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  • Another one bites the dust...Bar Obituaries - J. Sloans

    • 04/12/2016
    • ADB
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    Another one bites the dust…the Bar Obituaries

    J.Sloans in West Hollywood

    Just like everything else in LA these days, another well known guy is undergoing a "change". 

    Yes, it’s a bar this time. 

    It survived gangland bootleggers, 1920’s Prohibition, overtly carousing movie stars and yuppie-fication.

    Sadly, what is widely claimed to be Los Angeles' oldest continuously operating neighborhood tavern has now closed for good…so it can be converted into a women's dress shop.

    It’s a full make-over for the 83-year-old J. Sloans pub in West Hollywood. The "change" has caused an uproar among customers who say there can be no replacement for its wood-beamed simplicity and its beer-fueled congeniality.  However, when you are in Hollywood, powerful forces force change…especially landlords. 

    The dress shop is reportedly planned by actress Elaine Joyce, who owns the 1,500-square-foot building used by the bar at 8623 Melrose Ave. Joyce is the wife of famed playwright Neil Simon.

    Frequently seen in movie and television scenes, J. Sloans had been a favorite for generations of Hollywood stars too. Customers such as Clark Gable and Spencer Tracy frequented the place in the 1940s and '50s. More recently, actors Dennis Quaid, George Clooney and Matt Dillon relaxed there.

    Film industry types routinely rented out the place for Oscar-watching soirees and wrap parties. Five years ago, the bar made international headlines when Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein announced he was buying the bar and giving it to a screenwriter as partial payment for a script--a deal that wasn't consummated.

    Mostly, J. Sloans was a just a longstanding, neighborhood hangout.

    They had to be. There’s no parking lot. J. Sloans was exempt from the normal requirement of 25 parking spaces for a bar where dancing is permitted. But then, J. Sloans was exempt from plenty of restrictions placed on other bars.

    It opened in 1919 and predated the Alcoholic Beverage [Control Board]. It was grandfathered in. 

    It was the only license of its kind in Los Angeles. J. Sloans could have sold beer to go or employed naked bartenders. But, it never did. 

    J. Sloans actually had an outlaw image when it opened. Back in the day, Prohibition was looming, so its first owner picked a spot way outside what were then Los Angeles city limits, He figured authorities wouldn't bother trying to enforce the national ban on alcoholic beverages out there.

    The Melrose Avenue location was also next to the Red Car trolley system's western terminal, which meant there was a steady flow of customers--even if the flow of beer and liquor was supposed to be cut off.

    The place was a great speak-easy back in the 1920’s. When Prohibition was repealed, they flung the doors open and kept right on going. 

    Until now. 

    Landlord Joyce, noted the Melrose Avenue property has been in her family since 1956. 

    …and so it goes…

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Another one bites the dust...Bar Obituaries - J. Sloans

Another one bites the dust…the Bar Obituaries

J.Sloans in West Hollywood

Just like everything else in LA these days, another well known guy is undergoing a "change". 

Yes, it’s a bar this time. 

It survived gangland bootleggers, 1920’s Prohibition, overtly carousing movie stars and yuppie-fication.

Sadly, what is widely claimed to be Los Angeles' oldest continuously operating neighborhood tavern has now closed for good…so it can be converted into a women's dress shop.

It’s a full make-over for the 83-year-old J. Sloans pub in West Hollywood. The "change" has caused an uproar among customers who say there can be no replacement for its wood-beamed simplicity and its beer-fueled congeniality.  However, when you are in Hollywood, powerful forces force change…especially landlords. 

The dress shop is reportedly planned by actress Elaine Joyce, who owns the 1,500-square-foot building used by the bar at 8623 Melrose Ave. Joyce is the wife of famed playwright Neil Simon.

Frequently seen in movie and television scenes, J. Sloans had been a favorite for generations of Hollywood stars too. Customers such as Clark Gable and Spencer Tracy frequented the place in the 1940s and '50s. More recently, actors Dennis Quaid, George Clooney and Matt Dillon relaxed there.

Film industry types routinely rented out the place for Oscar-watching soirees and wrap parties. Five years ago, the bar made international headlines when Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein announced he was buying the bar and giving it to a screenwriter as partial payment for a script--a deal that wasn't consummated.

Mostly, J. Sloans was a just a longstanding, neighborhood hangout.

They had to be. There’s no parking lot. J. Sloans was exempt from the normal requirement of 25 parking spaces for a bar where dancing is permitted. But then, J. Sloans was exempt from plenty of restrictions placed on other bars.

It opened in 1919 and predated the Alcoholic Beverage [Control Board]. It was grandfathered in. 

It was the only license of its kind in Los Angeles. J. Sloans could have sold beer to go or employed naked bartenders. But, it never did. 

J. Sloans actually had an outlaw image when it opened. Back in the day, Prohibition was looming, so its first owner picked a spot way outside what were then Los Angeles city limits, He figured authorities wouldn't bother trying to enforce the national ban on alcoholic beverages out there.

The Melrose Avenue location was also next to the Red Car trolley system's western terminal, which meant there was a steady flow of customers--even if the flow of beer and liquor was supposed to be cut off.

The place was a great speak-easy back in the 1920’s. When Prohibition was repealed, they flung the doors open and kept right on going. 

Until now. 

Landlord Joyce, noted the Melrose Avenue property has been in her family since 1956. 

…and so it goes…

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