Howl at the Moon

Main bartenders are great but we had a guy waiter who was the least bit attentive to my wife and my needs. Music and ambiance was great. Great beer great drinks. I will say to have my tattoos inspected prior to me entering was a bit awkward and offensive if I must say and there reply was they reserve the right if they are offensive to not allow entrance to the establishment. So I am a business professional whom happens to have a sleeve of very good Polynesian artwork and I feel that how can one person or two (one of which was missing 2 teeth) be the judge of what is ok, I mean come on we live in a society that everyone has tattoo’s and piercings. I would recommend this place and most likely visit again if I’m in Cali but I think they need to reevaluate there tactless way to make sure they only allow upperclass people in there bar.

Second time there. Music was good but the bartenders were real bad. Drinks are watered down. made us sick. really rude. All I heard is that the drinks are so expensive and watered down. SMELL LIKE DIRTY DIAPERS. SERIOUS. WE LEFT. 2 THUMBS DOWN. NEVER WILL GO BACK…

This place is the best place to go for some Sunday night fun. Everytime I go here it never fails to bring the fun and the live music is amazing. They are very interactive with the crowd and encourage the fun to keep going. Also the bar tenders are nice and always get to you in time and dont make you wait. Amazing place.

Great nightlife place. All the benefits of a large karaōke bar without the cons of having to listen to bad drunk singers from the audience. Only the people that work there get to sing… unless you tip them a lot of money. I think that’s a smart & fair decision.
Decently priced drinks and if you sign up for the chance to «win» a party you can pretty much win one every time and then the drink specials are amazing for those. A couple $ 1 drinks per person! Say what!!! They even let my buddy charge his $ 1 drink to a credit card. That was nice of them.
There were a couple singers that were not very good, but they rotate the singers so it didn’t end up being that bad. Also everyone seems to get better as the night goes on. Diverse crowd also.

Absolute tourist trap, locals don’t come here.
FYI, not really dueling pianos (That hurt me the most, LoL).
We came here with a group of twenty, had four tables and more than happy to spend our hard earned money so believe me when I tell you that everyone was in a positive happy mood.
The drinks eventually started coming around half hour after we were taken to our tables and the attitude of the employees went from friendly to are you guys ready for another drink yet, as if they were in a rush to get us out. We were planning to be there all night as we had a party bus to insure everyone would make it home safely.
The attitude of the staff became more and more snobbish and aggressive as the night continued until they found an opportunity to kick one of our friends out. Allow me to set the scene, our tables were by the opening to go from the bar/​standing area to the lower area where the tables are, waitresses were spilling drinks and ice all over the floor as they would pass by taking other tables their drinks. One of our friends that showed up late and literally had one drink slipped on some ice as he was making the rounds to say hello to everyone and they jumped all over him and kicked him out. Needless to say we all left immediately, disappointed and more than capable of driving ourselves home. To add insult to injury, about 90% of use for the next few weeks got emails and phone calls to come back, we supposedly had won a free party/​table. Yeah right, never going back.

The first HATM I went to was in Orlando about 10 years ago — that place was great. This one at City Walk was horrible. My wife and I got there early and waited for the doors to open at 7pm. The rest of our group was still eating next door at Karl Strauss’s. We were one of three tables for the first 25 – 35 minutes. Other than us the place was empty. I sat at one table and my wife sat at the one next to me in order to hold two tables.
The bad started with a 5’3″ employee named, Dennis, who was sporting a ridiculous 2′ yellow mohawk to make him appear taller than he is, waited for me to walk away to approach my wife and tell her we were not allowed to hold tables. My wife explained the rest of our group was finishing their meals next door and would be right over (about 10 minutes later). He said he’s heard it all before and if he had to tell her again that we would be kicked out with no refunds. This guy never smiled, nor did he seem to have a positive impact on any of the customers or other employees.
The music was awful!!! There was no joking between the pianists. We couldn’t hear the vocals over the music. What we could hear of the vocals wasn’t that great! The musicians didn’t interact hardly at all with the customers.
A bathroom attendant… really? Your men’s restroom is a small box. Your place isn’t that high class. We can grab our own paper towels.
The good — Oscar and Katie were our servers and were very pleasant and fun.
No one in our group will ever go back to this place. My opinion, don’t waste your time or money here.

I know this might be an unpopular opinion because CityWalk is super touristy and the whole area is just filled with chain restaurants and overpriced souvenir shops but what a fun bar! Howl at the Moon is a dueling piano bar with live music that will have you dancing and singing along all night. I love it because it’s like a karaōke bar but the band is performing all the hits and the people on stage can actually sing so you don’t end up with the random girl who thinks she can sing Adele killing the mood. It’s perfect! They even invite people up to the stage to dance!
The cover is $ 10, which is more than I’d usually pay to get in anywhere, but if you end up spending a majority of the night here it’s worth it, especially considering the other bar at CityWalk (Saddle Ranch) is free to get in and a short walk away so they cancel each other out in my mind. This place definitely gets crowded on the weekends but if you can sneak your way up to the bar, they sell drinks by the bucket for a pretty affordable $ 36, considering the sheer volume of drink you get! I would recommend anything blue. These are great for sharing… or drinking by yourself if you have a death wish and the sugar tolerance of King Kandy.
Would I drive out of my way to come back to Howl at the Moon? It’s possible. Would I come back after another long day at Universal Studios/​The Wizard World of Harry Potter? Without a doubt.

It’s cool, my friends said I had a blast and my feet the next morning told me I was dancing all night, my social media got some great selfies and I have enough tbt pics for the next 6 months. the only reason it’s 4 starts and not 5 is because the food doesn’t taste good eat before you go.

Nice place. Lots of people. Good vibration.

Say what you will about the questionable (read: touristy) crowd at HATM and the overly-​aggressive bouncers (warning: do NOT drop your drink because you WILL get kicked out), but I’ve hosted two parties here, and both times my friends and I had a BLAST!
*Tip: If you’re interested in winning/​hosting a party at HATM, hit up their website now for instructions… I have a feeling pretty much everyone «wins.» And at both parties I’ve had we’ve had AMAZING drink deals — usually 2 $ 1 drink tickets for everyone, no cover, and reduced price drinks (like $ 3.75) for a few hours. Beyond the normal bar, HATM has some great speciality drinks like fruity buckets and jello shots served in a syringe.
Then once you’re nice and liquor up, get excited to experience the best part — the dueling pianos, of course! If you’ve never seen a dueling piano bar, you’re really missing out. They cover popular, fun songs and take requests, and by the end of the night, everyone is clamoring for a spot on the dance floor. So yes, it’s sort of a trek to get to the Universal Citywalk, but I promise it is worth the trek every now and then… especially if you love to dance!
I also want to give a huge shoutout to Sarah and Chelsea — you two are great and helped make my parties a success. Thanks!

My friend recommended we go here and I had no idea what it was but I was told it would be a lot of fun.
Turns out it’s a dueling pianos bar. And OMG it’s so much fun.
We got there around 745 and the place was pretty empty. Perks of arriving early were that we got to request whatever we wanted and have it played and we got a great table.
For drinks we went ahead and got one of the 86oz buckets. These are made to be shared between 4 – 5 people and they mean that lol
Around 9 – 10 the place started to fill up and soon enough it was standing room only and the dance floor was filling up.
This place was great because they played all kinds of music. From every genre and every decade.
It was a blast and I’ll definitely be recommending this place to friends looking for a good time.

It’s been almost a year since my last review. So I thought it’d be appropriate for me to write an updated review.
A lot of hard working staff members that deserve recognition. Starting off with the bartenders: Matt, Melanie, Amy, Peter, & Chris. No wonder they bar-​tend. They’re so good on making a good drink and also are good on making suggestions. The G.M. Matt is an awesome guy. Who doesn’t like a nice, friendly, and professional G.M.?. Chloe the shot girl is really nice and friendly. Hosts: Dennis & Mike are really cool guys who are good at what they do. A lot of great musicians as well. A lot more good working staff members I don’t know by name yet.
This place remains to be fun. As long as you follow the rules and don’t step out of line, you will have a great time.
Stop by for great live band music, great drinks, and good company.

I don’t know what happened to this place but I can start with the singers weren’t good. The baby bouncer David Daniel at the door gave me a run around when I wanted to talk to the manager. Literal half the room walked out all at once. Maybe these were the back up singers and they didn’t have anybody else last night.

My experience at howl at the moon was last month I reserve a table for my bday.
Here is my experience…
I email Chelsea about the reservation she answer all my question.
I wanted to take a cake and some balloons I ask if it was ok to drop them off a few hours before, since I didn’t want to be running with everything last minute.
She said yes that wouldn’t be a problem.
And here is when things start to get sour!
The day of the schedule reservation I call around 1pm and no answer…
Then I call at 2pm no answer …
I called again at 3pm and left a message about dropping off the cake and balloons.
For a reserve table you have to be there before 9pm to makes sure they don’t give your table away!
I show up at 8:50pm with cake and balloons since NO one ever call me back!
I was very upset that no one return my call !
I decided to let it go and enjoy my bday!
Everything was going well the servers are nice.
The music was good the singers made everything fun!
But then a horrible experience !
While waiting for my other friends to arrive I get a txt from one of them.
(«They don’t let me in because of my tattoos «)
Me «WTF»
So I step out and my friend tells me the bouncer thing his tattoos are gang related and they don’t let him in!
I’m in complete shock first of all my friend is NOT a gang member and he doesn’t have gang related tattoos!
My friend is a ROCK STAR literally he is a FAMOUS DRUMMER and of course he is going to have tattoos like music notes.stars. Monsters… drums…ETC
I understand there rules and that they want to follow them but they should treat everyone the same.
First of all the bouncer had a shit load of tattoos and he look like a gang member!
Second of all the bouncer let a lot of people with tattoos inside .
NOT FAIR!
Make your rules the same for everyone!
I would not recommend this place if you have TATTOOS !!!
I will never be back!!!
BTW give your employees a class about regular tattoos and gang related tattoos

I always have a good time here. The drink prices are comparable to other places of its kind in the area but we all know that means they’re pricy. Haha
The venue layout is cool and I can always find a table even when it’s crowded. The live music is awesome. There are come cool cats that play regularly and the open mic night thing is cool. I’ve had the pleasure of joining in those festivities and I have many friends who do on the regular so it’s always like coming home when I go here. I’ve celebrated a few birthdays here as well.
My only issue that inspired me to minus one star was the ridiculous door man that eye balled my date and I for quite some time last time we went there. He spent way too much time focusing on our tattoos as if we are the criminal element and he even asked if we had «gang tattoos». This is LA and yes I get it’s your job but please tell me how a purple and blue haired girl with a faux hawk in a rocker jacket from the Shrine on Melrose and a country bumpkin lookin bearded white boy in jeans and a tshirt with a band on it look like «gangsters»!? Then he looked at my ID like a zombie still to focused on my dates tattoos to the point where he asked to see my ID again. I’ve never seen anything quite like it. Yeah I know, people with tattoos must be gang banging dirt bags, right? LAME!!!
Other than that I love this place.

My favorite dueling piano bar. and probably my favorite bar in general as I’ve been coming here literally since I turned 21. Yes, I had my 21^st at a dueling piano bar because I’m just cool like that. Normal 21 year olds go to clubs I guess, or Vegas. Eh. I was living in Vegas at the time so that held no appeal. But I’d seen this place during Horror Nights earlier that year and was begging to go! Ah, that party was fantastic. I think. I don’t remember much after my 2^nd bucket. Hehe!
Fast forward 5 years and I’m still here as often as I can be, but since it’s a drive, it’s not as often as it was when I had less responsibilities haha. Anyhow, I absolutely love this bar. Parking is easy and I usually park in Jurassic since it’s the closest to the bar. And walking in stilettos, after a night of drinking, becomes increasingly harder! The bar is located near the end of City Walk, and upstairs. It’s relatively easy to find with the giant keyboard sign. There is a cover ($ 10), and military i.d. gets the service member and one guest in free. The bar is usually pretty packed, so I guess nobody minds the cover as the awesome drinks and service make up for it! The bartenders are really friendly, and will give you plenty of drink suggestions if you can’t decide. I love that the dueling piano players change, and I don’t think I’ve seen the same people over again very often? Hmm. anywho, the only not so pleasant peeps are the chicks serving the jello shooters. They always seems to be a little grumpy even when they’re acting super perky. Though I don’t blame them. The jello shooter girls straddle whoever is taking the shot, they lean your head back, shoot some whip cream in your mouth, followed by a syringe of alcohol. I guess having to climb on top of random strangers in booty shorts and a tutu would make you kinda cranky haha. But they try, and the shots are bomb! The vibe is so chill here, everyone’s just out to have a great time. I’ve never seen a fight here or any kind of crazy drama that I’ve seen elsewhere. Just people getting drunk and requesting songs all night long. Oh yeah, you can do song requests (include a tip for a better chance of them playing it though) and the pianists will battle it out to see who the crowd thinks rocked it best! It’s just so much fun versus the tiring bass and hot mess most clubs are. It is SMALL so it does get crowded so you will have to push past people, but that’s like most clubs right. Oh and it’s loud.
The drinks. Okay seriously just get the buckets. I don’t remember the price off the top of my head — but dude, it’s 86 oz of freakin alcohol. Who cares how much haha. no but really their the best. The options include Adiós, Big Island Ice Tea, Fruit Roll-​Up (bomb!), Hurricane, Pain Killer, X-​Boyfriend, Pineapple Express. they have 11 buckets in total. And all of them are friggin tasty. Personal favorites include the Fruit, Adiós and Big Island. I’ve had them all, and none of them did my wrong, so I can’t hate on that. They have other cocktails too. and beer. But I don’t mess with any of that. Just buckets o’ alchy for me! The buckets are bad ass because you can split them, since them come with 5 über long neon colored straws, or you can not share. It’s up to you (^_​~) if you sit outside and drink, they have a special little bar outside with plastic cups since you can’t take the glass outdoors. Dumb but whatevers. They also deliver the buckets to you if you’re seated outside. Considering we only do buckets, we usually sit outside! It’s still fun and you can see and hear the dueling pianos through the glass!
Now I want to go back… I really recommend Howl, especially during the weekends (more people, more fun). The buckets and the fun vibe and awesome (and usually hilarious) music played for drunken ears, and the fabulous company you take. Ah yeah. It’s fun, as long as it’s your thing. If you’re a clubby person, this may not be what you’d expect. But for a chill and fun night of drinking this is the place! Check them out — for the buckets at least.

UPDATE REVIEW: Came back to Howl after receiving one free pass and a 25 gift card. I was happy to see that both worked with no problem! I was able to get their super tall Adious MF which was so good! Since it was on a Wednesday, it was less crowded and I was able to go on the patio with my friend and I had no problem with hearing her! The band was good and it was the perfect way to spend my Wednesday night! Upon leaving, I thanked the bartender for incredible service and told him that I will be back soon for another fun night! He gave me two free admission passes and wished me a great rest of the night!
Overall a great time, yet again at the Howl!
Next time, with a bigger group of friends I hope to try their bucket drinks!

I literally just came home from this place and am writing this review as I lay in bed all sore from all the dancing.
Seriously, what’s with the bad reviews?
I had an amazing time here. The live music was amazing. They played a variety of songs including top 40 hits, classic rock, alternative, oldies, country, etc. It really appeals to all ages.
The drinks were good. The jello shot was tasty and was delivered in such a risqué manner; it was awesome. **They do NOT serve food here, however they DO allow you to bring your own food. FOOD. That does not include outside drinks.**
The people here are super nice. The band members are kind and try their best to play what you request. I am very impressed at the amount of songs they have stored in their memory, and how well they are able to execute it. Also, they are always smiling and happy. Our server always checked up on us. She was very friendly. And to my surprise, she was also a preformer who rapped one of the songs.
Misc but good to know:
–Gets really busy after 9 (we came on a Sunday night)
–Tables are small, kinda lame.
–Cover to get in $ 5, after 9pm it’s $ 10.
–Parking in the general parking lot $ 10.

Not too bad. Not that great. It can be a fun night for a group given the dueling pianos, full band, and party like atmosphere. The glassware is plastic, and the drinks are ok. I was however disappointed to find out that at the one bar (the larger one) I was paying almost $ 10 for well vodka, and at the other smaller bar the girl was nice enough to inform me that there was a special on a different vodka for $ 4. Would’ve been nice to know.
I wouldn’t normally come here because the parking situation is always a nightmare. AND it’s $ 10. With city walk being so desolate there really should be some kind of validation or something along those lines. Howl at the moon should refer to some of the quality of singers they had. Not the best for a land that boasts the best in talent. The real awkward part was when the bassists walked around the crowd playing their way through people. I didn’t get it.

Really great music and talented performers but awful staff.
Came for a friend’s birthday and at first I was having a really nice time. The crowd was really diverse and the music was dabombdotcom.
But THEN, the bouncers asked someone who was in our group to leave because she was too inebriated. Granted, there were far more people on the dance floor falling over themselves and far more intoxicated, but our poor friend gets singled out and made to wait outside. To add insult to injury, the staff wouldn’t allow someone to go and get her credit card from the bar/​cash out AND even though she was standing steps from the door leading to the outside, they wouldn’t let us give her a glass of water because of their «open container» rule. How stupid do you have to be to have a rule that prohibits giving a drunk person (who you asked to leave) water so that they don’t get more sick? Seems like they are being overly cautious and lacking some common sense.
The situation was handled pretty poorly IMO and pretty much ruined our night. Too bad egos and attitudes/​bad customer service get in the way when the rest of the bar is actually pretty fun.
I won’t patronize them again.