| Cover: $10-$15 | Attire: Semi-Dressy |
| Best Nights: Weekends | Avg. Age Range: 25-40 |
Full Review Coming Soon Back to Beverly Hills/Century City Menu
| Cover: None | Attire: Very Casual |
| Best Nights: Weeknights | Avg. Age Range: 25-45 |
El Torito Grill is fun place to stop after work, but before
going out to somewhere else. It's a
good place to meet the people you'll be going out with later. You get a pretty good crowd
after
work who come for the happy hour buffet. The setting is very casual, with a good mix of
people.
It gets crowded during sporting events, due to the televisions throughout the bar. The
drinks are
good, and since you are in a Mexican restaurant, they have a good selection of margaritas
and the
like. There are almost always drink specials and promotions going on, so be sure to ask
your
bartender. The bartenders are very friendly, usually enough to start making bets on
whatever
sporting event happens to be on TV. The food in the restaurant is pretty good, but that's
not
why we're here.
MC - 10/29/96
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| Cover: None | Attire: Casual |
| Best Nights: Weeknights | Avg. Age Range: 25-40 |
Houston's is located in the Century City Shopping Center.
It's in the NW corner of the center;
you'll see it from Santa Monica Blvd. The bar gets really crowded on weeknights, after
5pm,
when the work crowd from neighboring high-rises start to filter in. It has a dark wood bar
with
seating all around it (ala Cheers). There are other high tables around it, where you can
order food
as well. And the food from the restaurant is excellent. They have a great selection of
micro-brews
on tap. The crowd is mostly the after work type, which are dressed up from work; however,
Houston's is a very casual setting. You can come in jeans and feel comfortable. Anyways,
it's
a fun, relaxing place to have some drinks, especially if you're meeting some friends to
see a movie
at the cinema next door.
MC - 10/29/96
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| Cover: None | Attire: Dressy Casual |
| Best Nights: Thurs. to Sat. | Avg. Age Range: 25-40 |
Find the neon martini glass on the south side of the street
and you’ve found Liquid Kitty,
crowned by the LA Weekly as "the only fun bar on the Westside." Or, for those of
you
unfamiliar with our local rag, "the only place where straight white people with jobs
actually
appear to be having a good time." And they’re right. Even without the incredible
diversity,
which makes Hollywood bars so… diverse, Liquid Kitty is a fun place to stop in for a
cocktail
or twelve.
If you find it hard to see in Three of Clubs, walking into
Liquid Kitty after parking under the
glaring lights of Pico will make you feel like someone slipped welder’s goggles on
you and then
smacked you on the head with a ball peen hammer. That long line at the pay phone outside
is
people calling their opthamologist to schedule an appointment.
Once you’ve righted yourself and your pupils have dilated to the size of bar
coasters, have
someone guide you to the bar or better yet, bring a penlight. Order the specialty, the
martini,
which as every local publication has been quick to gush, comes with a cigarette on the
side!
(Crazy people, bring a whole pack. That way you can hand out them out to friends and those
annoying strangers who always seem to strike up a conversation when they see you smoking.)
On a recent night, my Tangueray martini came with a Marlboro Light on the side.
That’s fine
for the ladies, but any guy who considers a Marlboro Light a real cigarette is probably
still in
junior high (Don’t start, kids!). A fabulous gesture nonetheless, and Liquid Kitty
will also provide
strong drinks and beautiful people in a delightfully relaxed atmosphere on just about any
night
you go. It’s a fun bar, even without the tattooed samba-dancing gay performance
artists from Zimbabwe.
GF - 3/3/97
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| Cover: None | Attire: Semi-Casual to Dressy |
| Best Nights: Weekends | Avg. Age Range: 25-50 |
The bar in the Peninsula Hotel is on your left as you enter
the lobby. It's very crowded on
the weekends, while a modest crowd will still show up on weeknights. The drinks are
STRONG.
If you order a mixed drink, you'll get a highball glass with ice filled with liquor up
4/5ths of the
way. Then you'll get your mixer in it's own bottle to add as you please. Drinks are
expensive,
but one drink easily amounts to two anywhere else. The crowd is interesting. You'll often
see
older men in their 50's with call girls in their 20's on their arm. Overall, however, the
crowd
averages in their late 20's to early 30's. The attire is a bit upscale. It's much better
to be
overdressed than underdressed here. Overall, it's really a lot of fun. And, don't be put
off by
the notion of it being a hotel bar. It really does get wild on the weekends.
MC - 10/28/96
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| Cover: None | Attire: Casual to Very Dressy |
| Best Nights: Fridays | Avg. Age Range: 25-50 |
Trader Vic's is on the corner of Wilshire Blvd. and Santa
Monica Blvd., beneath the Beverly
Hilton Hotel. The best night for the bar is on Friday nights when most of the LA crowd
shows up.
The other nights of the week are fairly quiet. The decor is ultra Polynesian or South
Pacific, hence
the name. The key here is to order a drink menu from your bartender or waiter. The menu contains
numerous tropical libations that will quench your thirst. Recommended are the trademark
Mai-Tai,
the Scorpion Bowl, and for the daring, the Tiki Tiki Pukka. It packs quite a punch. Of
course, you
could always order your usual drink, as well. The average age of the crowd in the bar
ranges from
the low 20's to mid/late 30's. Of course, in the restaurant portion, there are customers
of all ages.
The attire of the crowd ranges from dressy casual to very dressy; however, there is no
enforced
dress code. To sum up a Friday night, everywhere you look there is one beautiful person
after
another. Add the drinks, and it's a good way to kick off the weekend.
MC - 10/29/96
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