According to the LA Times, the Angelenos in this part of the city don’t think so. Read the attached story and send us your thoughts.
http://www.latimes.com/features/printedition/theguide/la-gd-nightcol24jan24,1,1936553.story
I’ve never experienced this phenomenon, but then again, I might be one of those self-indulgent yuppies the Times (in all it’s countercultural glory) pans as not only narcissistic, but also disgusted by the handicapped. Now in the spirit of full disclosure, I do write for a website dedicated to the neighborhood, which probably lumps me in as part of the problem. (I don’t think Norwalk has much of a neighblog scene.) I also own property, which means in behooves me financially (but would be disgusting in reality) if a Starbucks and Pinkberry open up on all even avenue intersections of Figueroa. Still, part of the experience I have enjoyed in this part of town is a relative lack of anonymity. I see the same people at the dogpark, run into old college friends when I’m not expecting it, and frequently resume conversations with the same people at the York or Antigua. Plus, why the longing for The Wild Hare? I miss it about as much as I miss Toppers in Eagle Rock. They both hold some fond memories for me but their new incarnations improve on what I want in a bar in almost every way. What do you think? Is Highland Park getting (as my grandma would say) “Too big for its britches”, or should the LA Times stick to its above the fold coverage of celebrity DUIs? I don’t mean to be nasty, but coming between me and my 1903 is like walking between a mother bear and her cub…dangerous.
Sitting quietly under an unassuming “cocktails” sign on the corner of Verdugo and Avenue 34 is Glassell Park’s newest attraction. The Verdugo is a surprisingly hip joint that seems as if it plucked straight from Hollywood—and this time I think I mean that as a good thing. “Unassuming” may have actually been something of an understatement. At 10:30 on a Saturday night, the surrounding streets were dark and abandoned. Nearby warehouses and empty lots surrounded by chain-link fence do nothing to give away what is lurking behind the small door under the afore mentioned sign. Stepping through reveals a stunning space filled with a smoothly lit curved bar, plasma screens (showing the hipster classic “2001: A Space Odyssey”), black booths and a definitively cool lounge in the back. Dreadlocks seemed to be the style of the evening for patrons, who all sat drinking beer and enjoying the fairly loud beats being mixed by the live DJ (who was sitting in a booth overlooking the bar). This is definitely a bar with a vibe.
Behind the counter is your standard full bar, but also an excellent selection of high-quality beers. The Verdugo takes its place among the very few bars that are willing to dedicate a tap to Delirium Tremens, one of the finest, richest beers Belgium has ever produced—and is incidentally a beer that is named after the symptoms of severe withdrawal from alcohol abuse. Naturally this is the first beer we drank. The service was fast and kind, but unfortunately the girls behind the counter knew nothing of the beers they were serving and quickly suggested taking a look at the menu for more information. A conversation with the Verdugo’s friendly proprietor revealed that these were not his normal bartenders, but rather a couple girls filling in and this was in fact their first night. Clearly the solution in a situation such as this is to simply order as many beers as possible and decide for oneself—a strategy that allowed me to discover that none of us at YORK BLVD. are fans of Fuller’s London Pride.
Another bit of confusion surrounding the Verdugo is their schedule, and unfortunately we were not able to get to the bottom of this in our visit. Even a loyal reader here posted “I thought Verdugo’s was still closed?” Like an on-again-off-again girlfriend, nobody seems to know that exactly is going on over there. The bar reportedly opened a few months ago, but Citysearch currently lists them as “Temporarily Closed.” One very upset reviewer on Yelp posted an angry comment about going there on a Saturday night and finding no signs of life. And for a place as hip as it was, it sure seemed as though the word wasn’t out about being open. Instead of people packing in around midnight, the place quieted down.
So get the word out. The Verdugo is open. It’s a definite change of pace from the other local bars, and something that may appeal to those that think the York is too laid back or Johnny’s is too much of a dive.
Info:
The Verdugo
3408 Verdugo Road
(323) 257-3408
NIMBYism is alive and well along Colorado Blvd. A few months after successfully preventing a framing store from being expanded into a restaurant/bar, residents and the Boulevard Sentinel are again gearing up the neighborhood war machine to prevent the Coffee Table from opening a bar adjacent to their current café at 1958 Colorado Blvd. While I understand the concerns of neighbors, I have problems with their two primary complaints:
1. Without building a parking lot, the adjacent surface streets would be flooded with a parking nightmare, making it impossible for residents to find a spot. Driveways would be blocked, and patron’s cars would be parked on manicured lawns.
2. Patrons would drive drunk in the neighborhood, fight, urinate, vomit, and copulate in the streets and alleys as a result of alcohol (finding used condoms was blamed on the Chalet during the Fat Dog Lounge debacle).
Again, these are issues that need to be addressed between neighbors and the business, but none of them should prevent The Coffee Table Lounge from opening. To the parking concerns, as much as residents might feel they have a right to those spots, I don’t believe they do. They don’t own the street or the curb and like it or not, I have just as much a right to park in front of their house as they do. Their driveways and garages are for storing their cars. The street is a public resource paid for by all and therfore available to all. The remainder of the parking concerns, while valid, can be solved with a simple call to a tow truck. The first time my car is towed from in front of a driveway is the last time I park it there. Plus, towing companies just love to come and nab illegally parked cars.
As for the behavior of drunken patrons, nobody wants to live on Bourbon Street, but I think the complaints about the Chalet have been overblown. Do we miss the days of underage drinking and hard-core alcoholism when it was Toppers? Was that clientele so much more sophisticated, or are we only okay with a bar so long as they have no customers? There are solutions to rowdy behavior: Call the police, complain to ownership, or set your sprinklers to go off at 2 AM. Some are so myopic that they complain about the impact Casa Bianca has on them. Is there one person in a hundred that thinks Casa Bianca isn’t a neighborhood treasure?
Hopefully, some dialogue and reason will prevail between neighbors and the Coffee Table’s owners so that the entire neighborhood can benefit. There is not a bottomless supply of businesses willing to move into the neighborhood and constant rejection and unreasonable Conditional Use Permits will dry that pool up quickly.
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