Leading Edge -- First in a Series!
Everything Old is NEW again!
Ask the average, non-bar hopping person to describe a beer bar and they will probably come up with a vision of a neighborhood dive straight out of Dashiell Hammett’s dark and dingy Depression era Los Angeles: An isolated, small, shadowy, windowless hovel that smells of stale cigarettes and old beer. The walls are decrepit dark wood paneling, coated with decades of nicotine stains, resembling a something from a 70’s porn film interior. A broken juke box sits in the corner with, perhaps, a decent size flat screen showing the sport of whatever season or the endless stream of foreign soccer matches. (Tonight! Cameroon versus Ecuador! ) Oh, did I forget to mention the traditional hand painted portrait of Elvis on velvet hanging behind the bar?
OUCH!
Now, more sophisticated and younger people will tell you that sports bars are the going thing… like, uh like, uh you know, like they have wall to wall giant screens showing EVERYTHING including Super Bowl reruns of decades past and the omnipresent foreign soccer matches. Every inch of the place is packed with loud, noisy, drinkers. There are 58 selections of beer, 93% of which you have never heard of, and about 93% of all drinkers in the bar are holding a Bud or a Coors. So much for diversity. And the volume is so high you can’t even think, much less talk.
Bedlam Bedfellows!
Well, that is the general spectrum. However, American Bars is pleased to note and highlight the fact that there are many, many barrooms that offer a far more avant garde experience. This is the start of an ongoing series highlighting some of the leading edge innovations that are drawing huge crowds nightly to regional bars in the very trendy LA nightclub scene. You will be shocked and surprised that what is most popular is not actually the glitz and glamor one expects from the jet set and notable trendsetters here. To the contrary, the most popular dives would not have their doors darkened by any of the glitterati who grace the style magazine covers. No, this is not about image…this is about fun.
We will begin this series with just one sample.
Do you remember being so creative as a child that you continually experienced unabashed glee every waking moment? Remember how anything and everything could be magically transformed into a fun game?
Well, now, a generation later, all of us still can opt for that unabashed glee, we can turn every ordinary moment into a drinking game.
Let American Bars offer an example drawn from our local Los Angeles region: Busby’s East over on Wilshire Blvd. Check them out at busbysla.com
This place offers a legendary game room that is packed to the walls every single night. The draw? Believe it or Not, its those old fashioned games that only your great grandparents used to enjoy! Everything old is New again. No sophistication, no electronics, no nothing except your real, personal participation…something that few can recall even doing at all in this age of cell phones and online devices.
Classic Games and booze are an interesting mix. To find this in spades, Busby’s East is your place. From shuffleboard (does anyone alive even remember shuffleboard?) and billiards (that’s pool to the less sophisticated set) to beer pong and yes, even board games. Busby’s has it all — a major throwback to a simpler time. And every time you throw back one, these old games get more and more fun, silly and impossible to master. There’s even a little dance floor where you can sweat off some of those shots and rehydrate for the next round.
Just be warned– the drinks run strong and generous, and the establishment has earned itself the dubious honor of the nickname “Blackout Busby’s.”
OK, now, walk into your establishment and compare…
Is there room for improvement?
Enough said…for now.
