Verdugo Bar

PlinyTheKid

California

5/5  rDev +15.2%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 5 | food: 5 | $$

Ok, this is a bold statement, but this is my favorite bar of all time. Honestly, for almost 4 years, I have been a devout patron here, and the staff really acknowledges anyone who goes there regularly. If you're new, they'll be super chill and offer you tastes of beers you're curious about on tap. You get some ridiculous taps on over here (I had PtY here for 3 consecutive years), and any rarity. Ryan Sweeney really brought a great place to LA, where all your beer dreams can really come true.

The staff is awesome (I can't say it enough). Sometimes they would crack open a beer from their refrigerator to taste with all the patrons if they hadn't tried it before.

The place always has food trucks outside (Grill 'Em All, and many others).

The patio is the selling point. It's the coolest vibe outside. The ideal time to go is on Thursdays. Good crowd and not too packed.

Oh, and you can buy bottles to go! At a reasonable price!

Great music, great crowd, great staff, and a great time!

08-04-2011 22:37:55 | More by PlinyTheKid

HopHeadLouie

California

4.88/5  rDev +12.4%
vibe: 4 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 5 | $$

I stumbled upon this undiscovered gem on the beer advocate calendar. I saw a listing for a Stone Tasting at the Verdugo Bar and even though I live in the area, right down the street, my reaction was "Verdugo Bar??? What the hell is the Verdugo Bar? I have never heard of the Verdugo Bar" As a mid level local beer snob, I thought I was completely dialed into the beer scene in my area. After doing a little research, I figured this was one of those new places that keep popping up with all the standard fare, a little Stone, a little Bear Republic maybe a few decent Belgians on the bottle list. Like most self professed beer snobs my ego was bigger than my knowledge! Not only was the Verdugo not typical, I would say that it is on par with the Father's Office or Naja's without the crowds.

They had no less than 4 stone taps, including Imperial Russian Stout among the numerous other outstanding brews on tap, I got a little lost and did not take notice of all that was on tap, because they were serving a Cask of Stone Smoked Porter with Vanilla Bean...OUTSTANDING!!! It was brought down for the Stone Tasting but will be left until sold out. As impressed as I was with the Cask offering I was pretty much blown away by their bottle list which actually included Russian River Supplication for $20. And check this out, they actually had it in stock! Even if you were lucky enough to get it from Russian River when it was released it was 15 bucks plus shipping. I mentioned to one of the co owners, that he could be charging a lot more for such a rare beer and his response was that he would rather sell it for an honest price, in limited quantity to people who actually appreciate it. Wow! That's pretty fricken cool! So I took one bottle to go and left the rest for others that may also appreciate a great beer at a good price. I also grabbed a bottle of Port Brewing 2nd Anniversary for 16 bucks.

A little bit of the particulars. From the outside, you would not even know this was a bar if not for a small sign that reads "Cocktails". It's one of those places that you would figure must be a real dive from the outside but than looks really cool on the inside. Very dark lounge atmosphere, nice bar, well appointed, cool out door patio in the back with a beer pong table. Most of the beers on tap were in the 5 to 7 dollar neighborhood. Bottles were varied but reasonable for the most part. It has a slightly more upscale vibe than your average beer joint and I think they have DJ music there on some nights, which might scare me off, if the selection were not so outstanding.

In the end what really seems to make this place is that it is run by people who not only know beer, but care about the overall customer experience they are providing, a rare thing these days.

05-20-2008 17:46:06 | More by HopHeadLouie

RexF

California

4.86/5  rDev +12%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 4.5 | $$$

Can I say thanks to Verdugo bar for having great beer, great music and some smoking hot babes behind the bar?
How could anyone not love that combination.
We live in LA afterall, we should have great looking ladies tending every bar. Okay enough about the girls.
The beer menu is nicely crafted with a great variety of imports and domestic crafts.
Lounge style indoor seating and a cool back patio make for a great variety of seating options. They don't have a kitchen but they often have food trucks out front which is good because there isn't muck to eat in Glassell Park at night.
If I have to knit pick something it's that there aren't that many beer options and the prices aren't that great especially considering the neighborhood.
PS. I finally got to try a Just Outstanding IPA and what can I say, it was just outstanding!

12-19-2011 05:39:00 | More by RexF

jsmurphy

California

4.8/5  rDev +10.6%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 4.5 | $$

Finally made it to Verdugo last night. I'd heard about the nondescript exterior, so was not surprised when I pulled up about 8:10pm to the funky looking building. I was surprised to get a parking space right in front of the place, though.
Walked in and there were 2-3 guys at the bar, distributors from Green Flash I was later told.
Started out with the Craftsman Brown mild on cask. Service was excellent, and "Predator" was playing on the flat screens behind the bar. I always get a kick out of the Governator screaming, "hurry,,, get to da choppa" !
Met Ryan, one of the owners. He was a gracious host and very knowledgeable about beer. Also met HopHeadLouie. Had a great time talking beer, and drinking beer with them. Had the Port 2nd Anniv.(tap), a Unibroue Blonde (bottle-can't recall the name), Ne Goien,(bottle) and finished off with the excellent Ommegang Rouge (tap).
This is a comfortable, friendly bar with a great selection, great service and an owner who loves quality beer as much as I do. You can't beat that combination.

08-22-2008 18:36:02 | More by jsmurphy

MiScusi

California

4.8/5  rDev +10.6%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 5 | $$

A- The ambience of this place on a Tuesday night was real nice for my tastes. Very laid back, some music playing the background, people sitting around but nothing crazy going on. Ability to have conversation here was very good.

Qual- beers came served nice and cold (how I like it) and the Pliny I had was by far the freshest I've had outside of the Russian River brewpub.

Serv- The bar wasn't the busiest it's probably ever been but the bartender was really on top of things. She wouldn't let your glass run dry without asking what would be next, and drinks would come fast.

Selection- The taps here are a collection of pretty hard to find on tap beers. Selection rotates often. A lot of good beers can be found in bottles too, even some special release type beers.

They serve beers in what looks like 3 different type of glasses - goblet, tulip, or pint. Glasses

Great place overall, would be back a lot more if I lived closer.

01-29-2009 20:50:51 | More by MiScusi

dealovebeer

California

4.8/5  rDev +10.6%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 5 | $$

Since I would consider myself a regular here, it's time I give it a review. If I'm biased, so what...who isn't?

I remember the first time I came here and thought I found a gem. I still think that.

I'm never disappointed by the amount/selection of amazing beers they have on tap. Everyone has their preference of beer style and there's always something to please everyone.

There is almost every walk of life coming in here from the recently legal 21 year olds, to the grandpa status elderly and they all join together for something they can all share a likeness for.

I'd say about 80% of the bartenders are awesome and very knowledgeable. But you get the recent addition to the team who has a few things to learn, but otherwise you can go in and ask for a style you like and more often than not you'll get something worthy of your taste buds.

Give it a try. Check out the back patio that was recently made bigger. And don't forget to get a "danger dog" on the way out on a weekend night.

09-17-2009 19:09:06 | More by dealovebeer

getkrunkhoe

California

4.74/5  rDev +9.2%
vibe: 4 | quality: 5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 5 | $$

WOW! Verdugo is a great place for a pint or two of your favorites, or your new favorites. Prices are reasonable for the draft beer.

Great lineup of DRAFT beers unique bottle selection, they offer Beer-to-go which I think is a major plus. A bit pricey for some of the BTG bottles, but everything else makes you not mind too much.

Service there is great, crowd there is kind of mixed, they always have some kind of entertainment. A bit hard to find but when you do well; worth the "search".

10-24-2008 08:54:27 | More by getkrunkhoe

charlzm

California

4.7/5  rDev +8.3%
vibe: 5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 5 | selection: 4.5 | $$$

UPDATED: 12/22/08

I visited Verdugo again on Friday, 12/19/08. The tap selection was awesome, the crowd was full of beer-lovers (a change form my visit 5 months ago) and there was a generally happy vibe that was contagious. Ryan, the owner, was happy to talk with my party for a long time and ply us with beer. There were approachable ladies and upstanding guys and... the place is just great! My Stone work shirt started several conversations! You have to love that.

If only they had a kitchen, opened earlier and were located somewhere that didn't take me an hour to get to, this would be my home away from home!
___

Visited on Saturday, 07/05/08 at 9:00pm.

The neighborhood is a bit dodgy and it is virtually impossible to find anyplace to eat nearby after dark, but don't let that keep you away. The late opening time is a factor, though; 8:00pm is a bit late to be opening a bar. I understand that they're trying to start slowly and build up a clientele, but, as I'm an afternoon/early evening beer geek, it's tough for me to find time to get here.

Anyway, there's plenty of parking on the street or the lot adjacent to this virtually unmarked building.

Get inside and the story changes. Gorgeous wood bar and walls, inviting booths, a cool back lounge with hidden lighting behind couches, amusing framed artwork on the clean bathroom walls: the physical space is great.

There are flat screens behind the bar, but instead of the usual ESPN, these were showing "Dr. Strangelove" and an obscure Phillipino explotiation film called "For Y'ur Height Only". Excellent!

Over 20 taps of well-chosen brews make the beer lover happy; my only complaint is that the beer is served just a hair too cold. Not a big deal, though, as you can just let it warm up on the bar.

The service was really great, especially from Mindy.

The atmosphere was fine until the DJ started to crank the volume level up and begin playing stuff that may have been okay to most people but kinda bugged me.

By 10:15pm, there were several groups who had come in and tried to order Coronas and Bud Lights and so on, indicating to me that the early crowd is more beer oriented. In a way, this is like Father's Office in Santa Monica; while there's excellent beer to be had, many of the patrons are there for other reasons.

So, Verdugo Bar is certainly worth more than a visit, but it's not the great salvation of the LA beer scene that some of us were hoping it was intended to be. However, this was not designed to be a Toronado or a Liar's Club, so rating it as such would not be fair to the proprietors.

07-07-2008 05:12:51 | More by charlzm

DoubleJ

California

4.7/5  rDev +8.3%
vibe: 5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 5 | selection: 4.5 | $$$

You wouldn't suspect it from the street or neighborhood, but this is one kick-ass bar! There's no signage outside the building besides a "cocktails" one, so keep track of what block you're on and you'll get there. So what would encourage me to travel 45 miles to get to this place? Well, last night there was a BA Gathering I was a part of, where two dozen of us drank exotic beer we brought to share with everyone. I got to chat with BA's vacax, route66pubs, HopHeadLouie, IPAfiend, whiteknucklegirl, chefscott79, Mauerhan, and OlieIPA, as well as Jeremy Raub, the owner of the Eagle Rock Brewery, and of course Ryan (verdugobar), the owner of this fine establishment. Sorry if I'm missing anyone from that night. But after the gathering, I stuck around for a few hours at the bar.

Verdugo offers an exceptional atmosphere...the lights are dim, the black leather seating around the establishment is comfortable and inviting, everyone is up for a chat, and the bathrooms are spotless...just beware the bathroom only occupies one person and has no lock!

About two dozen taps are scattered at the bar, with a fridge of 80 bottles on the far right. Several types of glassware are used to match an appropriate style, and the few beers I sampled from here were tasting fresh. On-tap they had Ommegang Rouge, Double Dead Guy, Delirium, Aventinus, Saison Dupont, Islander IPA, Stone Belgian IPA, Barrel Aged Messiah Bold, Moylan's Dragoons Irish Stout, Belhaven, Hacker Pschorr Weiss, Allagash, and more. In the bottle they had Three Philospher's, Ne Goeien, Serpeants Stout, Stone Smoked Porter, and others. I settled on a Barrel Aged Messiah Bold from draft, and sampled Ne Goeien and Foret from other customers' bottles.

The staff is easy to talk to and will serve you well. In particular, I have to shout out to Ryan (the owner) for his willingness to hold a great BA Gathering, and for offering his hosptality to all of us.

Having a great crowd (including non-BA locals I spoke with during my stay), great surroundings, a great beer selection, and a great staff screams a revisit. This is certainly worthy of multiple visits from any beer lover, including me. I could have stayed all night and be merry, but I had work the next morning. Fortunately, it appears Ryan will be holding more BA Gatherings here in the future, so keep an eye on the calendar. Awesome!

10-06-2008 03:24:34 | More by DoubleJ

Mauerhan

California

4.66/5  rDev +7.4%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | $$

i was lucky enough to make a trip up to verdugo with about 29 or so of my fellow BAs. a nice little trek up past dodger stadium led me to this little gem, sure i drove past it a few times trying to figure out where the hell it was but the trips around the block were worth it. i was a little weary about leaving my car around the corner but got over it quickly. i walk into the building simply marked "cocktails" atmosphere was great. awesome lay out. greeted with a warm hello from ryan the owner. (who is a fuckin saint) tons of beer on tap. and a very impressive bottle list. i was able to walk with a bottle of fred from the wood. FROM THE WOOD!!! :) all in all i had a great time at verdugo and will be making at least a monthly trip up there if not more. well played ryan keep up the good work

10-07-2008 18:27:57 | More by Mauerhan