If you’re holding a ticket to watch The Dodgers crush The Phillies at Dodger Stadium during the start of the NLCS tonight, have a beer and Dodger Dog for us, please. If not, you’re going to need a place to cheer on the home team before hoo-riding to Philadelphia dive The Shack to taunt their famously proud fans. Here we offer our guide to a few spots throughout the city where you can chug-a-lug with fellow fans who bleed blue, while watching the game and getting a good beer and a bite.
North East L.A. Beer Devotees
Those who find themselves Northeast-bound-and-down can certainly find loyal Southern Californians in classic dives like Cypress Park’s moody Footsie’s, which serves Longhammer IPA as well as PBR, though the game will probably not take priority to the tunes. Since few things go with baseball like beer does, you can guarantee suds much better than what’s served in Chavez Ravine at Verdugo Bar in Glassell Park. While you’ll find yourself in the company of craft ale-aficionados and people who grew up in the shadow of Dodger Stadium, the bar has plans to keep the game on merely “in the background,” most likely with the sound off. We think the best option lies up in Eagle Rock, where The Coffee Table Bistro has over 100 beers in bottles, sixteen on tap, and a giant television screen, along with three flatscreens, all slated to tune into the game tonight.
Central Sports Bars
If you’re hanging around Hollywood and are sick of fratty cheerleading sessions and chest-bumping at El Guapo Cantina and Big Wang’s, this would be the perfect chance to try Capitol City, open only three weeks on Cahuenga. Capitol City is dedicated to re-making the sports bar as a sophisticated destination. In addition to 7,000 square feet designed by Tag-Front, the space has 45 flatscreens, microbrews like Abita Purple Haze, and ahi tuna crispy rice, along with the usual wings, burgers, and nachos. For the masochist sports fan who truly wants to plunk themselves in the middle of a testosterone-fueled frenzy, there’s no better fulcrum than ESPN Sports Zone. Yes, it’s corporate, yes it’s louder than a Tokyo pachinko parlor, but it should be rocking come the seventh inning stretch, with a mix of neighborhoods getting blotto and no possible way to avoid a TV screen in your face.
Getting Westside Wasted
While West L.A. will no doubt vibrate with the screams of Bruins and Trojans who rally from Busby’s to Cabo Cantina, we suggest avoiding every single sports bar in this area if you hate a rowdy crowd of current and post-collegiates. Del’s Saloon isn’t quite so much a diamond in the rough after its exposure in Knocked Up, becoming better known and losing some of its ex-con clients. It remains a true everyday sports dive, however, with five TV sets and one giant flat-screen, as well as pool and darts for foreign friends that just don’t get baseball. There’s little flash, just hardcore drinking and rooting for the home team. Further west in Santa Monica, new West 4th/Jane might be a crossroads of east coast supporters (the owners are New Yorkers) and local fans. While only time and shots will determine if they come to a head, the bar just bought a 50” plasma to accompany its giant global beer list that includes both Alagash White and 40 Oz. bottles of O.E. Plus, they have the full baseball and football cable package.
Wherever you go tonight, make sure your rally cap is on and “Go Blue!”
