LOS ANGELES NIGHTLIFE 

LA Nightlife Overview 
By Elizabeth Smith 

If you’ve packed your dancing shoes, check out The Viper Room on Sunset Boulevard or Dragonfly on Santa Monica Boulevard. Both places welcome live bands on a regular basis. Count on a younger crowd, (twenties & thirties), and long lines on weekend nights. The Gig in Hollywood also hosts a wide variety of rock and pop music bands such as Grasshopper Takeover and Fat Opie for your dancing pleasure. 

If you want the ultimate atmosphere surrounding you while you dance, check out the seasonal Santa Monica Pier Twilight Dance Series. You can dance your heart out with the Pacific Ocean and the sandy beaches surrounding you as a rock, pop, R&B or country group entices the waves to dance right along with you.

A bit older crowd loves to drop in at The Coconut Club, named after the Ambassador’s former supper club. Merv Griffin has created a place that will surely catch your fancy if you like to do a bit of ballroom dancing or cha cha a step or two. The full orchestra gives this place a classy feeling you won’t soon forget. Be sure to tuck a few extra bills in your pockets when you head to this club,  it's usually very expensive.

If you want to see the big game while in LA, you should consider stopping in to a local sports bar. There are many of them scattered around LA and Orange County. (LA County comprises the northern part of the general Los Angeles area while Orange County stretches out just south of it.) When visiting Long Beach down in Orange County, you’ll want to head straight for Tracy’s Sports Bar and Grill. Should you want to confine your evening activities to LA County, try out Tony P’s in the beautiful Marina del Rey part of town. (Three nights a week, Tony P’s sports bar area converts into a highly popular dance venue for many of the well-heeled regulars).

Another of the city’s best sports bars, Teasers, is located in a tourist’s paradise, Santa Monica’s Third Street Promenade area. You’ll feel revitalized by the salty Pacific Ocean air as you walk among this colorful and unique collection of restaurants and shops as you head to this bar. Should you just be looking for a sports bar where you can play a simple game of darts, shoot some pool or watch a game on TV, head straight for D.B. Cooper’s on Motor Avenue. It’s a very casual and laid-back place.

If you love comedy clubs, then L.A. is second to none in its array of top-notch ones you can choose from during your nocturnal forays around the city. Perhaps best known is the Comedy Store on Sunset Boulevard  where some of the most talented comics and sitcom stars got their starts.

There’s also the Comedy and Magic Club down in Hermosa Beach. Jay Leno often tries out new material there on Sunday nights before presenting it on his late-night talk show. Other highly talented comedians perform there as well. If you want to visit a place that’s been around since the Sixties when it was a folk music hangout and that has hosted the likes of George Carlin, Lily Tomlin, Dana Carvey and many others, drive out to Pasadena in the San Gabriel Valley area and catch a show at the Ice House. While there you can even order a tasty dinner before the show starts. 

Before leaving the city, die-hard comedy fans might want to check out The Groundlings Theatre on Melrose Avenue. Many successful Saturday Night Live stars got their start with this famous improvisational group.

As your evening starts to wind down, you can stop off at one of L.A.’s trendy or more established bars and lounges for a nightcap. Big Foot Lodge on Los Feliz Boulevard is the type of place that will make you feel like your visiting some sort of Sixties ski lodge with its roaring fire and heavily paneled interior. As you sip your drink there, you can listen to the tunes being played by the resident DJ or concentrate on your friend’s lively conversation. 

For those who prefer the feel of an English bar, the John Bull English Pub in Pasadena on South Fair Oaks Avenue is a great place to grab a drink or even an entire meal. On the weekends, this place turns into a very popular dance spot late at night.

While in town, you may also want to just stop in for a cocktail at the famous Polo Lounge located in the Beverly Wilshire Hotel. Watch as the upcoming stars of tomorrow try to act calm while seeking to impress the agents and producers at their tables. Keep in mind that others in this big city just can’t get enough of Café La Boheme in West Hollywood when they would like a great drink or two to help them unwind after a busy workday or when gearing up for an exciting night on the town.