History of Los Angeles bars, pubs, dives, taverns & Saloons of the 30's 40's 50's & 60's (M-P)

Below you will find a number of excellent bars or restaurants that have nice bars. Remember DON'T DRINK AND DRIVE. Unless you are staying at a hotel within walking distance - do as I do and enjoy the ambiance and conversation while drinking an O' Doul's or a Perrier. It's not worth risking your life or the lives of others! A few places listed are complete dives. I make no representations whatsoever about the safety of any place on this site. You need to check around before going into any bar (especially women) - look at reviews on the internet and talk to people who have previously gone there. I have visited everyplace on the site, but I often go at times early in the morning when there is no one there. Just because I had a good experience does not mean you will!

Molly Malone's Pub, 575 South Fairfax Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90036 323-935-1577 since 1970

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This bar marks the outer limit of time machines date wise - 1970. This bar appears in "Patriot Games" and "Leaving Las Vegas". What makes this place unique among other things are scores of paintings of regulars from an earlier era by an artist, Neil Boyle, who I believe, in my humble opinion, was quite talented. Previously in this location was an older bar, Club 575.

Not far from Canter's Deli and Tom Bergin's bar and restaurant, the Farmer's Market and Dupar's restaurant.

Quon Bros. Grand Star Jazz Club, 943 N. Broadway, Los Angeles, CA 90012 since 1946

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I can't tell you much about this place because I visited on a Monday night when nothing much was happening. Nice ambiance although somewhat remodeled. Interesting locale to hear Jazz.

Not far from the site of the former Little Joe's Italian Restaurant and Philippe the Original French Dipped Sandwiches Restaurant.

Monty's Steak House, 592 S. Fair Oaks Ave., Pasadena, CA 626-792-7776

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I discovered this restaurant and bar in trying to reach the 110 from the 210. I could tell from the old neon sign out front it was going to be a good place. Well preserved. The bartender, when I was there, had been working at Monty's Steakhouse for over 50 years. He has served drinks there to J. Edgar Hoover and Howard Hughes. Seemed to have a nice group of regulars. Nice red semicircular booths. This place was first called Perry's and in 1947 changed to Monty's Steak House. See restaurants for more information.

UPDATE: This fantastic place is adios. A big loss for Pasadena.

Check out Gus's Bar-B-Q restaurant, Pie 'n Burger restaurant, Freddie's 35er bar, the Rialto Movie Palace and the Fair Oaks Pharmacy while you are out here.

Musso and Frank Grill, 6667 Hollywood Blvd. 323-467-7788. Tuesday through Saturday, 11 am to 11 pm since 1919

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See the Restaurant section for more pictures and history.

Interior wise, Musso and Frank's may be the best time machine in Southern California (see the restaurant page (M) for much more detail and pictures) The owners of Musso and Frank's have wisely not changed a single thing. Opened in 1919. The famous "back room", closed since the 1950s, was where great writers like F. Scott Fitzgerald, Raymond Chandler, Nathanael West, William Saroyan and Dorothy Parker hung out. The food is excellent. Parking in the back is reasonable with validation. While the place can be expensive if you order carelessly, you can almost fill up on the free sourdough bread. If you order a la carte things like the incredible hot turkey sandwich – it’s quite affordable. Charlie Chaplin’s favorite table was the first one when walking in the old room from Hollywood Boulevard. Not always the best place to strike up conversations with people, but if you do manage to talk to someone who is not with a group of friends, there are likely to be more interesting than the denizens of average bars. Someone should really write a book about this place.

Not far from Miceli's Italian Restaurant, Boardner's, the Frolic Room bar, the Power House bar, the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel and Grauman's Chinese and Egyptian Theaters. I occasionally call the Musso and Frank Grill - Musso and Frank's - just to catch the search engines for people who refer to it that way. I generally don't like to call it Musso's, if for no reason than that's the popular way of referring to it.

Old Tony's On The Pier, 210-212 Fisherman's Wharf, Redondo Beach, (310) 374-1442

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Nice old bar and restaurant with a tower like bar giving you a 360 degree view of Redondo Beach. Very relaxing! Dates from the 1950s. Generally has a talented guitarist playing here.

The Polo Lounge, Beverly Hills Hotel, 9641 Sunset Blvd. Beverly Hills, 310-887-2777.

(building since 1912)

Of course, the Beverly Hills Hotel underwent a two year remodel, but many nice original elements remain. I do not know if the Polo lounge remains the "power" spot it once was, but what astonished me was what a bargain some of the drinks were. They had frozen non-alcoholic coffee drinks for $6 that were bigger and better than Starbucks and they served it with this monster plate of chips and three very excellent dips (one being real guacamole which would normally cost six dollars in a nice Mexican restaurant alone)

Although we were definitely not big spenders that night, the service could not have been better or friendlier. And the self parking was free on top of that. As to the attitude in the Beverly Hills Hotel - see my Hotel page - quite surprising to a confirmed Bohemian like myself.

Not far from the Rainbow Bar & Grill, Duke's Coffee shop, Mel's Drive-In and the Chateau Marmont.

The Prince (the Windsor), 3198 W. 7th St., Los Angeles (213) 389-1586, (interior since 1942)

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The place is much darker than this photo.

The Chinatown Booth where Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway sat.

This is probably my favorite restaurant and bar in the Los Angeles metro area, along with Musso's (see the restaurant page for more detail). Once one of the top ten most elegant restaurants in Los Angeles in the 1950s called the Windsor, the new owners (Korean) have wisely changed nothing (other than perhaps the oil paintings on the walls). Once owned by Ben Dimsdale, who owned the nearby Secret Harbor (HMS Bounty). Beside the great interior, the juxtaposition of Korean culture, food and music on the 1940s American ambiance makes this a fascinating restaurant. Very friendly staff and reasonably good food (most dishes are so large they should be shared), I highly recommend this place. Be sure to use the valet parking as this is not the best area of Koreatown. This place mysteriously closed for a month or so recently, but magically reopened unchanged.

NEWSFLASH: For years I wondered where the scene in Chinatown was filmed were Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway are sitting in a restaurant that is supposed to be the Brown Derby. I just discovered it was here at the Prince (then the Windsor). Somewhat ironic that Chinatown was filmed in part in Koreatown. See my comments on the restaurant page. One more reason to love this place!

Not far from the Brass Monkey bar, HMS Bounty bar and restaurant, and Frank 'n Hanks bar, the remains of the Brown Derby Hat and Langer's Deli.

UPDATE: There are unsubstantiated rumors that there might be big changes in store for the Prince Restaurant one year or so down the road. Given the great historic importance of this restaurant, I hope people will check this out and let the restaurant and apartment owners know how important the Prince is to you and Los Angeles in general. For a more extensive history of the WIndsor Apartments and the Windsor and Prince Restaurants, click here.

The Power House, 1714 Highland Ave., Hollywood (323) 463-9438 (since 1947 or 1952 depending on the source)

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I don't know how old this bar is but it's obviously pre-70s. If you look up the word "dive" in the Webster's dictionary - you'll see a picture of the Power House. But I'm using dive in the good sense of the word, and millions of people love dives (I'm lukewarm). No complaints about remodeling here. In the afternoon the bartender and patrons were quite friendly. Great location a block off Hollywood Boulevard. I'm a bit wary of Hollywood Boulevard at night other than the "Golden Triangle" of Musso and Frank Grill, Miceli's (Micheli's) and Boardner's (although you should still be quite careful and not walk alone at night). There are so many clubs now in the area that you are rarely alone, even late at night. You might even run into Lauren and Heidi if they are not fighting!

Not far from the El Capitan Theater, the Chinese Theater, the Egyptian Theater, Miceli's (Micheli's) restaurant, Musso and Frank Grill, Boardner's bar and the Frolic Room bar.

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