Restaurants

In Los Angeles? Want a great sports bar restaurant with a ton of giant TVs, sports and Route 66 memorabilia, and enough booth-style seating to go around? I recommend Barney’s Beanery. It’s one of the most fun sports bar restaurants I’ve been to, and the menu (printed on 6 sheets of newspaper) is so huge and varied, everyone in your group will find something they want.

There are four Barney’s Beanery outposts. I’ve been to the one in Old Town Pasadena a couple of times, and enjoyed countless meals at the Barney’s Beanery on the 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica. The other two are in Burbank and West Hollywood – this last being the original location.

All day breakfasts, salads, pizzas, burgers and dogs are here, of course, as well as soups, sandwiches,foot-long hot dogs and burritos…the list goes on and on. American comfort food rules at Barney’s beanery, and this is as it should be: The festive, sometimes raucous crowd (depends on the game), comfy booth seats, and loud class rock practically sets the stage for this. The license plates on the wall – perhaps not at all locations – and other all-American decor really add to the fun atmosphere here. The blue cheese burger is one of my favorites, along with the Cajun chicken Caesar salad, chili, and prawn pesto pizza. I also like the California omelette: This means with avocado, of course. Everything “California” in food usually means “plus avocado.”

Not to mention the beer list. There are over 130 imported and domestic beers available at Barney’s Beanery, and many an enjoyable night has been passed there with a small group of friends, a pitcher, and shared platters of fries. The Barney’s in Santa Monica has karaoke starting at 10:00PM on Wednesdays, and the West Hollywood location does so on Sundays, Mondays and Wednesdays.

Still reading? By now, one thing must be apparent: Barney’s Beanery is not the typical Los Angeles low-fat-low-carb-organic-raw-food type of stereotypical restaurant. Instead, it’s a good old fashioned sports bar and restaurant, for a good old fashioned time. If you’re in Los Angeles and looking for just such a casual night out, Barney’s Beanery will perfectly fill your needs.