The Parlor

The Parlor
7250 Melrose Ave
Los Angeles
323-930-2100

The Parlor is your normal sports bar, with bar food. I don't expect any sports bar to be a five star restaurant, I just want good quality food.




I wasn't really in the mood for wings or a burger, but the fish and chips, $12, sounded good, even though the server didn't know what kind of fish they used.

A few minutes my fish and chips arrived. First, I asked for and got well done fries. Very nice and crunchy outside and soft inside. Good start.

Then two huge portions of fish. I asked the guy who brought me the fish and chips what kind of fish, he didn't know but would ask the chef. About a minute later, he said the fish was basa fish.

So, I take a bite of the fish and the lightest, batter is covering the fish. This batter doesn't belong on fried fish. It was too light and just falling apart.

The basa fish was pretty good, light flakey and well cooked. What was interesting was the second piece was very salty compared to the first piece. Not sure why, I didn't add salt to anything on the plate.

Service was great. The place was packed, with wall to wall people, and the server was great, very nice and friendly.

I would order food again at The Parlor, the burgers and the chicken and beef skewers look good, but I wouldn't order the fish and chips again.

Henry's Hat-Closed

Henry's Hat
3413 Cahuenga Blvd W
Los Angeles
323-512-2500

There are times when I really want to like a restaurant. So much so that I will put up with bad service or bad food and chalk it up to an off day. When I first heard of Henry's Hat, I thought it sounded like a great place to watch some games and have some good food. So I decided to watch a Saturday afternoon's worth of college football at Henry's Hat. I read up on Henry's, I found out that they are a sister restaurant to Luna Park. When I first walked into Henry's I find it is the place for Former Students to watch the Texas A & M Aggies kick ass. OK ok they lost to Colorado that day. They don't call themselves alumni at A & M, they called themselves Former Students. So my first impression of Henry's Hat is a good one because we have something in common, Former Students hate t-sips and so do I.

I was surprised that there weren't that many people there. Former Students had their own room but the rest of the place was pretty empty. I looked at their menu and I got the Fish and Chips which are suppose to be like another sister restaurant, Joe Jack's Fish Shack in Puerto Vallarta, $14. In a few minutes out came a huge piece of cod, fried to a nice golden brown. Too bad appearance was the only good thing about it. First thing I noticed after taking a bite was that there was no crunch at all. A very soggy and greasy piece of cod. The inside was mushy and bland, not flavor nothing. Worse the fish was drowned in salt and way to salty. I was not impressed. The tarter sauce was filled with too much dill but otherwise pretty decent.

The fries were good. Fresh cut, nice crispy outside and good flavor inside.

But the chips are always a secondary thing for me. Sure the fries were very good but who cares if the fish suck, when you're having fish and chips. When I got to thinking that I could have bought about 10 pieces of perfectly battered and cooked cod from England Fish and Chips, I was mad at myself for all the money I just wasted. Sure England Fish and Chips has terrible fries but the fish is so much better and much less expensive!!

Service was bad. There was a bartender, server and a busboy serving the entire place. The place at most had 12 people the entire time, roughly three hours, I was there. The busboy was ok but when I asked him for refills, he never bothered to bring them!!! But the server was the worst, she rarely came to my table, I was dying for refills of ice tea, she wasn't friendly and just plain bad. I even tried asking about bringing a group here but she was so rude and short, saying "Yeah, just call in and talk to the manager." Nice way to drum up business, stupid!!! I wouldn't come back and they just lost 25 customers.

Henry's Hat did not come close to living up to expectations. The food was bad and the service was worse. No reason for me to bother coming here.

The Beach Club Sports Bar-Closed

The Beach Club
5755 E Pacific Coast Hwy
Long Beach, CA 90803
562-494-7593

After I saw my BALTIMORE RAVENS start their SUPER BOWL VICTORY TOUR, I went to Pepperdine to see their tribute to the heroes of 9-11. At great cost and effort, Pepperdine placed 3,000 flags on their campus. Most of the flags, as you can see, are American flags but there were flags of every nation who lost a citizen on September 11th. In the pictures, I tried not to include any flags of pussy countries like france and canada. I wish those pussy countries, canada and france, would have the courage their citizens, who died on 9-11, showed. This tribute is very moving. I believe the tribute will be there until Friday Sept. 18th. If you are driving on PCH in Malibu, you can't miss this moving tribute.

The Beach Club is a sports bar that replaced Pete's at the Beach. I went to The Beach Club to watch my BALTIMORE RAVENS start their Super Bowl Victory tour. Of course my BALTIMORE RAVENS beat the crap out of the KC Chiefs.

Since the game was early, I had breakfast at The Beach Club. I decided on a Beach Club omelete, $9, with bacon, sausage, ham, onions, tomatoes, mushrooms and cheddar cheese. This omelete came to me, warm, not even hot. As if it was sitting under heat lamps for a long time. The omelete was ok, nothing great, about a Denny's level omelete. The inside of the omelete wasn't fully cooked, like eggs over easy, which I hate. There were a few pieces of bacon and sausage and plenty of veggies. But there was nothing outstanding about this omelete. I wouldn't order this again.

I sat at the bar and service was good. The female bartenders were both nice and friendly but sitting at the bar means they are bartenders, not servers. So they were busy making drinks, they don't always remember to go get food orders. I'm 100% sure that my omelete was sitting under heat lamps for at least 5 minutes. Beach Club needs to hire food servers/runners to bring out food.

Since the Traitors weren't playing until Monday night, this was a good crowd of people. Though the crowded lacked intelligence since many people go to that glorified JC, Cal State Long Beach. I swear I heard a Cal State Long Beach student say "I is a student at Cal State Long Beach." while watching the game today. Nice education they offer at Cal State Long Beach.

I would go back to Beach Club but I won't order breakfast and/or order from the bar. Somebody order some calamari as I was leaving and it smelled wonderful!!! The next time I go, I may order the calamari.

There are three other sports bars in Long Beach, Legend's and Smooth's, and Yankee Doodles, but I think Beach Club is the best because parking is free and plentiful, something the other three sports bars are NOT. Beach Club has all HD flat screen TV's and a clear view of the TVs. While the breakfast fare isn't that good at Beach Club, the burgers and other bar food looks great.

EJ Malloys

EJ Malloys
4306 Atlantic Ave
Long Beach
562-424-5000

There are two EJ Malloys in Long Beach, one on Broadway and this location on Atlantic in the Cal Heights area of Long Beach. I'm not a fan of Mick bars but Malloys is more of a regular sports bar.

They have good food. I got the bacon cheeseburger with their gorgonzola fries, $9.95 and $1 extra for the gorgonzola fries. They ask how you want the cheeseburger cooked, I asked for medium rare and it was a bit undercooked. The burger is a half pound of beef with lettuce and thousand island dressing. The bacon had been sitting under a heating lamp. I thought the burger was pretty good, nothing great, but worth the price more for the quanity than the quality of the burger.

The gorgonzola fries are great. They are the waffle fries topped with gorgonzola cheese sauce and green onions. A nice combination of flavors with the seasoned waffle fries and tartness of the gorgonzola cheese.

Service is actually pretty good. The bar was packed because of it being Friday and I sat outside because the hottie I was having dinner with wanted to smoke. But the server came by our table and was nice and friendly.

EJ Malloys is a good place to watch a game, grab a beer and have some pretty good bar food. I would go back again though I may not order another burger.

Yankee Doodles- Long Beach-Closed

Yankee Doodles- Long Beach
4100 E Ocean Blvd
Long Beach
562-439-9777

I've been to the Yankee Doodles in Santa Monica. So when I found out there was Yankee Doodles in Long Beach, I was expecting basically the samething. But I was in for a big surprise.

I got the combo platter, $10.50, with wings, chicken strips, and popcorn chicken. I got one chicken strip, that was cut up it up into four pieces. Give me a break. This chicken strip was about as good those frozen chicken strips you get at the market. Not impressed.

Another item that wasn't impressive was the popcorn chicken. Most were warm, as if they were sitting under heat lamps. There wasn't much chicken at all. Yes, there were a lot of popcorn chicken but most were just filled with air. Not impressive.

The only thing that was impressive was the wings. They were hot, spicy, and good size. They had a lot of meat on them. The sauce was very good and spicy. Four wings made up for the sorry popcorn chicken and chicken strips.

Service was good. There was only one bartender there and she was working pretty hard.

I'll be honest, this is a dive. A dump. I was shocked to see a sports bar in this time period, that isn't full of flat screen HD TV's. Most of the TV's there were the old models. The seats were ripped, carpets dirty, just a dive.

I am not sure if they the Yankee Doodles in Long Beach and Santa Monica are part of the same chain or if they are owned by different owners. But whatever the case, if I lived in Long Beach, I would drive up to Santa Monica location than go back to the Long Beach location again.

Pete's at the Beach-Closed

Pete's at the Beach
5755 E Pacific Coast Hwy
Long Beach
562-494-7593

The better known sports bars in Long Beach is Legend's and Smooth's. But Pete's is another sports bar that maybe not be as well known but I think is as good as the other two.

I had a half order of wings, $5.95, and a full order of chicken strips, $11.95. The wings were pretty good but weird. There were some huge sized wings and some small sized wings. But some of the wings were dry and crunchy while others were meaty but lacked a crunch. Not sure why but this was different than any other wings I've had.

The chicken strips were OK. A good crunchy outside but I thought it was too much breading. Less breading and more chicken would be good. It would also be nice if the strips were fresh and hot, they ones I got seemed as though they were sitting under heat lamps for too long.

Service was good. We didn't lack for drinks at any time. The server was nice and attentive. She also said I will be back with your chance when I paid my bil. VERY GOOD.

I think I would go back here. I saw people eating their burgers and sandwiches, which looked great. But I do think a sports bar should have good appetizers and Pete's falls short on their wings and strips.

Centerfield Sports Bar

Centerfield Sports Bar
17296 Beach Blvd
Huntington Beach
714-848-0113

I came to Centerfield Sports Bar to see my BALTIMORE RAVENS get their asses kicked by the NY Giants. But I ate breakfast before the game so my review isn't a reaction to ass kicking my Ravens suffered.

I ordered the Full Court Breakfast, $7.99, three eggs over medium, bacon, hashbrowns, and wheat toast. The eggs were not over medium. They were overweasy. Now I'm not really that picky about my eggs. I do like overeasy but I prefer over medium, and I do know the difference. Over medium doesn't mean a running yolk. But the eggs were fresh and good, not salty at all. The bacon was chewy, which I like and it was big. I hate some size bacon. If their burgers are any good, this bacon would make a great topping. The hashbrowns were ok, but they were not hot, they were barely lukewarm.

I always ask for dry toast. I hate it when they just soak the toast in butter. So I usually keep it dry and make a sandwich out of the eggs and bacon. But either the server got the wrong order, maybe since the eggs were over easy, or she is just bad.

Service was below average. My server did not smile the first few times she saw me. She gave the attitude she didn't want to be there. My order was messed up and some of it was cold.

I would not go back to Centerfield again for the food. But for a sports bar there were some cool people there. Most times at sports bars you get jerk people. But when I walked in, wearing a Ravens shirt, somebody said Good Luck today. I then noticed his Giants cap he had on backwards and the NY logo. So I said Thanks, good luck to you guys too. Even the Traitor fans were cool. Loud but it's a damn game, so what's the big deal?

Legend's

Legend's
5236 E 2nd St
Long Beach
562-433-5743

Former LA Ram offensive lineman, Dennis Harrah opened up Legend's. He eventually sold off his shares. About two years ago fire destroyed Legend's and for whatever reason it took about two years to reopen.

Legend's is a sports bar. There are plenty of TV's to watch the Lackers lose. I ordered the Clipper sandwich, $9.29, charbroiled chicken breast with lettuce, tomato, cheddar cheese, avocado, and pickles with fresh fruit. I was expecting this sandwich to be a bit dry. But much to my surprise it was very moist and juicy. I think cutting the chicken so thinly really helped. The wheat bun was nicely and perfectly toasted. This was a good sized sandwich and well worth the price.

Service was good. The server was nice and friendly and I wasn't wanting for anything.

I would go back to Legend's anytime. Next time I go, I want to see how their wings compare.

Yankee Doodle's-Closed

Yankee Doodle's
1410 3rd St Prom
Santa Monica
310-394-4632

One of the better sports bars in the area is Yankee Doodle's. It's a huge place with tons of TV and pool tables.

We went there for some appetizers and decided on the appetizer platter for $18.95. The platter included ribs, cheese sticks, buffalo wings, nachos, and quesadillas. I had a bit of everything so here are my comments.

Ribs: This is typical suburban BBQ ribs. Baby backs ribs, cooked in an oven and just drowned with BBQ sauce. There is no smoked flavor and nothing outstanding about them. They were meaty and tender but then again babybacks should be. We got five bones, about half a rack, which is a pretty good deal.

Cheese sticks, just the regular, everyday cheese sticks. Nothing outstanding or bad about them.

Buffalo wings: Not as spicy as I like them. But a nice tangy flavor and good sized wings.

Quesadillas were filled with just cheese. Nothing outstanding about them.

The nachos just had cheese on them and some salsa. Nice crisp chips.

Service was pretty good, though it took a long time for the server to greet us and take our order. What I found interesting was that the server, a young lady, had a Hilary for President sticker on her notepad. Now personally I could care less who you vote for. But I think it's important that people do vote. I was surprised to see a young lady like having any interest in voting.

Yankee Doodle's is bar food. Good stuff, nothing outstanding but a great place to watch a game and enjoy some munchies. I would have no problems going back to Yankee Doodle's.

Barney's Beanery- Pasadena

Barney's Beanery
99 Colorado Blvd
Pasadena
626-405-9777

Barney's Beanery is a great place to watch a game, grab a beer, and get some good food. Look this isn't some gourmet restaurant. If you are expecting that, you're a moron. But for a casual, sports bar type restaurant, Barney's Beanery is great.

I ordered the Empire State Triple Decker sandwich with onion rings, $10.95. The Empire State has pastrami, corned beef, and roast beef with swiss cheese on rye bread. What a good sandwich. Now this isn't a deli style sandwich, where it's stacked with all those meats. It was more of a club sandwich where they cut the sandwich into triangles. But the meats were warm, tasty, and well worth the $10.95 price. The onion rings were crispy and huge. The perfect addition to a great sandwich.

Service was good. We went on a Sunday afternoon while the NFL games were going on. Our server was prompt and friendly. We were not lacking for anything.

I would go back to Barney's anytime. Good food, good prices, and good service. Plus tons of beers on tap makes this a good place to visit.

4th Floor Grille and Sports Bar

4th Floor Grille and Sports Bar
Chaparral Suites
5001 N. Scottsdale Rd
Scottsdale AZ
480-949-1311

Normally I wouldn't think a hotel bar/restaurant could have great food. But to my shock, the 4th Floor Grill and Sports Bar at the Chparral Suites had a great item.

The all you can eat fish fry for $12.95. The fish is huge. I think believe the fish is cod and they are deep fried to a golden brown. They come hot and they taste great. They have a nice crunch and the fish is flakey and so flavorful. Who would have thought a restaurant in the desert could have such good fish??

Service was poor. There was a convention at the hotel and they were not prepared for the amount of people. I sat at the bar since it was so crowded. It took at least 20 minutes for me to get my second piece of fish, even though the bartender placed the order in, right away. So their kitchen was either messed up or one of the servers forgot to bring me the fish. Either way, the third piece of fish came quickly. The bartender was nice and helpful. I could see he was overwhelmed with the lack of support.

I would go back for their fish fry anytime. The fish fry is only offered on Fridays and you must eat there. I'm not sure when I'm going to get back to Arizona but I will stop back for one of the best fried fish I've had. What a treat!!!

National Sports Grill- Orange-Closed

National Sports Bar
450 North State College Blvd.
Orange
714-935-0300

National Sports Grill has three location, Buena Park, Torrance, and Orange. The Orange location is within walking distance of Anaheim Stadium. So before an Angels game it can get very busy. I made the mistake of going right when CRYBABY Nation, I mean Red Sox nation, was lowering the standards of the neighborhood. Red Sox nation's logo should be a crying baby with white sheets and hood because they are the most racist and the biggest crybaby fans in all of sports. Those scumbag bastards cry over anything and everything. It was the Curse of the Bambino. It was Bucky Dent. It was Bill Buckner. No LOSERS. It was a sorry, team, filled with sorry players, owned by a bastard, racist, jerk owner. Oh get rid of that rat infest, dump of a stadium you play in. What a bunch of losers. Not even Cub fans cry that much. Maybe because Cubs fans are drunk most of the time?

Anyways I ordered the Fall Classic Cheeseburger, $7.75, which comes with shoestring fries. More on that later. Anyways the burger is good but nothing outstanding. Maybe a little better than the burger served at a greasy spoon. The burger was big about 1/4 pound and came with lettuce, tomatoes, onions, cheese and National Sauce, which is mayo and ketchup combined. The beef was cooked just above rare, I would prefer it to be medium or medium rare at least.

Service was good. Even though all the crybabies were around, the server was quick and attentive. But I have some issues with how they ask about fries. The server asked if I wanted seasoned, waffle, or steak fries. She didn't bother to say that all those are extra. I picked waffle fries and they were $1 extra, ok 99 cents extra. It wasn't really her fault but restaurants that do this type of thing are scumbags. The other thing that pisses me off is restaurants that do not tell you that soft drink refills are not free. It is their responsibility to tell you, especially when a server asks a child if they want free refills.

Nationals is a good place to hang out before and after an Angel game. The food is decent but nothing special. But then again it is a sports bar. If you expect gourmet meals at a sports bar, you will always be disappointed.

Smooth's Sports Grille-Closed

Smooth's Sports Grille
144 Pine Ave
Long Beach
562-437-7700

Smooth's Sports Grille is now the only choice for a sports bar in Long Beach. It serves good quality food, at slightly higher than other sports bars prices but it's worth it. Legend's used to be their competition but Legend's was damaged by fire about two years ago and they still haven't rebuilt.

I normally don't order french fries but I saw their presentation and I wanted to order some fries. The seasoned fries, with rosemary and salt are served in a cone shaped cup. Great presentation. They come out very crispy and tasty. One of the best fries you will have. At $4.95 they are a steal.

Buffalo wings, 13 piece order for $12.95. They were all drummettes, which is always a plus. They were very mild, not spicy but very meaty. I'm sure you could ask for hotter wings but I was very happy with the size and taste of their chicken wings.

Quattro Pizza, $12.95 with sausage, ham, artichoke and mushrooms. We asked for sausage and ham on one side and artichoke on the other half. It came out perfect. Nice to see that the server and the kitchen can and do communicate. The pizza was tasty but the crust was too thin for my tastes. Almost like a cracker. But the toppings were good and there were a ton of them. Which is always a good thing.

Server was pretty good. We sat outside, so we could people watch. Good thing no scumbag smokers were sitting near us. Our server came by often to check on us even though we were the only people sitting outside. We didn't lack for anything.

I would go back to Smooth's again. The prices maybe a bit high compared to other sports bars, but the quality of food is well worth the price.

Update 8-14-08






I went to Smooths for their happy hour. They offer all appetizers except crab cakes for $5. So I ordered the Ahi Tuna, Smooths wings, and chicken fingers.

The ahi tuna wasn't fresh at all. It was very chewy and not good. They had a paprika seasoning on the outside but it didn't help the flavor. They need to use fresher ahi tuna.

The wings about half the regular order. Same great taste as before. A good buffalo wing but not that spicy.

The chicken fingers were crunchy but they were so thin, you had to look closely to find the white meat chicken. Ok it was only $5 but I wouldn't pay full price for this, even if you got double the amount of fingers.

Service was good but all the scumbag smokers were out tonight.

Scoreboard-Closed

Scoreboard Sports Grill
3220 Temple Ave
Pomona
909-468-0444

Sports bars used to be very popular. A fan of other teams could watch his favorite team on a big screen. But with Direct TV sports bars aren't as popular as before.

But it's still fun to go and watch a game with other fans. Scoreboard is home to Traitor fans. There is so much silver and black and tears as the loser Traitors continue losing and losing and losing. Couldn't happen to a nicer bunch of fans.

Pictured is 2lbs of buffalo wings for $13.95. In the bar during happy hour they are half priced. Not a bad deal. The wings are crispy and big but they give you too many of the wing and not the drummettes, which is the best part!!

I ordered this to go and the service was good. At times, especially on Saturdays, the service sucks in the bar area. You can sit at a table and nobody will come to you for 20 minutes.

I go back to Scoreboard to catch a game and hang out but I don't go on Saturdays anymore. The food is pretty good for what it is, a sports bar. If you're expecting gourmet, you're a moron.

Danny K's Billiards & Sports

Danny K's Billiards & Sports
1096 N Main St.
Orange
714-771-9706

Danny K's is a sports bar near the Honda Center and Anaheim Stadium. During Monday Night Football Danny K's has free hot dogs and happy hour drink specials. $3.50 imported draft beer pints. $5.25 24oz mugs. $2 off 12 in pizza and $1 off selected appetizers.

The hot dogs are pretty damn good. They don't cheap people either. If the buns or hot dogs are running low, another tray is coming up. The hot dogs stop right about half time of the time, so between 7-7:30pm, depending on the game. Chips, salsa and chili are also included.

The hot dog buns are huge, they are almost like rolls. They are soft, but if you get the buns that's been sitting at the bottom of the tray, it will be hard, and chewy. The hot dogs themselves are skinless and made from a combination of pork, beef and chicken. They have a good mix of spices. The hot dogs are long and thin, they remind me of Hebrew National hot dogs. They have mustard, relish, tomatoes, red onions and ketchup to add.

For the price and quality, you can't beat Danny K's for their hot dogs. They have the typical sports bar food. What what I could see they are served in huge portions and most items are less than $10.

Service is below average. It took awhile before a server came by. I'll grant her there was a decent amount of people and the place is huge, but I shouldn't have to wait around 5-7 minutes before getting an order. The waitress was also pretty rude and for somebody working at a sports bar had not clue about sports. I asked for the baseball game to be put on TV. She actually asked "Which game?" HELLO there is only ONE GAME on at this time. Keep up with the sports. She also took a break and smoked like a chimmney. So when she came back to ask me if I wanted another beer, she smelled like an ash tray. I wish people would at least spray some perfume, even cheap perfume after smoking. Hell better yet, stop smoking.

Danny K's must be a hang out for fans of that steroid, criminal, college football program, the Nebraska Cornhuskers. I would be ashamed to have a wall with Husker Red all over. Especially that scumbag, Lawerance Phillips, who should be locked up and they should throw away the key. But Danny K's has a huge wall filled with Husker football items.

There are four huge projection screens, along with many smaller, 27 in. TV's in the back area. The front area has one projection screen.

I would go back to Danny K's. I don't have high expectations for service at sports bars and Danny K's met them. The hot dogs are great and the happy hour prices for beer are great too. I also thought the appetizers, burgers and pizza looked good and I may go back to see the Cornhuskers get their butts kicked.

Off Campus Pub-Closed

Off Campus Pub
2736 Nutwood
Fullerton
714-879-8094

Off Campus was once rated by Playboy as one of the nation's top college bar. Too bad Playboy didn't judge their food. Off Campus is right across the street from Cal State Fullerton thus the name. They have a pretty extensive menu with sandwiches, burgers, pizzas and salads.

I had the My Chicken Breast, they give a choose between terikayi, BBQ and Monterey Chicken breast. I had the Monterey chicken breast with gucamole on the side and no ortega chili, with a serving a fresh fruit for $8.57. The sandwich was suppose to come with mayo but there was no mayo, either on the side or on the sandwich. The chicken was do damn dry, even with the gucamole, I had to drink gallons of water. There was no flavor and it was served maybe lukewarm.

I found out the owner of Off Campus also owns Big B BBQ which I reviewed earlier. No wonder the food sucked. Service was both good and below average. The busboy who took me to my table and who took my order was very good. He came around often and kept my water filled. The waitress was below average. I didn't see her for almost ten minutes after I was seated. She came around maybe twice and only refilled my water after asking if I wanted more water. She was nice and all but lacked common server skills or she was too busy talking to her friends.

I would not go back to Off Campus. The food maybe inexpensive but if the food is terrible it doesn't matter.