If you have been following SpotZone on Twitter or regularly checking app updates, you know that it’s a great resource that provides real time ratings of bars and clubs in Los Angeles. If you’ve seen any of my other blog posts, you’ll note that I have reviewed a few bars in West Hollywood and Santa Monica. Well, now it’s time for me to open up a whole new world for you and let you in on a little secret: SpotZone also rates venues behind the Orange Curtain. That’s right, thanks to your feedback, we’ve started adding bars in Newport Beach.


I want to let you in on another secret: Tuesday is my biggest night out of the week. Between Argyle Tuesdays at The Argyle in Hollywood and La Vida Cantina’s $4 margaritas every Tuesday night in Costa Mesa, I have no excuse not to be hungover on Wednesday mornings (thank you Laventina’s, for giving me life again). 


At this point, it’s more inconvenient not to go to Taco Tuesday than to go. Mark, the manager of La Vida, offers us free tequila shots (unclear if this is because we’re regulars or fun people. My advice to you is try to be both). There’s often live music to set the Mexican food, and I’ve heard the tacos are good, but if I’m being real with you, we only every go for the Taco Tuesday margaritas (on the rocks with salt, of course).


Here are some of my tips for making the most out of your Taco Tuesday in Newport:

1.      Go to La Vida. In fact, be sure to follow them on Twitter and Instagram because they often have extended Happy Hours and specials that you can take advantage of. Tempting, I know.

2.      Start early. There have been many nights when we’ve shown up and the Taco Tuesday seating is full. No spots at the bar. You can’t sit in the restaurant area and get the $4 margarita price. That’s for dinner patrons. Wonder what it’s like to be mature and spend your money on food. We’ve had the best experiences when we’ve gotten there at 6pm. It gives you time to have your fill of margaritas and go home early, so tomorrow isn’t too bad, but if you’re up for a late night…


1.      Saddle Ranch across the walkway has karaoke night every Tuesday, starting conveniently at 10pm, right when La Vida Cantina closes. Make sure you are drunk enough to perform or at least handle listening to amateur singers without wanting to kill yourself. If you’re not…


1.      Goat Hill Tavern across the street is one of the diviest places you can find in Newport, but you can get beer for cheap and keep your night going. The crowd is young and diverse, and on weekends they’re packed, but during the week, it’s a fun, chill place.

2.      Make sure you Lyft home. I prefer them over Uber, more on that later, but try and get into your car before surge pricing kicks in. Trust me.

There you have it. That’s how I do Tuesdays in Newport Beach. What are your favorite places to go to during the week? What bars or clubs in Orange County would you like to see added to the SpotZone app? Let me know on Twitter @SpotZoneApp or email me at spotzoneaudrey@gmail.com. I look forward to hearing from you, and I’ll see you out there. 


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. 

The last Sunday of the year is upon us, and it is crunch time. People all over my Facebook feed are posting their New Year’s Resolutions, self-help blogs are offering tips to keep them, and I myself am thinking about where I want to be this time next year. In thinking about the kind of person I want to be, the kind of life I want to live, and the personality I want to convey, I have come to the following conclusion:

Having champagne as a signature drink will lead to an amazing year and will effectively work as well all other resolutions combined. Here’s how:
 


5. Champagne makes you look perfectly high-maintenance.

Ladies, listen closely. It’s time we take back the phrase “high-maintenance” and stop letting men use it to make us feel insecure. I propose to you that being high-maintenance is a good thing. It’s the opposite of easy, it means we know what we want, and everyone likes a chase, and the opportunity to prove their worth to a lovely woman.
However, keep this in mind because it’s important: high-maintenance does not mean cruel or bratty or entitled. The vibe we’re going for here is sexy with great taste, not stuffy or picky. Think Marilyn Monroe’s signature combination of champagne and potato chips. This signature drink offers you the perfect ritzy characteristics to pair with your tendency to dance the night away, indulge in greasy pizza, and meet new people. Champagne, incidentally, will make you seem different and interesting this year.

4. Champagne makes you look like a baller.

Now I’m talking to the gentlemen. I want to set the record straight right now: champagne is not a girly drink. Champagne is a party drink. It attracts parties, it attracts women, and it makes you a magnet for both (but please try to do without sparklers unless you’re in Vegas for a bachelor party). There is no excuse for not having a bottle in your refrigerator at all times. At a bar, ordering a woman champagne shows you think highly of her, not to mention, it’s expensive, which means knowing about good champagne says a lot about your status, and if you order it casually, humbly, you don’t need to do any bragging for the rest of the evening.



3. Champagne is good for you.
That’s right. Next time you feel guilty drinking on a Tuesday or for the third night in a row, consider some of the health benefits of this fizzy drink: It prevents dementia, has fewer calories than any other alcoholic drink, and makes you feel fuller quicker, so you can drink it with the fried, salty foods that pair so well with this drink.






2. There are some amazing places to drink champagne in Los Angeles.

Try something new this weekend instead of your typical dive bar or club. Champagne bars can be great places to discover with friends, or take a date, not to mention there are options in every neighborhood. In DTLA, check out Aqua Lounge, which serves champagne pairings with its signature bubblies and is right next door to Onyx Lounge for the after party. If you prefer the Hollywood scene, I recommend The Know Where Bar, whose lively crowd and drink menu make it a great place for a pregame, main event, or after party. Be sure to follow us on Twitter this year, as I’m going to make it my mission to find even more great places to drink champagne throughout the city.
`


1. Champagne encourages you to celebrate the little things.

Most people tend to shy away from champagne because it’s too fancy, and generally only consumed on special occasions, but I encourage you to make 2015 the year every night out is a special occasion. I challenge you to be the person who keeps the party going, who learns how to pop a bottle with a knife, who knows the difference between brute and sec. Be the person who stocks it at home for parties, planned or impromptu. Be the person your friends look to for a great night out every time.

I’ll help you. Check out the SpotZone Twitter feed for plans and events every night, and download the SpotZone app for free on iTunes to see live ratings of clubs in your area, so every night will involve the perfect crowd and perfect music, and every outing can feel like a special occasion. 2015 isn’t going to be the year you pull your life together or start budgeting or become a vegetarian. It’s going to be your party year. Let’s make it happen, starting this Wednesday evening and let’s keep the New Year’s Eve celebrations going until 2016.  

It’s the most wonderful time of the year. No, not Christmas, New Year’s Eve. The time where partiers and couch potatoes alike mingle to drink champagne, dance on tables, and cure their hangovers the next morning by promising that this year, for some reason, will be different.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, you’re going to hit the gym more often, spend less money, and become a vegetarian, but failing that, thanks to the new SpotZone app, we’ve got some New Year’s Resolutions that you can actually stick to.




1. Go out every weekend.

If you’re one of those people that drinks seven nights a week (don’t look at me, what are you talking about?) go ahead and skip on down to the next resolution. If not, head on over to our Twitter page, where we constantly post drink specials, concerts, and promotional events at bars and clubs all over LA. Once you read about the bottomless mimosa brunch at The Must or Mixology classes at Cocktail Lab, you’ll start making room in your schedule for drinking, and your friends will marvel at how fun you’ve become!

2. Never wait in line again.

For girls, you all have no excuse. People move velvet rope for you, and if they don’t, find yourself a promoter. Gentlemen, we’ve got you covered. The SpotZone app will let you know which bars or clubs have more than a thirty minute wait to get in. If you’d rather spend your time drinking, be sure to find a club with the perfect crowd and no wait. Yeah. This app can do that for you. You’re going to have a great year.




3. Don’t waste time on terrible music.

Whether you’re into EDM, Indie Rock, or Hip Hop, going to a bar with anything less than your favorite type of music is just something you don’t have time for this year. The best part about living and going out in LA is that we have every type of band, independent DJ, or real concert that you could want on any day of the week. I know that’s a lot to keep track of, so I’ve set up a calendar just for you, so you can see what’s playing where on every night of the week. Just don’t forget to tell the rest of the #SpotZoneCrew how good the music is at your venue, so we know to join you.




4. Brunch better.

A great New Year’s Resolution is to hit the outdoor patios for bottomless mimosas every Sunday morning. We live in a city with great weather and amazing stuffed French toast, so don’t forget to Instagram your brunch outing and make your friends in New York City jealous while they drink hot toddies in their living rooms. Brunch will help you reconnect with friends you haven’t seen in forever, recap with your best friends you lost the night before, or be a better boyfriend by taking your girl out somewhere boozy after a night in with your wingman Netflix. Plus, it’s your last chance to drink in the morning before the week starts and you have to go back to working, where starting the day with a bloody mary is generally frowned upon.



5. Become a connected partier.

Who doesn’t want to be the person every friend goes to for info on what’s going to be fun that night? Whether your friends are headed to Vegas and want to bring you because you know promoters or your friend from Chicago wants to take you out on the town, your resolution this year should be the person everyone wants to go to for a good time. With the help of the SpotZone app, you’ll look like a boss when you know exactly where to go and when and every club you hit up just “happens” to have the right crowd, the right music, and the right girl/guy ratio. Tell your friends the secret and let them download the app too, or don’t. There are two ways to be the most successful, well-connected partier in town: 1. Don’t tell everyone everything you know.

Powered by Blogger.

Blog Archive

About me