Los Angeles Gastropubs: I'm Rich, Biyaitch!

Undoubtedly the most famous of Los Angeles’ gastropubs, Father’s Office puts out what is widely considered the best hamburger in LA. Their wide selection of rare beers only heightens the dining experience. I do hear some uncharitable comments from time to time about the chef/owner denying menu substitutions and his absolute refusal to serve his frites with ketchup. And because of his Korean ancestry, many of these hateful comments are punctuated with racial over and undertones. I love my country and I am not a particularly racist person, but as an avowed ketchup lover, I have to say that once in a while I will include myself into their racially charged diatribes… which always confuses the hell out of them.

The second Lucky Baldwin’s location in Sierra Madre. Lack of surly waitress and urine/vomit smell comforting, but heading out to Sierra Madre is a pain.

This place is hit or miss on the food, although it all sounds good on the menu, and I’ve noticed an alarming abundance of hipsters here, perhaps because they take full advantage of the no reservation seating policy.

Royal Clayton’s takes advantage of all of the yuppies that have moved into Downtown LA’s lofts. Serving mainly typical English pub fare, the food is laughably bad – although no worse than what’s served in the mother country – but it’s a pretty nice place to hang out and meet the kind of powerful up and coming people who find gentrification to be a good thing.

While the food and beer selections are rather sparse, Vino’s sets itself apart by marketing themselves to the Asian male demographic. And they do this by hiring the sluttiest looking Asian female bartenders around. Thankfully, their business model seems to be doing quite well as this place is always packed to the gills, and recently I’ve noticed that non-Asians have been steadily increasing their ratio here. Because everyone loves an Asian girl!

Pros: Huge Belgian beer selection, better British food than you’ll find in the UK (which is not saying that much), interesting people watching.

Cons: Inside smells like a potent mix of urine and vomit, bitch ass waitress with the Peter Pan haircut that is invariably surly and unpleasant yet always seems to be the one to serve us.

Ford’s Filling Station boasts a wonderful atmosphere, eclectic range of culinary choices and a very respectable wine and beer list. Still, the only thing many Angelenos know about this place is that it’s owned by the son of Harrison Ford. Not that I care… nor does my girlfriend… for different reasons. In fact, she always gets Ford’s career-making “Blade Runner” mixed up with “Cool Runnings” a largely forgettable film about the first Jamaican Olympic bobsledding team. Take that Harrison!