio bar overlooking the sunset strip and open air secret garden tucked away in
the back, couples swing included! It makes a great place for a spirit induced romantic
spit swapping snog session of tonsil hockey. Which in my book should be an Olympic
sport b/c everyone wins and at the end you’re still sweaty as hell and drooling
to the peak of perfection. And of course I would opt for the inaugural games to
be help at the place of its Immaculate Conception… ‘Pearls Liquor Bar’ where
the booze flows freely, it’s just not free.
Barr Note: A Great Place to Mix “Magic Hour” & “Happy Hour”. |
Outpost
1624 n. Cahuenga Ave Hollywood, CA www.outposthollywood.com |
The Outpost may not be
the first stop on your list, but make sure it’s on it. If you’re looking for
cheap beer, mozzarella sticks and Buffalo wings there are many places to go but
the Outpost offers a truly southern feel right as you walk through the big
wooden doors and sit down… at the sunken belly-up bar that seems to invite you
in to enjoy a few beers and a nice long coma. The Outpost is almost reminiscent
of a 70’s living room mixed with the TV show Dallas (the original). But no need
for cowboy boots and Stetsons, just bring a few bucks and loud friends.
Barr Note: Come as you are its an every mans bar. |
Venice Beach
Santa Monica
Chez Jays
1657 Ocean Ave Santa Monica, CA 90401 www.chezjays.com |
Chez Jays is a local dive that serves under
exuberant dishes and cocktails with very little flare and there is a perfectly
good reason for it. They don’t need to. This bar spanned decades carrying
enough character to bring in the likes of Matt Damon, Marilyn Monroe, and NASA
Astronauts that even took one of Chez Jays Bar Peanuts to the moon and
back. But that’s not why I like this
bar. It’s a stones through from the sandy beach, walking distance to santa
monica pier and the Venice Strip, it is right across from the Boutique Hotel
California, and it stands for everything nautically beach bum! Hell, after a few minutes and a touch of the
spirits you will feel like you’re drinking in the hull of an old fishing boat
and you don’t seem to mind. I would bet money that the next great American
screenplay is being written in one of the delicately dingy booths right now.
This Barr Tab sure is. Which is why I shall leave a little more about this little
dingy dive for you to discover for yourselves.
Barr Note: Come Wet, Come Tall, Come High, Come All!! |
Dallas
Katy Trail Ice House
3136B Routh St. Dallas, TX 75201 www.KatyIceHouse.com |
Like Ice Cold Beer, Good Looking People, Great
BBQ, and easy access whether you’re walking, jogging, biking, or
driving??? Who the F*ck doesn’t!!! If you’re in Dallas and have only one Day,
one hour, or a layover long enough to leave the airport spend it at Katy Trail
Ice House. There are not many bars I
could go to daily but I want this one in my back yard. Although that’s a little unrealistic, because
as the saying goes “everything is bigger in Texas”, and ice house holds
true. That’s schooners and goblets, not
pints, of over 50 beers on draft. Double
patty burgers are the norm and a side of onion rings might as well just be an
entire deep fried onion shoved straight into your heart that you’ll love because
it comes with a house made ranch dressing that somehow is better than anything
sold in stores… anywhere… ever! But the
hidden winner is the BBQ… ribs that fall off the bone, pulled brisket
sandwiches with BBQ sauce made from scratch, and smoky sliced sausage tender to
perfection. Ice house is the bar where
you can spend all day or ten minutes and get exactly what you want out of it.
It’s a Barr Bar!
Barr Note: Go as you are its an every mans bar... BUT GO!! |
Renfield's Corner
2603A Routh St. Dallas, TX 75201 www.RenfieldsCorner.com |
You know that bar that you always hear about but
have never been to? It’s the coolest underground place where you have to know
someone who knows someone to even find the damn place it’s so cool. Live Indy
music and blurry windows give it a dingy charm.
Now imagine that bar just barley tucked away from a busy corner in a
“walk everywhere part of town.” The
beer selection runs deep in numbers, are thoughtfully picked, and always served
in best possible way to enjoy that particular beer. Whether that be cellar
temp, Canada cold, or even just served in the proper glass, can make all the
difference to the possible stuffy uptown crowd that tends to pour in on the
weekends. But I’ll be honest and say this place is truly amazing not because of
the courtyard balcony in the back or the fire pit beer garden in front, or even
the fact that I helped gut and reopen the place, but it’s the fact that the
staff care more about serving your drink properly and perfectly than they do
about you, and there’s something I really like about that. It’s a Barr Bar!
Barr Note: It’s the Gem better left unpolished & the Jeep that looks better dirty. |
The Old Monk
2847 N. Henderson Ave. Dallas, TX 75206 www.OldMonkDallas.com |
Aromatic Beers, infused liquors,
and an Irish American twist bring together an ole favorite of mine, The Old
Monk. Besides the quaint appeal of the
outdoor patio or warm wooden interior the Monk offers an array of carefully
selected imported Beers and plenty of fine whiskeys to back it up. The Monk
begs to be your friend and it’s so charming you can’t say no. But have no fear,
after a few brews and a tinge of the good stuff, there is a wonderful menu of
what I would call Germanic inspired meats, old school Irish potatoes, and
deliciously stinky cheese to soak up all the Monks Mead. But this bar stands
for a lot more than just pub and grub. The owner was an Irish man who can to
the states to find his own American Dream. Starting as a dishwasher in a local
pub in Dallas, he worked his way up and never looked back. He now owns multiple
successful bars in Dallas, and the Old Monk stands as tribute to the man who
came with here nothing and now has his own bars to drink in for FREE!! If that’s
not the American Dream…
Barr Note: Where Guinness flows like rivers and Jameson rains from the heavens. |
Vegas
The Laundry Room
525 E. Fremont St. Las Vegas, NV 89101 The laundry Room - web |
Laundry
room is like the scene where Phoebe Cates gets out of the pool in ‘Fast times
at Ridgemont high”, you watch it over and over and over again but it never gets
old. It’s that essence of a bar you
don’t mind rediscovering as often as possible.
Laundry room is the speakeasy of Vegas that I wish would have existed
for the rat pack era. What once was the
actual laundry room for the old golden nugget is now a hush hush speakeasy we
should all be talking about… or perhaps whisper. Everyone likes to be in the know, the first
to try the newest craze, or even just the person to break the news but we all
like a great kept secret when our dirty laundry is hung out for everyone to
see. At a point when you feel like you can’t escape the spotlight, there’s no
where better to get clean than to have a few hand crafted cocktails in a dark
room accompanied by the harmonic wailings of young vocals & an aged piano,
and that is why we all need the Laundry Room!
Barr Note: Its the closest you can get to the golden Era of Vegas and Booze! |
The Griffin
511 E Fremont St. Las Vegas, NV 89101 The Griffin - web |
The
griffin seems as if it was designed by a medieval castle architect. It’s a dingy looking environment with stone
& mortar fire pits and dark wooden stools to rest weary gamblers achy bones
and financial woes. If you can imagine the
coolest dungeon retrofitted into a 21st century Pub with all your
friends stuffed in it, then you can imagine the Griffin. Oh yeah, there’s also one in Los Angeles, just
in case you don’t want to make the trip into Vegas. But who doesn’t want to VEGAS!
Barr Note: Meet your buddies for a late night beer or bring a cute girl and disappear. |