Five Star Bar

Had a great time during their «$ 8 Beer in A Solo Cup» night. Also love the band «Perpetual Feedback because the house engineer is asleep». Cool vibe — bad everything else.

It’s not punk rock until someone spills a beer all over you.
If you are coming here for any crusty, punk, oi show… be prepared to spend $ 9 beer + tip. YES, $$ !!! Over priced for my blood.
I recommend going next door to the paisas bar. you can buy 6 beers with what you spend on 3 here. Juss sayan…
AND IT’S CASH ONLY. So bring lots of cash.

For a random dive bar off of 2^nd and main, this place is really great! It’s like walking into beer heaven! You will definitely find the beer you want in either a bottle or can here. And if they don’t have at least ONE you like then your way too bougie for this place ;)! The burgers are really great too! I definitely love and recommend this bar any and every day of the week!

Very much a dive bar, it’s a cash-​only joint and dark inside. It’s small (looks like it can accommodate 100 – 120 guests). They have a fair variety of beers (some in cans). Parking can be a challenge, but there are a few lots nearby. It’s not busy on a weekend day (I was there on a Sunday afternoon), but it can get crowded on a Saturday night. It’s located in downtown LA, but not neighboring other bars (except one Mexican bar). There is a pizza place a few doors down. You can grab a drink here before or after an event at the Vibiana event center across the street.

Love this bar! It’s so cute, the bartenders are super nice and they book really great bands.

Where to start. I have been to this bar multiple times because my friend performs here. My previous 3 visits to this bar have been ok. Nothing great, but nothing awful either. have some beers and see my friend play. is a win win. Today (12-​13-​2015), i went because my friend again played here and they were collecting food to give to less fortunate people. Great cause, but this old lady (i believe the owners gf or wife because she is posing with him in a picture from a review David F. left.) turned the night into s-h-!-t.
From the moment I talked to the bar tender (the old lady believed to be owners gf or wife) everything started bad. I did not feel like drinking so I asked if they had sodas; the bar tender replied «yes» (from the start with a nasty attitude towards me and my friend), so i asked if they had sprite and she said «no only 7up», i said let me get two. She walked away before i even finished speaking and grabbed both sodas, then I said i also want a coke please. She went on to say «Are you f@cking serious?!» so she went back and grabbed the coke. Now, i know bars are expensive, but $ 3 for a can soda (kinda pricey) and the only reason I am mentioning this price is because of the crappy attitude.
So i paid and went to go enjoy my friend performed. After he was done performing, I started playing pool with my other friend that i got the soda with. Pool sticks are already broken in half, but I wanted to play some pool since the table was there. Again had to deal with this old lady, I went to ask for change and handed her a dollar. With an attitude again, she said «what do you want?!», i replied: some quarters to play pool. Me and my friend played one game on our second game, I was doing really bad, so we started laughing, I set the pool stick on the floor and then that lady started cursing. «Dont f-​u-​c-​k – ing put the stick on the floor!». I was done with her attitude. I told her «you know what go f ur self!» and walked out of the bar. My friend that performed there was all «no dont say anything», but the damage was done. So i walked out. My friend that performed there followed me outside and he was asking what happened. I started to tell him what happened and the this old lady (ghetto crackhead may i add cause of her attitude) came out screaming «GTFO of my bar, you fat POS» (i was already out). she continue to say «u f=ing fat @-ss, no one tells me to go f my self!». «Why the f are you throwing the pool sticks !!!» I just turned around and started walking away. and then this older man was all like, «What happened? is not cool to throw away the pool sticks, you do know — there is a code of conduct? «Now please remember all this is happening in the side walk in front of the bar. So instead of bar tending, she was calling me names in front of her bf or husband’s bar. My gf who has been in the background the whole time seeing this great customer service unfold, answered «he did not throw it; he placed it down and she has been cursing the whole time». Now the old lady crackhead bar tender is mad because we are ignoring her. and shes screaming trying to fight while my gf was calmly talking to the owner. At the end the owner apologized and said he was going to talk to her, but i doubt he will since she is his SO. That type of customer service is unacceptable anywhere, i have seen janitors behave better than that trash of a bar tender. I really hope the owner gets a real bar tender. He was nice and i would hate for such a nice guy to be brought down by that old lady. Its ok 5 star bar, you wont be getting my hard earned money any more. Just dont ban my friend from playing there.
Now the bar condition is pretty bad, it rained today and there were at least two spots where the ceiling was dripping water. customer service really bad, prices are ok i guess, but i wont be going back.

Good beer selection
Parking sucks big time but there are a couple of parking lots around. Expect to $ 10.00+ for parking.
Live music is always great and so is staff. Bar is a bit dirty but nothing less than a bar should be when located in DTLA

Great chill spot… Great beer selection. .good juke box. Deliciously juicy burgers… Staff is f*ucking awesome super cool… no nonsense burgers and beers…

I give Five Star Bar five Unilocal stars and a Z formation.
Five Star Bar is quite the divey little joint. It’s the kind of place where creepy old dirty uncle types, spinster aunties who gave up on life, hipsters, smellies, and various subcultures congregate to drink, play pool, and/​or see local bands play.
This place has an old timey ambience with wooden accents, it looks like the hands of a strong cleaning lady and the hands of time forgot about this place.
Five Star Bar may have a cover charge to enter, I seriously can’t remember details.
The price is right for the bevy, so drink up kids!
Someone said cash only –_​–
The restrooms are very tiny, like a closet for doll clothes, and if the wrong person goes in before you, prepare for a fart bomb or smelly pussy of death scent.
Parking is available next door or perhaps on the street, so be a grown up and figure it out.

Awesome and laidback place. with a lot of different kind of beers. and the staff was really nice and friendly. Go there!!!

Once again at the 5 Star. A beer joint, but with a good selection and some cheap prices. Opens early, and there’s free WiFi.

I went on a Friday. The crowd was diverse and friendly, the beers were five dollars, and there was a free live music show. It was a great time until, per usual for bars on the weekend, after 10:00, the music got too loud to talk. When I came back later, there was a three dollar cover added to get in.
Next time I do a bar night Downtown on the weekend, I definitely want to use this as my starter bar.

This place is a dive. Cash only is lame, but hey if you’re at a place this divey, it might do you good to bring cash so that you’re not accidentally charged someone else’s tab — and you can never get the bartender’s attention because it’s just way loud in here.
It’s a garage band kind of place. Not really my thing. So you could call my review biased.

The night that I came here, there were various bands playing. Admission was $ 5/​person and had one beer for $ 7. The place is 21+ — they actually write «21» on your hand if you are over 21. I didn’t get that because usually they mark your hand if you’re under 21? But now thinking about it, maybe it was their «stamp» saying that you paid since you had in and out privileges. I thought the stage was small for any band that was over 3 members — not a lot of movement could be done up there but they all still performed well. There is an upstairs portion, but I’m not sure if anyone could walk up — I stayed sitting in a stool b/​c I wanted to sit and didn’t want to lose my spot later on. The place was never super packed (only there for 2 bands — I believe their names were Folks and Company & Rem Sleep) there was a good amount of space and they even had a pool table near the front of the building when you walk in. Super chill spot… the people we good too. Plenty of room to dance & great for large groups. The security guard complimented on my skin… strange b/​c it is dark inside, haha but it was a nice thing to hear right as you walk in I guess? I would say the age ranged from 21 – 45? I know that’s a large gap… maybe like a few people looked like they were in their 40s, but majority were younger… 21 – 30? I would come back on a bar hopping trip or to see random bands play.

A very pleasant place to relax and unwind from the hustle and bustle of Los Angeles. I love the patrons and the prop rioters, Marcus and Angie. I stop in for a cold beer as often as my better judgement suggests.

This is a nice dive bar to go to when you want to listen to garage bands. The entrance fee is cheap and so is the parking next door, only $ 5 after 4pm.

They have rock n roll band performances sometimes for free. Pretty mellow atmosphere, great music. The beers are okay. They have a VIP thing upstairs and it really isn’t all that, just two couches and the dj, but you can watch band performances and the whole bar from below. They have two pool tables, and a bathroom with a women’s restroom without a mirror lol. I have gone here a few times, my boyfriend has played a few gigs here as well. The sound-​check guy is SUPER friendly! All in all this place is a pretty groovy place in DTLA. 5 stars for the 5 star bar! Haha.

Four stars for Five Star Bar, minus one star for being cash only.
I have watched this bar morph into a place with so many different types of people over the past decade. I have seen this bar from the inside with the gates closed after hours smoking cigarettes, only to run inside at the appearance of a police car. This has always been a dive bar, and hopefully will always remain a dive bar.
Plenty of my friends bands have played here that are all so different than one another, which goes to show you this place likes to shake it up and have different types of bands on different nights of the week. For example when I was walking past this bar on the night of New Years Eve, it happened to be metal/​hardcore night. Last week while walking by it happened to be filled to the brim with hipsters. It is always a different crowd, save for the few regular acceptations.
The drinks are decently priced and made to rock your socks off, on the off chance that the bands don’t.
Be nice to your bartender and they will be nice to you, is the absolute golden rule in this bar, and many others in this area of downtown. If you are not nice be prepared to be ignored. Small piece of advice from a former bartender, in addition to being really nice, introduce yourself, be clear about what you want and never dawdle when ordering; be specific, especially if more than one cocktail is desired, be patient, and tip accordingly. If you don’t do those things be prepared to be ignored until all the other customers who know proper bar etiquette have been served.

The parking is next to the venue but it’s $ 7.
The service was okay it’s just that they seem to have one bartender a night.
The beer selection was ok, could have been better.
It was free to get in that night but who knows what else they charge.
The eq for bands seem to work decent.

Came to see my friends play. It was a great spot to hang out, dance and have a drink. I don’t usually drink beer but the bartender was very accommodating. I’d come back again for more live music, pool and sage smudging the air.