Angels & Kings

OOPS late as. Oh well, review still stands.
This place had the darkest dimmest lighting I’ve ever encountered at any bar. Lots of rock ‘n roll goth-​y types here.
Angels and Kings be loud and rowdy.
Easy to envision a brawl between a biker and a mohawked punker with some WWE amazon chick breaking it up.
Obviously I stuck out like a sore thumb.
But having dragged my angel of a friend and her king here several months ago, I am glad we came through.
Because we had some tasty smooth shots! Thanks to another angel (or was that devil) of a bartendress. Extra star for that.
We did not spot Pete Wentz or Dave Grohl. Booooo.
But I did have an awesome trippy dream about the main Foo Fighter.
So random but kool. Kind of like how we wound up at Angels and Kings.
;]

Angels and Kings has that dive bar feel despite it being in the middle of hollywood. (which is nice when every other place is a tourist trap).
Reasons to go to this bar
1. Strong drinks that are moderately priced. ($ 6 well mixed drinks [ rum and coke])
2. TV Bar crowded. (it’s not too crowded that you can’t breath, but not too empty that you feel like you are driving alone)
3. It’s not to dark that you can’t see, but dark enough that everyone looks better.
4. Mug shots on the wall, because then everyone looks better.
5. Did i mention the the bouncers are generally very friendly.

I love businesses that still smile at you and give you the best damn service ever when you give them your Groupon. This is one of them.
Our bartender was friendly and recommended drinks, but warned us that they are simple and don’t make fancy cocktails when my friend asked for a nonexistent cocktail list. Since we came after New Year’s, everything got cleaned out, so they ran out of scotch and the better liquor.
My vodka martini was pretty good and since the bartender knew I don’t usually drink them, he gave me less vermouth so it wouldn’t be too dry. I don’t think I care either way since I’m so used to vodka.
My friend and I went crazy ordering food. We shared the potato chips and chicken strips and got our own pizzas.
Potato chips were our least favorite since they were overdone and brown. The waiter offered us 3 different dipping sauces for our chicken strips– buffalo, BBQ and ranch. We both devoured the ranch and asked for more. The chicken strips themselves impressed me. They’re not made with dense flour like other places (I eat a lot of chicken strips and nuggets and popcorn chicken), but rather light. I want to say panko was used, but the martini prevented me from confirming it. Either way, they were pretty damn good and light for bar food. The chicken was actually in strips (probably because it was a patty) and very different than what I’m used to!
Margherita pizza at bars really turns me off, especially after the one I recently had a couple weeks ago, but this one was actually … wait for it– GOOD. The mozzarella was fresh because we had strings of cheese from each bite and the tomatoes were sweet and juicy. My friend and I were really surprised at how much we liked it.
The BBQ chicken pizza was my favorite for the night. I loved everything about it– from the strips of chicken to the red onions to the sweet and perfect BBQ sauce to the crust. I guess compared to other places that have BBQ chicken pizza, this was REALLY good. I kept dipping the crust in the BBQ sauce too… not shameful at all.
The bartender gave us some tin foil containers to hold our leftovers and said that he didn’t expect 2 girls to come in and order a ton of food. But he was right about the food being good. It’s not typical bar food and I’m so glad for it!
I loved the personal attention and service here from the bartender and since it was after New Year’s, it was pretty empty. Usually, it’s a pretty packed place when I pass by on Fridays and Saturdays (makes sense) and I’d like to come again for their cheap drinks when it’s a full house.

So here is the deal… This bar could have been awesome. BUT:
1. They are a «rock» bar but they don’t have Jack Daniels OR Jim Beam?! How the hell is that possible.
2. The crowd is 90% rock wanna be douche.
Whenever people drag me here I make sure I am already hammered so the next day I don’t have to remember how much I didn’t enjoy myself and the douches I was surrounded by…

Another place that I went to in the Halloween Pub Crawl. I like this place, love the music (Alt/​Rock) and they have a Deer head on the wall with two Golden AK Guns on the end of the horns. So cool! I’ll be back again.

Love this bar. It’s gotten even better now that they started themed nights. There is room to sit down and you never feel like you can’t even turn around because you might spill your drink as someone walking by smashes into you.
On Thursdays, they have a drink-​along with movies, such as The Big Lebowski. Another perk on Thursdays, they have $ 10 deal of pizza and a beer. The pizza and homemade chips are amazing. You would never think!
On Saturdays, DJ Davewave plays great hair metal and other rock hits. He performs with his cheesy props, such as a metal grinder! Sweet man.
It’s not the IT spot, but honestly I don’t care. They’re usually annoying to get into, expensive and crowded. Not the way I want to spend my Saturday nights anymore, so I can just name drop and say I went there.

A very man-​friendly spot off of Hollywood Blvd with great music (they were playing all classic ‘90s rap when I was there,) fun bartenders, and strong drinks.

This place is casual like a dive bar but it’s not. No pretentious people here though. If they come, they’ll leave I’m sure. This place isn’t the «it» spot but it’s a fun spot that attracts a good crowd of fun seeking people.
Mixed crowd. Love it.
Great doorman/​bouncer/​ID checker. Fun personality.
Surprise such a place exist in Hollywood.
Music? Loud.
Parking? It’s Hollywood, just park at Hollywood and Highland and walk over or take the Metro Red Line.

In an area I’ll be the first to admit lacks a bit when it comes to good quality watering holes and a lack of annoying scene and/​or tourist traps, Angels and Kings is a welcome respite.
There’s no flashy sign or big line outside (thank god), so if and when you find it, you’ll be relieved to find a cool, dark space, friendly bartenders, and good music (well, that last one is a bit subjective. The night we were there the bartender was utilizing the shuffle function of his ipod and some interesting selections came up. But at least it was something different!)
I love the décor and those huge mug shots on the wall. so fun to stare at. It’s just a solid place a drink with friends without all of the hullaballoo of Hollywood!

Okay, I must say that I didn’t hate the place. Despite the fact that throughout my circle of friends it’s known as «a and (insert bad possibly very offensive word here)» A&K somehow delivered last night. However, this was probably due to the copious amounts of alcohol I had beforehand and the fact that I was in some very good company.
I believe that A&K is the kind of place where you have to be in good company. If you’re going to go here drag a few friends with you — because if just one, or two, or three of you go — it’s probably going to suck. Like a few other Unilocalers unfortunately I didn’t get the memo of wearing all black here and I left my Bauhaus shirt at home. I guess my bright red Abercrombie sweater was good enough though — or maybe it was just too dark and I couldn’t see everyones stares. The crowd is an eclectic mix of people who have/​are: a) done too much bathroom candy b) skinny bitches in midriff and coochie baring outfits c) old dudes who have gotten their hands on some black hair dye at Rite-​Aid d) the occasional random person who just somehow doesn’t fit in.
It’s also not the best place to come for a conversation. The music is loud. College boy frat party truck with rims loud. It’s pretty hard to have a decent conversation with «I want to F you like an animmmmmmmaaaaaal» blaring — so this place isn’t really for everyone. Also it’s dark as hell in here, and everyones wearing black with either a black mohawk, a partially shaved head, or fishnets so good luck trying to find your friend if you lose them. On the plus side if you’re creepy and stare long enough you can usually see at least one person in some degree of indecent exposure (2 couples last night, LMFAO!).
Well onto the good stuff. Wells are only $ 6 and they are made pretty stiff. My vodka and redbull was way more vodka than redbull, so kudos mr. bartender. Also everyone congregates towards the bar so there are couches and booths that are usually pretty empty and despite the overall gothic attitude people are willing to share booths. Plus there’s no cover.
In short A&K is in no way my go to bar (ever), but it’s not as bad as I once thought.

If there’s one thing I know, it’s whatever Katie B tells you you’re gonna do… you’re gonna do and you’re gonna like it… more than you think! So when she made mention that our group of four was going to Angels & Kings off Hollywood a little piece of me died inside. I haven’t spent a whole lot of time in the area, so don’t fault me, but my rash generalization is that it sucks, only backed up by the fact that I saw three people peeing on the side of a building while I took a quick phone call outside.
Inside though, the place rocks. The bartender was playing some awesome jams off his iPod, even asked if we had any requests. I’m a big fan of the multiple seating areas and I’m gonna say if you get there early enough the place will easily fit a decent sized group. We were there around 10 and it felt like things were still just getting started, so plenty of space.
Can’t comment much on the alcohol because I wasn’t drinking, but our dude behind the bar threw in a few glasses of tonic for freezies. Not to shabby considering up the street at a place which will remain nameless but shares it’s name with a popular street in Hollywood (following me) charges $ 3.

I can’t pull it off. I’d like to, but I’d just look stupid. Partly because my hair is too short, but also because I smile too much. It doesn’t help that I don’t have any tattoos or piercings. I don’t even have any leather clothing. So you’re never going to see me go punk or rocker.
But I can still put on my button up shirt with a sport coat at Angels & Kings and hang out, right? I dig the scene, I just can’t look the part. Luckily, they’re still welcoming of me. I like this place for the show. Everyone is on display.
They’ve got these girls that make an effort to wear as little clothing as possible. Then there are these other girls that wear clothing that looks like it’s about to have a wardrobe malfunction and reveal something special.
No cover. Cheap drinks. Easy door policy, but I didn’t get the memo to wear all black. Oh, and fashion police be warned: the fishnet stockings were meant to be torn up.

GOOD:
It’s like a rock n roll type of bar for beginners. Don’t let the smoking line of tattoos and mohawks fool you. Johnny Nextdoor is in there too.
$ 3 tap beers and cheap wells. Door guys are cool.
80’s hair dancing guy is still fun atmosphere for those who haven’t seen him yet.
Still a good neighborhood bar with a little atmosphere (i.e. eye candy) and cheap drinks.
BAD:
This place started off cool, but has slowly gone downhill. Makes me sad. I think the bathroom candy has taken hold. Girls who try way too hard to be rocknroll and be seen are also taking over.
Bathroom line can suck and is pretty damn gross.
(On some nights) The one speaker blasting music to an annoying level is on the cusp of sounding blown out.

The crowd here sucks and the female waitress/​bartender is a fucking straight hustler. «Oh hey! You want drinks? Okay sure what do you want? Vanilla Vodka and sprite? Rum and coke? Okay coming right up» All this without you saying a word. Haha. The drinks are around $ 4 – 10. Pretty standard prices. Oh one plus THE FASTEST SERVICE I’VE EVER RECEIVED AT A BAR. Seriously these people are on top of it. Oh the guy at the door checking IDs is super friendly! Loved that guy.
The décor is awesome but the bathroom is pretty gross. There is also one stall so be prepared to wait for a while. I also just now remembered a girl waiting in line giving up and going into the mens restroom not realizing the mens restroom had two urinals and there was still a guy in there hahhaha.
Okay the highlight of my whole night had nothing to do with this bar but what happened outside of it. There was a long line of identical gourmet looking hotdog vendors. My friend was hungry so I offered to buy her a hot dog with the last of my $ 5. I asked a vendor how much it was and he said $ 12. That definitely was not going to cut it so I told her to speak Spanish to him and instantly the hot dog became $ 4! Haha I felt like I was in Shanghai again except in Shanghai they would rip you off even more instead of giving you a deal.

GREAT BAR IN HOLLYWOOD!!!
–Chill atmosphere
–Great Music
–Strong drinks
–Fun Bartenders
–Plenty of seating
–Nice Décor
–Great for Birthday get-​together
–Venue available for private events
And for me, it’s less than a 5 minute walk!!!

So you were totally into that whole Hot Topic look about 6 – 8 years ago and you loved dying your hair strange colors, wearing black, and overall just standing out in the crowd (in a really bad way I might add). Well you’ve come to the right place. You get to hang out with all the other washed up losers that just never let go of that style. Plus you don’t have to worry about dancing, because there’s no room to dance in this place, barely even room to stand. So your uncoordinated self has no stress going in here. You’ll be able to lurk in the darkness with all the rest of the other glegs of society. Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate rockers in the least, but if you wanna go see some real rockers, you gotta go to the Rainbow Room, not this place.
I walked in last night, looked for my friends, couldn’t see them because the darkness had surrounded me and I kept getting bumped by creatures covered in tattoos. So upon not finding said friend, I promptly went outside where I could breath properly without some goth dork trying to inhale my soul as I gasped for air.
Anyways, if all this sounds like a great time to you, then head on over to Angels and Kings, hands down one of the worst places I’ve ever been in my life.

We showed up on Thursday night around 10 ish.
The bouncer was cool but said there was a private party and to come back at 12.
So we bar bounced and came back.
We stepped in and immediately felt out of my element.
By out of my element I mean by this: I’m a normal guy. I’m in a long-​sleeve shirt, jeans, and vans. Why the hell not? It’s HollyHood, after all…
the crowd inside was a mixture of like… Twilight-​looking adults, eMO crowd, and a pinch of Hipster all rolled around.
I tried ordering a few drinks from the bartender but shot me down everytime and then he told me something that I couldn’t here over the loud music so I just ended up ordering 2 beers.
That deer with guns above the bar is the shit though.
I’m gonna give this place one more go because I feel I just walked in on someone’s Twilight party and hoping this isn’t the type of crowd this place pulls.

I loved the Angels and Kings in Chicago… well, the old one that was on Clark St. Angels and Kings Hollywood does not disappoint either!
Drinks are not as expensive as you’d think, the décor is cool. It’s a great place in Hollywood to escape Hollywood, if you know what I mean.
True story: I met my current boyfriend here while I was visiting LA. We now live together in Hollywood. It can happen!

D– ark interior makes this an intriguing spot
A– ll of the drinks were strong, tipsy after just 2
R– eally enjoyed their margherita pizza
K– ind of fun to take pics in their jail booth
N– ice artwork including a deer with M16 looking guns
E– veryone was chill in the crowd
S– ong selection is key. I was hooked when I heard Muse
S– ort of excited to go again. Great spot in HWood.

One of my go-​to weekend hang outs. Not too divey, not too pretentious. The drinks are strong and pretty well priced. You’ll normally find me here on Friday nights (as opposed to Saturday nights, which, for some reason tend to have a really, really weird crowd). The bar doesn’t really get crazy busy until after midnight or so it seems. But that is fine with me, as I like to actually have conversations with my friends when we go there. A&K definitely has been the setting for some ridiculously hilarious and eventful nights. Service is pretty freaking good considering how busy/​hectic it gets there. I really just like this place though because it’s not a room packed with fake girls with fake boobs and asshole guys just looking to get laid. (Well. Both of those exist in A&K, just not in the same quantities as other bars in Hollywood).
This bar had a few really great «fun» ideas that made it unique from other watering holes, but it seems as if the execution of the clever ideas didn’t pan out as well as planned. As you can see in pictures posted for this place (I too am guilty of this), there’s a photoshoot-​ish area near one of the exits where you can obtain evidence of your night of debauchery. I mean, who doesn’t want a drunken lindsay lohan-​esque mugshot to wince at once you’ve sobered up the next day? Clever idea if you have your own camera with flash on hand. But it seems like the placard went missing a lot, and it turns out that stupid drunk girls hanging out in a crowd near the exit and the line for the bathroom can be rather annoying. (I too have been a stupid drunk girl in this context, so it’s okay for me to say that. I think).
AND speaking of the bathroom, A&K’s black bathroom walls used to be covered in chalk-​written messages, both cute and evil and sometimes just incomprehensible. However cool and fun the idea was though, it just so happens that if you give a girl a piece of chalk, and ample wall space, she will take up to 10x longer in the restroom (the single-​toilet restroom mind you) than «normal», which is already excruciatingly long because we all know that when girls «use the bathroom» they really are primping hair, redoing makeup, gossiping with other girlfriends who’ve joined in for moral support, texting exes, and god knows what else. So this chalk-​writing addition is just detrimental to the bladders of those waiting in line. And even knowing all of this, I was still saddened the last time I went to A&K and was told that chalk would no longer be provided for the reasons described above. Again, clever idea. Maybe when you invest in a bathroom with a stall separating sink from toilet, you can implement the chalk idea for the gals waiting in line rather than the gals writing poetry on the walls and spurning ex lovers instead of using the bathroom for its true purpose.
Next time I’m just going to bring my own chalk. Shhhh…
I’ll probably keep frequenting A&K, so long as the weirdos keep their distance. (Last time I was there, a guy was walking around with a skull-​topped scepter. That’s really just the tip of the iceberg. But at least it’s entertaining!)