We found this place last minute to watch the final FIFA World Cup game when we were turned around…read morefrom another spot. Thank god we got turned away because this place is a hidden gem. They do have parking behind the building which seems to fill pretty quickly if they're busy, but it's easy to find parking around the neighborhood. I am not usually in the tavern scene so I was surprised that we had to order and pay at the bar, but it wasn't a big issue. My friend and I split the kale caesar salad and the macaroni and cheese. For the table, I ordered the waffle fries after being informed by the kind waitress that that was the better choice over the pretzel (which she also said was amazing). Since the place was filling up for the final, the kitchen was a bit slow, but we barely noticed with how attentive the staff were in getting us drinks and refills. When it came to food, we were pleasantly surprised with this place and is honestly the reason I'm writing this review. The first things we got were the Beef Tallow Waffle Fries, Caesar Salad, and mac and cheese. Obviously the fries were much better, however the salad was also divine but just swimming in dressing. Back to the fries, we all were mindblown with how tavern fries could be this good and had so many flavors. Even the skinny queens in our group kept snacking on them which tells you how good these were. Mac and cheese came and it was standard and creamy but not necessarily something I'd return for. The surprising thing on top of the fries that majority of us loved was the Vegan Tomato Scampi with shrimp. It was fire and had me questioning if it was even Vegan. Would definitely return here if I find my way back to SoCal from the Bay. Great unassuming place with great food and vibes. Their bathroom as well is super clean and nice! Love this place!

We held an event in the private room at Inkwell Tavern on 6/8 and it truly couldn't have been…read morebetter! The team at Inkwell was so kind and worked with us to accommodate EVERYTHING we wanted - from the timing of the plates, to making room for our photobooth set up, to serving a speciality cocktail we requested!! (Which was delicious!) The communication with management was great. They encouraged us to come in a few days before to do a tech test to make sure everything ran smoothly for the screening part of our event. As expected, things did indeed run smoothly as a result! Their Monday night karaoke was going on simultaneously and the sound didn't interfere with our screening at all. We had about 30 attendees and the room was a very comfortable size for us, it's also beautiful! The entire experience was fantastic, we're very happy with how the evening turned out! Thank you to the wonderful staff for making it all happen for us!

Went to Idle Hour for the Bottomless Drag Brunch with friends and we had a blast!! I love a good…read moredrag show and the one at Idle Hour was Drag-mazing!! Tickets: You can pre-purchase tickets on Eventbrite Food: We had brunch so you really can't go wrong with breakfast food, however, the food was yummy. Especially the cinnamon rolls. The bottomless mimosa is worth it if you have a few people with you. Service: Now I'm going to assume service was a bit slow b/c of the drag show being packed however, we had a great server! Ambiance: When you walk into the Idle Hour, you're immediately transported into a dark brewery. So cool. Plenty of space for groups. Parking: street parking, not sure if they have a lot behind the venue. So Go, Enjoy & have a Drag-tastic time!!

This place deserves all of the stars. I have become a regular here because of the amazing people…read morewho work here, the fantastic food, great drinks, cool vibe, good music, drag brunch, and themed events. The people who work here: all kind and helpful and on top of their stuff. This place gets really packed sometimes but even in the chaos, when customers are rude and drunk and break things they keep their cool, always. But don't treat them poorly. I will come for you. Chard is the GM and he is one of the kindest and most generous humans I have had the pleasure of know and is the mastermind behind getting the themed nights up and going. His ability to make a person feel welcome is pretty much unmatched in my opinion. The food: omg you guys the FOOD!!!! It's so good. They just changed the menu so I haven't gotten to try everything yet but the chicken dumplings are delicious. A bit of a kick but the best kind. The chili cheese fries that my friend had were also so good. Perfect cheese to chili ratio with the fries. There is a chef in the back who is passionate about food and making sure it tastes perfect so I trust everything is good. But if you are unsure ask the servers or bartenders. They won't steer you wrong. The drinks: admittedly, I mostly drink just screwball on the rocks. However every mixed cocktail I have had here has been perfection. Mark is the manager and he could be a mixologist, should be a mixologist, super nice guy who is shockingly good and remembering peoples drink preferences. Like a year ago was the last time I ordered cider and he remembered! The vibe: I wouldn't really call this place a dive bar, but it's sort of got a hint of dive bar going on. The back patio is really nice during the summer but sitting inside the barrel is fun too. The bulldog is kinda small so you won't fit a ton of people in there but it's still fun. Lots of places to sit although sometimes it does get packed and it's standing room only. Not to mention, they allow dogs!!! This is a great place to come with a first date. It's good for dressing up a little but not too much and there are some corners you can sit in so you can have a little closeness. But the staff will also keep an eye out for you. If you are feeling uncomfortable in any way, they will keep an eye out for you and help you out. There isn't a designated dance floor but they won't be mad if you dance in the area that you've got available to you. Just don't accidentally knock anything over or hit anybody. The music: Chard is usually in charge of the play list but even when he isn't the music is usually pretty great and there's a band that comes and plays on Sundays for a while in the afternoon/evening. I have found some of my new favorite music because of this place. Drag brunch: I've never actually attended because I've heard it gets a little crazy and that can be a little scary overwhelming for me, but they do it everyday Saturday and Sunday and that's been going strong for a pretty long time so I have to assume it's a good time. The themed events: this is the kind of crazy I can handle though. They have done lots of the rings, zelda anniversary, a Star Wars themed singles event for Valentine's Day, a scholastic book fair, and Easter egg hunt, their Halloween and New Year's Eve events were AMAZING, I could go on and on. People turn up for these events and they are just some of the most fun especially with the costumes you will see. Go to Idle Hour. I've never loved a bar before. This place is something else. I promise you won't be disappointed, unless you're one of those kinds of people who finds something wrong no matter how amazing the place is or you're kind of an entitled jerk.

Great food, great service and cosmopolitan ambiance. Prices a bit high but that's the way it is…read morethese days.

Great date night and girls night spot!…read more It's truly a hidden gem and you walk into this indoor oasis the way the whole restaurant and bar area is set up Food is consistent & service is always warm and welcoming

This place came up several times when I researched on great restaurants that have excellent vibes…read moreand great food. Although it didn't really necessarily show up as "the best food in LA area" but all the reviews were so good so I became curious to try. Mainly the reviews also raved about the vibes, services, and live music. Well, they were not wrong! It was fairly easy to make a reservation through Opentable, and I made a reservation for two people for my birthday dinner on Sunday night. I put on the notes that it's my bday so it'll be nice to get a nice table near the stage. I didn't have a high expectation, cos I'd never been to the place and I didn't make a call or anything. But wow, they definitely gave us a great table at the very front! As many reviewers had mentioned, the acoustic of the restaurant is really great. You can barely hear other people's conversations. There's a live jazz band playing, so you can really enjoy that. Although it made it slightly hard to hear what other nearby people say to you either, haha. Our server Dawson was a really great one! Very nice, very informative and just has a great vibe that made you feel comfortable to converse with him. We also asked if he could take a picture of us and he went above and beyond with taking our pictures haha. He took the table lamp as our additional "lighting". Such a great service! Dawson also made a few suggestions on food. We ordered the milk bun (so great!), the tiger prawns tostada (omg, my favorite of the night!), braised lamb pasta, pork belly risotto, and roasted broccolini. Everything was really good and really filled us up! We also got the "smokin old fashioned" and "Wake up and repeat" cocktails. It was plenty of food for us so we asked for a check. Dawson asked if we wanted a dessert but we were already full. He asked if it's ok to give us a lil treat for my bday. It was a really nice dessert :). Oh I forgot to mention that they also put a small bday card on the table for me. The prices of food and drinks are on the higher sides, but I feel like it's worth it due to the live music and the vibe. It easily covers the entertainment part. We definitely will go back and recommend this place for anyone who's looking into a nice date night or to celebrate something special. I was informed that Friday has more of a "party vibe" here, although it's still a jazz performance. Sunday feels more laid back :) Overall I'm really pleased by this place. I used to think that I don't care that much about excellent service as long as the food is great, but I was wrong. The excellent hospitality just made the night even better than expected. Thank you for making my bday dinner memorable.

This place was on my list and we happen to pop in at 5pm but reservations are highly recommended…read more It was a little difficult to find because it's just a door without any signs, but I saw the valet guy pop out so we figured it was the entrance. The usually have a live band after 7pm and the sound in the resturant is amazing. It's like a recording studio. The staff was very friendly! The decor and ambiance was also impressive. Definitely swanky but down to earth vibes. I got the rasberry beret cocktail and it was different but fabulous. Not sure how else to describe it. It was refreshing. We got the tiger prawns and it was presented as a toasta, which had a great flavor and texture. The apple salad was also refreshing and a good portion to share between 2 people. The broccolini was cooked perfectly and my favorite after the tiger prawns was the Dungeness crab pasta. It had uni on top! The uni elevated the dish, and honestly there were a good amount of crab meat in the dish. Overall well balanced and creamy. The 2 of us left full and satisfied. Highly recommend this place for a date night. There's also plenty of street parking when we went but there is also valet for $15.

Celebrated a friend's birthday here last night and it was a blast…read more Typical friday busy night. The bar has two TV's to watch sports with multiple couch and tables to hang out. Music was kinda loud that it was kinda hard to converse with friends. Bartenders we're nice, although it took awhile for our orders to be served. Quesadilla and garlic fries we're not bad choices. I Just can't say the same to the chicken tenders. Parking is residential so a little walk shouldn't be a problem. Overall, I wouldn't hesitate to visit this bar again.

They have a wide selection of interesting cocktails to choose from - unfortunately, the one I…read moreordered I didn't really like (I requested modifications that were not made), so I reflected that in the tip I gave. I was immediately given a death glare by the bartender... yikes. A real shame, since the spot is very cozy and provides a calm atmosphere for chilling and talking with friends. But unlikely I'll return due to the service.

We visited Tonga Hut during their recent "Spring Time Schenanigans" tiki marketplace event. They…read morehave a tiki marketplace several times a year, and this one was held on a Sunday afternoon from noon to 6pm. It takes place mostly in their rear patio area and parking lot, but a good number of vendors were also in an adjacent air conditioned event room. They have a very small parking lot, but it was occupied by vendors during this event. Do not park in the parking lots of the adjacent businesses, as we were warned when entering the Tonga Hut that cars get towed regularly. There's plenty of street parking in the nearby neighborhood. Entering from the rear, there is a good sized covered patio with around eight benches. We went inside to check it out and grab a drink. The interior is fairly small with four good sized booths, a lounge area with a large J-shaped couch with several small tables, and around ten seats at the bar. It is dimly lit with some basic tiki décor, and has an old-school feel. They had a fixed cocktail menu for this event which is understandable. We stood in line at the bar for about ten minutes, got our drinks and went out to the patio. The bartender was friendly, and didn't seem flustered by the high volume of patrons. I had the Horned Beast O' The Celtic Sea (Oceanus Hibernicus Irish Malt, Jamacian Rum, House Made Falernum & Orgeat, Peach, Citrus, Dash of Cherry Heering, $13). She had the Leprechaun Grog (Three Rums, Lime, Grapefruit, Honey, Spice, Soda, $14). Both drinks were good, were served in souvenir plastic cups, and were a bargain at $13 to $14. If you ordered a drink containing Oceanus whiskey, the bartender gave you a gold coin and you could exchange it with the Oceanus representative on the patio for a free T-shirt. Durango Tacos was setup near the rear entrance for food. We had four tacos (two carne asada and two veggie), and they were good and reasonably priced. This was the first tiki marketplace we have attended. There were around twenty vendors with a good assortment of art work, tiki mugs, tiki clothing, tiki décor, and other miscellaneous items. I purchased a few nice tiki shirts which were a steal at $20 and $25. The vendors and visitors were all very friendly and in a festive mood. We hung out for about ninety minutes and had a good time. We will return at some point to try their regular cocktail menu and see what it's like on a non-event night.

Tonga hut is my favorite local tiki bar, but it is such a hit or miss when I go!…read more On a weekend, you could easily walk in with no problem or be hit with a one-hour wait. Sometimes they have servers, other times you order at the bar. The last time I went, there was a long line as only one bartender was making drinks, yikes! Despite that, the drinks are solid, reasonably priced, and strong! They have a variety of drinks and nightly specials. Each bartender also has their own "secret menu" specials that only they can make. The decor is very on theme, and they have a fire pit and heaters outside for when it is chilly.

Drinks were honestly, too good to be true. Loved the drink "safety in numbers". The bartender was…read morecool as all hell, even let him take my turn for me in billiards while i used the bathroom. The vibes are electric in here. Would absolutely come back!

Free pool! Cool…read morebar, cool bartenders, pretty lowkey, ambiance is also cool . The drinks were decent, I would suggest switching up the bar menu a bit, but our bartender guy was super friendly and kind. Not super packed, kind of dead actually... but that was the vibe we were going for. Nice for a casual hang or game of pool.

We had a lovely evening at The Green Room. Sofia was awesome in terms of accommodating us every…read morestep of the way. She always came around to see how we were doing and had no issues with guiding first-timers right to our seats. The thematic concepts of each dish and drink were so clever and exquisite. Filet Mignon Sammie and Uncrustables in a lunchbox had so much character. In perfect Castaway fashion, we got a lovely "dinner and a show" when ordering drinks such as Tiffany Prefers Cocktails. And...the view of the cityscape was definitely everything to write home about. This is what we came for. The Green Room highlights the character of LA in so many ways. Loved it!

The Green Room... I am not sure why service gets such a bad rating- never had any issues with that…read more I like their signature cocktails and food options... l am giving them 4 stars only because of the most recent experience that I had... I checked the hours, and it said this place closes at 11. My friend and I came at 9... and guess what... the place was closed. Why? I don't know. We were just told that they'd decided to close early that day. Mind you, Castaway was still open that night. Why would a bar close before its posted hours? ‍