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Taking on the Westside dive bar scene

Reliable, comfortable, mildly sleazy, and willing to take you in no matter what

By Katie Bain and Will Theisen

Special to Metromix
February 4, 2009

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The Daily Pint (Credit: Shane Redsar)

Reliable, comfortable, mildly sleazy, and willing to take you in no matter what you are, or are not, wearing, a great dive bar is like that booty call who always shows up. Metromix drinking enthusiasts Katie and Will have both attempted to finagle their way into hotshot clubs with cash lined handshakes (Katie) and come-hither glances (Will), but they are generally more enthusiastic about t-shirts, three-day jeans, jukeboxes and beer. Consequently, they dig dive bars. They also both live on the Westside and are, like their fashion sense, fairly lazy. Thus, a roundup of their favorite beyond-the-405 dives.

Backstage Bar & Grill

10400 Culver Blvd. - Culver City

310-839-3892

This karaoke joint is usually packed with the post-work Sony crowd and a slew of legitimately talented singers doing everything from Ciara to “Midnight Train to Georgia.” They’ll reserve a table for you, but the closest you’ll get to bottle service is a round of Bud. The jukebox was turned off for karaoke during our visit, but "Hotel California" was definitely being done in rowdy, sing-along style. Patrons get very drunk here, but always seem to have a way of keeping it together. Case in point; the guy "standing" by the bar, spilling his drink all over the floor, looking like he's about to vomit, and not missing a beat as he sings along. Apparently they don't cut you off until you screw up the lyrics. More likely is that they don't cut you off at all. ***WILL SAYS: I'm told they put your photo on the wall if you get a Backstage Bar tattoo. Wish I didn't have one already.

Bar Melody

9132 S. Sepulveda Blvd. - Westchester

310-670-1994

Some folks are scared the first couple times they go here, and that’s understandable. The clientele can be shifty, and there’s the issue of the integrity of the structure itself. If the walls are falling apart on the interior, who knows how much longer this place will erect. Verdict: A perfect dive! They do serve food, but In-N-Out is across the street, so why risk it? There’s a big parking lot in the back, where all kinds of seedy things are happening. ***WILL SAYS: This bar would be that much more romantic, if the conversation didn’t have to stop every ten minutes as planes fly overhead.

Chez Jay

1657 Ocean Ave. - Santa Monica

310-395-1741

This longstanding bar and restaurant looks and smells like the inside of a ship, and has been the preferred dive for a crowd that has included Sinatra, Brando, Kissinger and Marilyn Monroe. The menu, featuring filet mignon, swordfish béarnaise and lobster tail is straight up supper club, but the free peanuts are more economical and almost as filling, plus the staff doesn’t care if you throw the shells on the floor. ***KATIE SAYS: The best, albeit the only, chicken curry I’ve ever had at a dive.

Cinema Bar

3967 Sepulveda Blvd. - Culver City

310-390-1328

A bar with live music is always tricky, because it runs the risk of losing its "dive" title, and becoming just another dingy venue. Luckily, Cinema is a dive bar through and through, the kind of place that's inexplicably proud of it back-to-back softball titles from the mid '90s (with dusty trophies to prove it), and a well-worn copy of Def Leppard's "Hysteria" in the juke box. If the label on your beer bottle looks nothing like the one on display above the bar, it's because absolutely nothing on the wall has been updated in the last 10 years. Consider it an opportunity to see what your father's bottle of Miller Light looked like. The bands are always great, and we're particularly impressed with the Allman Brothers tribute act that dresses like the band, wigs and all. Come to think of it, that might actually be the way they dress...***KATIE SAYS: The women’s room is tidy, fresh and equipped with a pack of matches to, presumably, keep it thus so. Also, that may have actually been Gregg Allman.

Cozy Inn

11155 Washington Pl. - Culver City

310-838-3826

This place is a mixologist’s nightmare, the kind of place where the whiskey bottle stays upended a couple counts too many for a “well-balanced” cocktail. Simply put, it’ll get you drunk, which is really what it’s all about at the Cozy. The regulars come for the pool tables, the darts, the shuffleboard, and to get away from the hip drinking establishments popping up around the Westside, like Saints and Sinners and their fancy iPod dock. The jukebox already has Journey, so what the hell do you need an iPod for? ***WILL SAYS: I won a music bet with the bartender, and every time I go in, she thinks she stills owes me a Heineken.

Daily Pint

2310 Pico Blvd. - Santa Monica

310-450-7631

With shuffleboard, pool and foosball, The Daily Pint is a sports bar for the non-athletically inclined (i.e. the intoxicated). At once an intensely casual neighborhood place with a serious crew of regulars, the Daily Pint is also a destination spot for beer and whiskey cognoscenti who dig the rotating collection of 150-plus whiskeys and scotches and far-reaching collection of beers rounded up from England, Germany, Scotland, the U.S., Jamaica, the Czech Republic, Mexico and Canada. Like any valid dive, The Daily Pint slings Coors Light and MGD just as proudly.***KATIE SAYS: Last time I was here I sat (okay, fell) on a pizza box, because the place tends to be littered with such things.

Del's Saloon

12238 Santa Monica Blvd. - Los Angeles

310-207-1978

There was a brief scare, when this worn-down, yet hopelessly charming establishment was featured in Judd Apatow’s hip comedy “Knocked Up,” that maybe the cover was blown, and any chance of maintaining that legitimate, localized vibe was thrown out the window. Luckily this bar doesn’t have any windows, so rest easy, regulars. If the place is packed, it’s only to get in line for DJ Bobby’s karaoke. The first happy hour goes from 6 a.m. to 11 a.m. That’s not a typo, we mean 6 in the morning. Dive, defined. ***WILL SAYS: I once puked in a pencil cup here. No one batted an eye, not even the bartender I’d been talking to.

The Gaslite

2030 Wilshire Blvd. - Santa Monica

310-829-2382

This karaoke dive offers a marathon happy hour that starts when the doors open at 6 a.m. and lasts till the karaoke begins at 9 p.m. That’s 15 (progressively happier) hours, people. Consequently patrons are ripped and ready to rock when the mics come out. The staff is none-too friendly, but we wouldn't be either if we were constantly subject to sloppy renditions of “Sweet Caroline.” To their credit, they don’t care if you have Papa John’s delivered to your red, vinyl booth. ***KATIE SAYS: Once I once got booed while singing "I Will do Anything for Love" by Meatloaf. Thankfully, when you're drunk enough to cover Meatloaf, you're also drunk enough not to care about crowd response.

Hinano Cafe

15 Washington Blvd. - Venice

310-822-3902

Every now and then, someone tries to question Hinano’s legitimacy as a “dive.” Granted, they do serve food (surprisingly good burgers), and they do have windows, although we’ve seen more attractive screen doors. The floor is covered in either sawdust or peanut shells. They don’t serve peanuts, but that doesn’t rule it out. The mugs are frozen, the popcorn is free, and cash is the only tender they recognize. There’s an ATM in the liquor store next door, which is also a great place to pick up a 40 oz for the after-party. ***WILL SAYS: Jared Fogel, the Subway guy who used to be fat, has been known to stop by. He drinks Bud Light.

The Joker

2827 Pico - Santa Monica

310-828-9235

Truly a gold standard dive, the Joker has it all: unflattering lights, a surly clientele, (although surliness ebbs away when you're passed out on the bar), Ms. Pacman, lotto tickets, and a “cash only” sign hanging above a box of Rolaids. Legit. The jukebox is digital, so one could conceivably play some hipster Little Joy track, but the soundtrack during our visit erred on the side of glory years G n' R and Billy Idol. It presumably errs that way the majority of the time. Ultimately, the line between drinking for fun and drinking to drown one's sorrows is really blurry here. Execute your night correctly, and your vision will be too. WILL SAYS: A drunk bartender once made me a drink on the spot (always a mistake). He called it the "Strawberry Bra Strap," and it stands as the worst cocktail I've ever had in my life.

JP's Sports Bar & Grill

1101 Wilshire Blvd. - Santa Monica

310-394-7660

JP’s is everything a dive bar should be: dark corners, strong drinks, sports on the TV and gruff regulars sitting at the bar watching them. There are no frills at this joint, but there also isn’t anyone here who’d expect them.***KATIE SAYS: Sometimes getting a cheap drink is more important than going to a place that doesn’t smell like vomit.

Rick's Tavern on Main

2907 Main St. - Santa Monica

310-392-2772

You're definitely at a dive when the bartender is drinking as much, or more, than you are. Rick boasts a toasty staff that can be been seen keeping up with the whiskey swilling, Spiccoli-esque regulars who populate the place. Rick's serves 10 draft beers and a 30-plus selection of bottles, and the open front wall keeps the place ocean breeze fresh, although this doesn't do any good for the stuffed deer mounted on the wall. There's no jukebox, but they play an enjoyably non-sequitous mishmash of everything from Kings of Leon to "These Boots Were Made for Walking." The decorative knickknacks (trophies, toy trains, banjos and bobbleheads) are similarly ad hoc. ***KATIE SAYS: Such enthusiastic Jameson consumption has not been witnessed since my last birthday party.

Roosterfish

1302 Abbot Kinney Blvd. - Venice

310-392-2123

This gay dive on Abbot Kinney (Hint: What's another name for rooster? And what are we fishing for? Got it?), is a cement-floored, exposed-brick, alley-entranced good time. The Jukebox features some rock stuff, but is heavier on poppier club cuts. There's no dance floor, but that doesn't mean bustin' moves isn't encouraged. Grab a pool stick, show off your pinball wizardry, or just grab a spot on the cases of Rolling Rock and Budlight that double as seats and take in the erotic art lining the walls. Roosterfish also serves burgers and quarter-pound hotdogs for $3 on Sundays. You can't, uh, beat their meat. WILL SAYS: Straight couples who find this bar by accident should realize their mistake right about the time they notice the hardcore gay porn in the restroom.

Sports Harbour

13484 Washington Blvd. - Culver City

310-823-0933

This bar is baffling. For the most part, the details are everything you’d expect in a divey sports bar; faded sports memorabilia everywhere, questionable cleanliness, strong drinks, pool table, air hockey. If you’re not baffled yet, take a look around at the clientele: The women here are so attractive! How did this happen? Whatever the explanation, the bar is always packed with guys who came to catch the game, and mysteriously hot females who usually know more about the team than the guys. It’s like the all-female tribe of Amazons in Greek mythology, wearing Lakers jerseys. ***WILL SAYS: If the basketball shooting game doesn’t work, just grab the ball from under the little gate. Or you could plug it in, but then you have to pay.

Tattle Tale Room

5401 Sepulveda Blvd - Culver City

310-390-2489

This is the sort of bar where patrons come to drown in their sorrows during happy hour, laugh about bygone exploits with their friends, and address their frustrations with some sidewalk fisticuffs. It all makes for some pretty incredible people watching, and a couple 32 oz. bottles of beer will have you laughing, crying and fighting with them. What makes this dive legendary is the quality of the singing during karaoke. No matter what the person looks like, no matter how much they were boozing and fighting, almost every person in this bar has a gorgeous voice—the kind that makes you want to beg the DJ to take your name off the list, before you’re exposed as the auto-tuning fraud you are! ***WILL SAYS: The crowd will boo you off stage if you sing INXS. OK, maybe it was my singing, but “Never Tear Us Apart” didn't help.

Katie Bain and Will Theisen are Contributing Editors for Metromix Los Angeles