The Parlor

Alright!!! After having to write a few bad reviews recently I am excited to be a positive bear!!! :) It’s depressing to experience a bad place and then to rehash the memory in a review. (Unless you are irate. and then it’s a lot of fun!)
I have been here once and had a great time! We had a HUGE group of about 20 friends and the 2010 College basketball finals were on! I like those big iced up fancy shmancy pitchers.
The décor is very nice for a sports bar and has a higher class feel compared to other places. (Compared to other sports bars like The Shack HAHAHA)
I honestly can’t remember what we ordered but it was very good… I am laughing as I type because that’s a horrible recommendation. «Yeah, I was drunk and I liked it…» HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!! Top it off with the fact I am a total fat kid at heart. I guess you’ll have to try it for yourself.
After ordering SO many fancy pitchers, drinks and food, the bill came out to $ 40 per person!!! Wow!!! Pretty awesome in my opinion.
The waitresses were very friendly and remembered everything despite being at almost full capacity for the games. Parked on the street easily, got in easily, ordered easily.
I had a great time!!!

I think it’s uncharacteristic for a sports bar to have good food, which is why I love love love The Parlor.
I love having a low key lunch here about once a week; or coming in for a Laker’s game. The best items on the menu are by far the
Chicken Quesadilla (it has this great Mexican cheese and some peppers inside and is far better than any other quesadilla I’ve ever had). $ 9
I also love the fiesta Salad with Steak– it has corn, chipotle ranch dressing and super-​tender steak– I also get a cup of the ranch on the side because I like my salads a little more dressed than most. $ 12
There are always a ton of people on weeknights and weekends, so if you’re wanting a table at night you’ll probably want to get there a little early.
Great vibe, great location, 4 solid stars.
NOTE**** The only con is that they do not offer any specials during sporting events (Laker’s games etc). Kind of sucks, but what can ya do?

A big THUMBS UP to the Parlor. It’s nice. It’s clean. And it’s big enough to invite a group of your friends out and have a decent chance at all having a place to sit.
Tons of NICE tv’s, fancy lighting, and even that mini basketball hoop thingy in the corner make this the more sophisticated, better looking, cooler older brother to your typical «sports bar».
Oh, and the sliders (choice of 4 for $ 11) were pretty good too.

Sometimes when you go out you want to see something new, exciting and fantabulous. And sometimes you just want to sidle up to a table with a beer and watch a game and be uncomplicated. That’s what the Parlor does for me. Had some friends in town who came in late on Friday and rather than planning a complicated outing to some hip joint with a line, we stumbled down the street to this easy spot.
It wasn’t too crowded, which was nice, with plenty of space to sit. It didn’t take too long to get any of our drinks, and my new to town friends commented how generous the servings were compared to bars in San Francisco.
The crowd is… well…it’s a westside crowd, and not in necessarily the best way. A bit younger, a bit fratty, but the point was that everyone was friendly and there was no drama and that’s really all I could ask for.
I’m grateful to have this place in my hood so that I don’t have to think things out too much when we want to watch a game or just catch up with buddies!

The Parlor isn’t perfect, but it’s easily the best sports bar on the Westside.
** TVs, TVs, and TVs. Tons of sizeable flat-​screened TVs downstairs and upstairs
** They always have the VOLUME on the big games. (Nothing worse than going to a sports bar that plays music while a game is on. ughh!)
** GREAT FOOD. Every now and then, there’s an off day. but for the most part, food is consistently good
Some of my favorites dishes: House Chop Salad (with steak), Seared Albacore Salad, Chicken Panini, Chicken Fingers, Onion Rings
** AIR HOCKEY. woo hoo! and the basketball game too.
** HAPPY HOUR, especially when the Dow is down! Good happy hour prices, plus an extra $ 1 off HH prices if the Dow is down that day (yay! a silver lining to the bad economy)
But, be wary…
– Service is usually slow; mediocre at best
– Can get ridiculously packed on weekends and for big games
– Turns into a club-​like atmosphere on Fri/​Sat nights (guess it’s good for their budget but kinda annoying if you want to chill)
– Valet parking for a sports bar seems pretty dumb (though I’ve always found metered parking nearby, and I go a lot). but at least valet is a back-​up option
– Restrooms are gross, especially the downstairs one (one of the two stalls has been out-​of-​order forever! and they’re dirty dirty)
– Sometimes the crowd is full of a**holes, but I suppose that’s a risk at any bar, eh?

If I had to describe the Parlor in one word, it would be «fratty.» Coming from someone who hated frats and frat parties even when she was young enough to associate with them, this is not high praise.
Still, I had a good time at Parlor, where I met several friends for some chill drinks and conversation. The music and TVs were not enough to cut into my enjoyment of fine company, and there was plenty of seating and easy access to the bar. That said, the venue did nothing to enhance the night and I would probably look elsewhere for future West side rendezvous.

I will say, I will never ever come here on a weekend night. I heard it’s just crazy lame sports-​bar/​frat-​guy/​meat-​market/​slutty girls scene. Not for me.
That said, I’ve been here two other times… they do a great happy hour. It goes from 4−8pm. Draft beers are just $ 3 and there are $ 1.50 sliders — 4 different varieties. All the other apps are $ 3 off. I got a huge order of nachos for like $ 5 or $ 6 and the chili on top was really good. The staff was also very friendly and quick.
This place is a good bet for a weekday happy hour especially if you work late. TONS of tv’s if you are into watching sports. Not super high end ambiance but functionally as a sports bar, it is an OK place.

The Parlor is a classy sports bar without the class. But… Toss in a few frat bros, sprinkler in a dozen bimbos. Add a wall of flat screens as far the eye can see and a tap that quenches thousands of their thirst for beer. And what do you get? Adults no longer in college, reliving their youth before they have to run off or get married because its either that, fuck the director, lease the car you can’t afford in hopes someone will hire you to pick up their dry cleaning, or go home to Kansas and marry Bubba! It’s pretty awesome!
Monday night football here is totally doable but weekends can get hectic with lines straight out of a scene that doesn’t belong in Santa Monica. This funeral parlor «turned sports bar» actually becomes a meat market at night, with everyone making out with everyone, tongues flapping in the wind. A game of flip cup about to break out at any minute and men pee on the indoor plants to mark their territory while a red faced fan in a Patriots jersey screams bloody murder as he stuffs three sliders into his mouth and pounds a beer. This party is so good, even the dead guys are getting some. Never have ghosts seen so much action.
Good place for an after work drink.

And for my 100^th review:
As always the places I seem to never go to are usually right under my nose and I know for sure I have driven passed this place at least a million times. I have a feeling I will be definitely coming back during some of my lunchtimes while at work.
You would never know by looking at it from the outside that it is a sports bar. It is really plain looking from the outside & gives no indication that you could be inside lounching at the bar or on a leather couch just like at home watching any of at least 30 or 40 plus flatscreen televisions.
$ 3 beer on tap during happy hour, color me there. All good beers I like and I must have had about 8 or 9 glasses while I was there. The waitresses were cool & the place looked really cool.
I need a bar like this in my neighborhood so you can bet I will be back here. The chili fries were good and the other food everyone else had looked just as good.
Also from what I read when I kept going to the bathroom, was the sign that told me about Wednesdays beerpong night.

Nate decided to have a UYE here for the Steeler-​Titan game and it was a good choice.
I’m not sure about the vibe when there isn’t a football game on, but during a game this is as good as a spot as any. You can see a HDTV from practically any area at The Parlor and that’s vital for football fans. Places like this make me wonder why the fuck I live in PV. I know… its because I don’t like traffic and work in Torrance.
Happy Hour from 4 – 8 with $ 3 beers and sliders for a $ 1.50 a piece. $ 3 off all other appetizers except the ones with shrimp.
The sliders are a tease. They look good appearance wise, but when you partake in said slider you come away disappointed. Try the grilled steak skewers. Yes, grilled meat on a stick, but they do it well. Amber, Love, and Barry will agree with the last statement.
My kind of sports bar.

As a sports bar, this place would be pretty sweet. As a sports bar/​night club venue this place is more crowded than a dinky little Motel 6 room stuffed with 7 dudes from a recreation basketball team. Trust me, I’ve been there and I still have nightmares. The horror.
We went here at around 10:30 to 11pm on a Saturday night to attend a farewell party for a friend. It was nice that there was no cover and at least at this time there was no line either. This place is three levels but each level was filled with tons of people. They have the central bar area, a pit area, and the upstairs and balcony area but each was cramped. I can see how people love this place as a sports bar because they have TVs everywhere. There must have been at least 20 flat-​screens adorning the walls. They even have like a case of 9 TV monitors to the left as you walk in. However, late-​night they have a DJ and music videos playing on the screens so what was supposed to be a sports bar becomes a pretty lame club.
Drinks are over-​priced too. But the problem is you have to drink just to put up with the how lame the place is when everyone is squished together and just standing around even when the DJ was spinning dance tracks. You can’t tell me it’s because people come for the sports bar because they were just playing SportsCenter since no games are on at 11pm.
Did I mention this place is crowded? Thank you Baby Jesus that we didn’t have to wait in that absurdly long line that started after we got there. If The Parlor is trying to be a club they need to stop it because no one dances except me and my friends who were «Jerkin’» (the dance not the other thing) or at one point it was just me going solo on Bell Biv Devoe’s «Poison». I suppose you could always play the Pop-​a-​Shot or Air Hockey tables.
But if you wanna pay too much for drinks and stand around in a cramped and sweaty pseudo attempt at a bar turned club… then spend a late night at The Parlor.

How would you like to spend quarters 1 and 2 of the Laker’s NBA Finals game standing on the sidewalk outside The Parlor? Basically, we got there at 5pm, right when the first quarter started. We didn’t get inside til half time. There were about 25 ppl ahead of us in line. Really not that many ppl. Took 2 quarters to get in. WTF. Oh yea, they weren’t even at capacity.
At least South has some tvs for you to watch while you stand in line.

Argh! Where the F is the waitress with my drink?
If you looking to get a nice buzz going, think again coming here unless you’re fine with ordering at least 3 rounds at a time because the waitress seem to take at least 30 minutes for them to circle back to you. Once we got our food the manager dude i think dropped it off and took off. So we were left sitting there without any plates, napkins or forks. I personally had to get up and head towards the kitchen and the most helpful guy that i could find working there was the front door bouncer!
Plenty of TVs but not enough service.

March Madness Heaven!
It feels like you are at a Vegas Sports Book, televisions in your face, every which way you turn.
I’ve never been but I can imagine it been a Sunday football heaven as well.
4pm-​8pm, 7 days a week, $ 3.00 beers, $ 4.00 well drinks, and $ 1.50 sliders.
Who invented the word «slider» as a reference of mini-​burgers? They don’t really slide? Wikipedia’s definition of slider associated White Castle, maybe they invented the word Slider.
My only beef: the Bartender made a backwards Black & Tan. guiness on the bottom, Bass on top. TAN & BLACK?

*** sunday 4−8pm happy hour sports bar critique ***
5-​star: layout of flat screen tvs … i counted maybe 40!
(no bad seat in the house to see all games.)
4-​star: guys AND women watch’n sports … co-​ed is good.
4-​star: 80oz tap euro beer $ 20, domestic $ 15, sliders $ 1.50!
3-​star: food not remarkable … may wanna eat before coming?
*** watch’n the chargers beat the pats … PRICELESS!!! ***

Getting into this place was easy, so long as you were dressed up and you have a female or two in your group. Thankfully, The Don came prepared.
This place is advertised as a sports bar, but when I went I was expecting it to be like a typical sports bar. Apparently it becomes more like a bar with really loud music and semi-​club features (i.e.: no formal dance floor).
Once inside, I had to walk past a camera crew that was filming something (that’s LA for you, right?) to get to the bar. I managed to get my drink order in, although the rum and coke was a tad on the watered down side. I think the bartender was slacking off because of the group of people all vying to get his attention and he was just concerned about getting people in and out of his section.
After being denied seating in the bar section (apparently an entire portion was reserved for the night), we decided to take it upstairs where there might be more room to breathe.
There’s more room upstairs as well as a second bar. The second bar is smaller and harder to get a drink order in that the one downstairs, in my opinion. If you have the chance to grab a seat near the rear of the second floor, I recommend you do so. It’ll save you time and could possibly save your drink. Someone almost knocked over my vodka/​Red Bull as I was leaving the second bar to meet up with my group.
The prices here are your typical non-​happy hour prices in Los Angeles. Most cocktails are $ 10.00 a pop on late evenings on weekends. It’s on the pricey side, so I recommend drinking something before coming here or taking your sweet time to enjoy that $ 10 drink.
The atmosphere is nice, although mingling is difficult. They play good music and music videos throughout the bar nice and loud. Definitely not a place to hold a conversation. Your best bet would be to go to the smoking patio on the second floor if you want to get a word in to your date or friends. This is also the best area to meet other people if you so happen to have come by yourself because of the reduced decibel level. You just have to have a tolerance for second hand smoke…
Last night had lots of good looking women, but then again, you have to keep in mind that this is an LA bar and people here are dressed to impress most of the time even when it’s not required. You also get your fair share of older gawkers, who may weird out your date or lady friends.
The night worked out for me thankfully, but I could easily have seen it as being boring and tiring out fast had I not come with a group or manage to get a couple of drink orders in.

Come here to see the game, but come here early if there’s another game going on if you want a table. This is not a place to have a conversation, but a place to have cheap ass beer during Happy Hour. We had 6 beers for $ 18. Sweet potato fries were okay. We didn’t eat any entrees since there were NO tables. Expect tons of exFrat boys and their lady friends. Some will be totally pissed drunk, but I guess it adds atmosphere. The bathrooms are really chic and seem out of place for a sports bar, but at least they are clean.
thumbs up: happy hour
thumbs down: «its really loud in here.» «what did you say?» «exactly.»

The Parlor started out as a good idea.
Its super nice sports bar feel.
However the douche bags that have made this their regular hang out have ruined it for the rest.
It is jammed packed full of guys and girls who have distorted self images.
Meaning they believe they are way hotter than they actually are.
The drinks are good, however they are priced as if it was a Hollywood club instead of the Santa Monica pub it truly is.
The upstairs section is nice to relax in until about midnight when the drunken idiots discover it as well.
The bartenders are average looking nothing to write home about.
None of them are particularly out going or willing to work hard for a decent tip.
Dont even get me started on the horrible karaōke nights.
I could also do without the drunks stumbling in the streets and driving drunk through our neighborhood.
Thanks to you, drunk asses, the once quiet residential area has become an amazingly hot hang out for cops.
More over the traffic the «Valet» parking cause is head ache unless you are the pretentious people actually attending this establishment.
Most importantly; any place where its cool to throw a ball and attempt to land it in a glass of beer. But instead watch it roll on the ground and then throw it again until it lands in a beer you then drink. Is not a place for me.

Disgusting.
A great place to go if you want to hook up with a brainless pledge of Krappa Krappa Gamma.
Too loud to hang out, no room to dance.
$ 12 cocktails.
Despite the copious amounts of stimuli in terms of screens and sound, the most boring Friday night I’ve ever had. But hey, if you’re already really hammered it must be a good time!

I went to this place last night for the first time after tons of my friends told me how much they loved this place. When I first got there I thought the place was awesome – definitely a classy sports bar with tv screens everywhere which would make it perfect for watching a game, so I may go back for a sports game but after being there the whole night, I may not go back as my nighttime going out activity – we’ll see though ha
The people were were a mixed crowd, and by mixed I mean I have mixed feelings toward them ha. The girls overall seemed a little on the unintelligent side and the guys about the same, but I guess that is what a sportsbar will get you?
The bartenders made their drinks quickly and Damon (i believe i remember his name correctly) makes the best birthday shot ever since it was my roomie’s bday so be sure to ask for one of those if you go. And their other bartender, B.S. is his name, makes a pretty delicious extra dirty martini which is how my roomie likes it heh
I am giving this place 3 stars but I would give 5 stars to the bar waitress Liz who made sure the whole night that my roommate was having the best possible night! She is amazing and always checks in on you and your drink status and even got us kamikaze shots when my roomie was feeling down about accidentally getting hit in the face by this girl there! Glad the kamikaze made her feel better, and THANKS, LIZ!