Townhouse Cocktails: User Reviews

Genuine Dive Turned Faux-Dive
By Jared Inglewood from Venice, January 14, 2009

Overall rating:

The Townhouse has a rich history and up until recently welcomed a motley cast of characters that was appropriate for its Venice Beach location. It was a cash-only, no-frills bar with giant beers (allegedly to make it harder for the beach panhandlers to come in and loiter over a pint), laughably "erotic" video games at the bar, an awesomely frozen in time jukebox, gruff bartenders with big hearts, and no wussy pour spouts. New ownership has cleaned it up. It's still a dive at its core, but now it's trapped in an awkward universe between beach dive bar and Temple Bar. The downstairs remains underused or misused. All in all, it's OK. It's not insufferable; there are plenty of places even just in Venice where the pretension levels are more toxic. But it's a disappointing transformation for a place that once seemed like a refuge and a time warp.

shoot some stick or pick up a chick....
By Liam from venice, December 5, 2008

Overall rating:

Me ! I love the Townhouse.... is packed with beautiful women and has the locals and the hipsters mixing it up - Venice style! drinks are strong and come across the bar fast....made by cute barmaids.
yo! shoot some stick or pick up a chick- thats my motto.......;-0

Once great place to drink
By veniceguy82 from Venice, October 18, 2007

Overall rating:

turned into cheesy imitation of itself. Gone: Nascar memorabilia, curmudgeonly yet charming bartender. Replaced with chic decor, uppity barmaids that would just as soon spit on you as serve you a tallboy. And they have this embarrassing burlesque downstairs that is the opposite of sexy. But, hey, local real estate is getting pricier. Gotta give the neighbors what they want.
And thanks for the lousy, information-thin review, Metromix. Was it written by an automated computer program? If you're going to be our local source, get some humans to do actual reporting. What is this site for, anyway?