Santa Monica Nights: The Main Street Bar Crawl
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This weekend I had the opportunity to go out with some
friends who suggested we meet up for drinks in Santa Monica. Our starting point
was The Victorian,
a locale that sounded to me a bit too expensive and stuffy to be a truly good
time. Still, it was the beginning of the evening and I was more about the
company than the crowd anyway.
We pulled up to the venue in our Uber, and I was
apprehensive. My idea of a good night out ends in stumbling down a sidewalk home
after too many margaritas; This place, however, had live guitarists serenading
two cougars out front next to a sign advertising it as a great wedding
reception location. In fact, I did feel like I was about to crash a wedding.
Luckily, the empty dancefloor and tiny bar were not
all the building had in store for us. My friends led me down the stairs to Basement Tavern,
and I breathed a sigh of relief. Sure, the cover band was playing a painful
version of Smash Mouth’s “All Star,” but it was more interesting than the
mature setting upstairs.
Patrons lounged on chairs, loveseats, and sofas around
the room. The night was young, so no one was really dancing yet. The vibe was
fun, but it was too loud for the type of catching up to do, so we moved on to
the next spot: Finn
McCool’s.
McCool’s calls itself an Irish pub, but it feels more
like a sports bar. We watched the conclusions of some low tier bowl games and
alternated between shots of fireball and pints of beer, indications that this
was not going to be our last stop of the evening. I checked into the SpotZone
app,
rating the bar for what it was: an even ratio, nonexistent wait, and
non-memorable music.
For a Friday night in Santa Monica, Main Street was
pretty dead, a condition I am told has been steadily worsening over the past
year, but this weekend I chalked it up to New Year’s Eve hangovers causing its
usual crowd to stay in and collectively vow to remain sober forever
until next weekend.
Once it became clear to all of us that we were drunk
enough to continue the night, we wanted to go somewhere where we could be rowdy
without attracting the attention of everyone in the place. We wanted to go to Circle Bar.
Circle Bar is always hot. It advertises itself as
attracting the “most colorful and diverse crowd on the Westside,” and Friday
night was no exception. When we arrived around eleven, I checked in with SpotZone,
announcing the place was packed, it was a bit of a sausage fest, but there was
no wait. The music was not your basic hip-hop; it was your
ultra-basic-feels-like-a-middle-school-dance hip-hop. And to be honest, that was
kind of fun.
Circle Bar is a place I would recommend for a good
time. You can get rowdy. You can spill your vodka Red Bull on the dance floor
without anyone noticing. You can sit at an empty booth and watch chicks of all
ages and races grind on short men. It’s unpretentious. It’s relaxed. You will
not be the weirdest person there.
Who would I tell to stay away? The EDM snobs (there’s
none of that here), the cocktail connoisseurs, those who hate packed houses,
and elitists who need VIP treatment at all times. But if you can get down and
have a good time if you want to, Circle Bar isn’t a bad bet in Santa Monica.
What’s your favorite place to bar hop on the Westside?
Shoot me a tweet @SpotZoneApp or download
the app for free for real time ratings updated every night
of the bars and clubs throughout LA. And Happy New Year to my #SpotZoneCrew.
Please don’t stay sober. We need you out there.
