Bodega Wine Bar (Santa Monica)

Posted November 10th, 2008 by Meg

Not so long ago I was having a high stress day. I was driving home from an important meeting and was sitting at a red light. My foot was on the break for a good 10 seconds. And then out of nowhere, bam!, someone had rear ended me. I screamed in terror. Apparently, the man who hit me was looking for an Altoid. God damn you curiously strong mints. My bumper was bruised with screw driver marks from his Mercedes license plate. The man said he would pay for it and we decided to not involve insurance. I immediately went to my body shop (cars like to hit my car) and got an estimate of six hundred and three dollars. Because the man said he would pay, this wasn’t the problem. The problem was that it would take three days to repair my bumper. I needed a drink. In order to forget about the bad, my roommate and I went to find some good. Good in 5 dollar glasses of wine at Bodega’s Happy Hour. Sadly, the happy hour used to be 4 dollars a glass but had gone up a dollar since we had last gone.

The layout of the bar is relaxing, hip, sexy, and kind of dark. It is bigger than the flagship Bodega in Pasadena. The service is usually always attentive and friendly. They always have a wide variety of wine options with different kinds of reds, whites, and sparkling. They also keep it interesting by rotating the wine list every few weeks. When I arrived at the wine bar, I planned to order wine that I would not normally order (like the episode of Seinfeld where George does everything opposite of how he would normally do it and everything comes up roses). Instead of tuna salad, I ordered a a pinot noir. Sadly, I was too shook up from the accident to think to write down the name of the wine or the pleasant adjectives used to describe it on the menu. What I do know is that the wine is always pretty good and hits the spot, especially when you’re having a bad day. I do consistently find their red wines to be more on the light/thin body side of the spectrum.

We also ordered from their happy hour meal menu. They offer a few items from their menu for happy hour price of 5-6 dollars: margherita pizza, pepperoni & mushroom pizza, hummus and pita, pepperoni and cheese plate, a bruscetta and olive tapenade, and I think a warm goat cheese crostini. We ordered the pepperoni & mushroom pizza because my roommate had hummus at home (and what’s the point of ordering something you can make/have at home?). We are professional happy hour goers and have tried most of their menu and all of their happy hour menu so I can tell you off the bat the the best options for happy hour are the pizza, hummus, the bruscetta, and the crostini. The cheese and pepperoni is not worth your money; It’s like a cracker barrel rectangle of orange cheese (I’m assuming cheddar) and slices of pepperoni that obviously came out of a plastic bag in the kitchen along with little pieces of toast; nothing special and not very healthy! If you have money to spend, I always enjoyed their smoked turkey breast panini ($10 - w/ goat cheese, tomato, arugula & pesto may) and their big chopped salad ($10 or $13 w/ chicken - mixed greens, mozzarella, mushrooms, jicama, chickpeas, zucchini, & tomatoes with balsamic vinaigrette).

They also offer beer, cold sake, and soju cocktails. What’s a soju cocktail you ask? Soju is distilled beverage native to Korea commonly made from rice (but sometimes potato, wheat, barley, sweet potato, or tapioca)! Soju is clear in color and typically varies in alcohol content from about 20% to about 45% alcohol by volume (ABV), with 20% ABV being most common. Its taste is comparable to vodka, though often slightly sweeter because of the sugars added in the manufacturing process.The liquor licensing laws in the states of California and New York classify soju in the same category as beer and wine, allowing businesses with a beer/wine license to sell it without requiring the more expensive license required for other distilled spirits. The only stipulation is that the soju must be clearly labeled as such and contain less than 25% alcohol. The cocktails are nice, but I find it’s lower alcohol content less fun than regular hard liquor.

In the end, I recommend Bodega Happy Hour to everyone. When it is not happy hour, wine is 8 dollars a glass (which I probably would not recommend). It is a fun to go with friends and co-workers and will always have a place in my heart. The location is kind of hidden and easy to miss. It is a few stores away from Swingers on Broadway. It always looks dark. Happy Hour is from 5-7pm. Street (metered) parking and valet.

List of weekly events:

Monday: Closed
Tuesday: Andrew Jackson Night (any bottle = $20, but that’s not much incentive because any other day the bottle = $21)
Wednesday: Modelo Madness - (Modelo in the can = $2)
Thursday - Saturday: DJ’s play
Sunday: Service Industry Night - Happy hour prices and $1 sake shots all night long

Bodega Wine Bar
814 Broadway
Santa Monica, CA 90401
(310) 394-3504