6 Comments

• Pastor Pete on July 15, 2009

  I agree with everything you say though I think I was a little less forgiving in my appraisal.

  Everything about the place screamed a lack of attention to detail. The decor, aside from a fresh coat of paint (mustard yellow if I recall) was exactly the same as the previous place (3 on Fourth) with a couple of random and bizarre decorating choices thrown on top… like the ‘local art’ which made the place feel more like a tacky tex-mex restaurant than a place to relax and have a drink. The lighting needs work too – darkness can be a good thing, if there’s some contrast (and you can still read your menu), but dingy gloomy lighting is entirely different.

  The lack of descriptions in the menu is a problem but would have been forgivable if the waitstaff was knowledgeable and helpful. Nope! And not a single beer on tap? In a beer joint? Really? Really. No, I’m not entirely ok with that.

  I wasn’t entirely ok with being given a bottle and no glass either. I mean, did I just pay 9 dollars for this bottle of beer or did I pull it out of a cooler at the world’s most boring frat party? At least they didn’t expect me to open the bottle with my teeth.

  I can’t comment on the food, so maybe that’s the saving grace of this place, but I doubt I will ever find out unless they make a few changes.

• Meg on July 15, 2009

  Let’s hope for change! :)

• Nancy on July 17, 2009

  Hi Meg,

  Thanks for your input! I work with the bar’s owners, and I’m sorry to hear that the waitress wasn’t able to help you find a beer for your tastes. We will certainly work on that.

  As for Pastor Pete’s comments, I just want to say that beer on tap will come eventually. Currently Santa Monica zoning rules (which are notoriously ridiculous) do not allow West 4th/Jane to have a keg system. When they can navigate through the red tape, they will most certainly do that.

  Also, if you would like a glass for your beer, please ask! They will be happy to give it to you. Some people prefer not to have one, so they don’t automatically give it to you.

  As for the “tacky” art, I have to respectfully disagree. I like Chase, the artist they are featuring this month, and his quirky works. But then again, I know that Chase is a world-renowned artist who does installation murals for charity, so that my skew my view a bit! Next month they will be featuring a new artist.

  We appreciate all of your thoughts, and hopefully we’ll see you in again soon!

• Meg on July 19, 2009

  Nancy - I’m really hoping that the staff becomes very knowledgeable! Nothing is better than having a server that knows their stuff. Also, that is great news to hear that the owners are working on getting their beer on tap!

• Pastor Pete on July 19, 2009

  I’m glad to know that they’re working on getting beer on tap. That is definitely important, and it’s a shame that Santa Monica’s zoning laws have given the owners so much trouble. Hopefully it will get sorted out soon.

  I must disagree about the glass, however. I’m sure many people enjoy drinking wine from the bottle as well, but that doesn’t mean you should have to ask for stemware at a wine bar. If you guys don’t want to give them out to everyone, you should at least ask the customer, not the other way around. Being hospitable means anticipating the customer’s needs and desires, not waiting for requests and complaints. If nothing else, having your beer served in a glass is the norm so when customers aren’t presented the option it’s mildly bewildering. That said, this was not meant to sound like a tragedy. It didn’t ruin my experience, but it was just one small thing on a list of oversights.

  As for the paintings, please don’t misunderstand me. I think it’s great to support artists in the community, and I was not calling the art itself tacky, I was describing the overall decor of which the paintings are a contributing factor. Not because the art is bad, but because it seemed there was very little thought given to how the art was being presented and adding to the decoration of the space as a whole. If the bar is to double as a gallery space, it would serve the management/owners well to take cues from galleries ESPECIALLY when it comes to lighting.

  Now this is just my two cents, of course. It’s certainly all subjective, especially when it comes to the decor. I just think a small amount of extra polish could elevate the space from something half-baked to something special. And a little more attention to detail with regard to service and menu could make it somewhere I’d want to come back to. And as Meg mentioned, a happy hour wouldn’t hurt either :)

• Nancy on July 20, 2009

  Thanks for the input, Pastor Pete. Duly noted about the glass situation.

  As for Happy Hour, it’s here! Every weekday, 5-7 p.m. West 4th/Jane’s got 50-cent wings, which go great with the $3 “Crappy Cans” of beer. Every Monday is 1/2 off all wine and sake bottles, and every Wednesday we’re hosting a New Orleans style crawfish boil - $9.99 plus $1 dollar off all New Orleans beers for the evening.