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Longtime locals provide the best, up-to-date information on bars and nightlife in this South Bay Beach city. Photos, reviews & more.

Manhattan Beach's Best Bars
Reviews, Writeups and Lots of Fun Photos

It's another fun night out in Manhattan Beach!
Photo: Jack Fleming Photograpy.

Longboarders and shortboarders have long known Manhattan Beach to be the center of surfing in the South Bay. Yet it is also the birthplace of beach volleyball and represents the true culture of a Southern California beach city.

Manhattan Beach is place is full of history. The Beach Boys lived here and many actors, actresses and athletes come for its legendary bars. It is, first, foremost and forever, a casual surf community. With a Bevery Hills budget.

The Strand House is a hot location with a great view and design.

The hot spot now is Strand House, an upscale restaurant right at the Pier. How upscale? Beers are $9, $11 for wine and $13 for mixed drinks. Dinner? Delicious, but put it on the expense account. The place is really nice and it's got the buzz at the moment. For those familiar with the area, it's formerly Beaches.

There are lines around the block for the bar on weekends and getting table for dinner can take two hours on Friday or Saturday night. The place is beautiful and elegant – a far cry from what the location was when PubClub.com first moved to town (La Paz!) – and there's no shorts or hats after 9 p.m. The lone complaint is that the bar area is very loud.

Manhattan has two bar areas, downtown and the north end (also referred to as El Porto in recognition of its colorful past). Downtown used to the THE party spot in all of California, but when neighboring Hermosa opened up Pier Ave., the heavy party crowd headed to HB.

Manhattan may be a bit more mellow than its sister to the south but the crowd is local and kicked-back.

And people here can definitely party, especially after one of the major downtown events (Manhattan Open AVP, the Surfest and Christmas fireworks).

And it doesn't all happen after the sun goes down.Click here for the Best Happy Hour Bars in the South Bay.

Downtown Nightlife [MAP]

Shark's Cove turns from sports bar to a lively bar with bands.

An intoxicating mix of bars greets Pubclubbers in downtown Manhattan Beach. From seaside dives to restaurant/bars and upscale lounges, this four-block area looking down on the Manhattan Beach Pier is dynamically diverse. It's a friendly place, laid-back and slam 'em back, as comfortable as the crowd primarily in shorts, sandals and tees would indicate.

The casual beach bar is Shellback Tavern.

Where are all those passersby heading to on Manhattan Beach Blvd? To Shellback Tavern, of course! The first bar off the beach, Shellback is a rustic dive that is much a part of the landscape and culture of downtown at the beach. It's where tired and thirsty volleyball players go on Saturday and Sunday afternoons, joined by equally thirsty rollerbladers and bike riders.

They enjoy thermostat-controlled chilled beer (oh so nice after a day on the volleyball courts) and "beach pours" on cocktails. After the sun sets over the Pacific, this classic pub with the best jukebox in town can become an all-night party. Lately, it's been the roaring 20s on weekends; that is, people in their 20s are packing the place.

With its motto of "No Bad Days," Shellback can help start those days with the Best Bloody Marys on the Beach, ideal with its awecome omlettes.

It also has the South Bay's Best Fish Taco, the incredibly awesome (is that a good enough description!?) San Felipe fish taco. $2.75. And worth every. Delicious. Bite.

Locals often become human pinballs between "the Shell" and the other bars near the Pier. Right across the street, in fact, is Beaches. Well, it was until the long-time owners sold it and now the building s undergoing a renovation to be a restaurant/bar with dancing on the downstairs level, main dining on the second level and an oyster bar on the top ocean-view level. It should open sometime this Spring.

The small patio has made Simmzy's a very popular restaurant/bar.

One doesn't have to love beer to love Simmzy's. But it helps. A beer and wine bar, it has 24 beers on tap priced at $6-7, an adequate menu of burgers, salads and sandwiches (plus breakfast until 2:30 on weekends). Yet its best attributes are its "come in and just have fun" attitude and patio overlooking Manhattan Beach Blvd. With only about a dozen tables, the place is small but the intimate atmosphere invites friendly bantering between other patrons and the open doors give the place an indoor-outdoor feel even at the bar. It's fun for lunch, dinner or drinks and because of all this it's wildly popular.

The PubClubette" is beautiful and tasty, the Best Mixed Drink in town.

The best drink in town is The PubClubette at the small bar of the nice Italian restaurant, Mangiamo. Mixed to expertise by bartender Wayne, it's a tribute to PubClub.com's PubClubettes, it's a potent and unique martini, the Best Mixed Drink in Manhattan. Mangiamo is a small, quiet bar popular among some locals who call it home. It's sometimes called the "fish bowl," because of its big window that looks out over Manhattan Beach Blvd. It's a positive attribute; this is a good place and a PubClub favorite drinking spot.

It's a happy crowd that goes out to the Manhattan Beach bars.

Rock 'N Fish is a terrific seafood restaurant with a bar that is often as popular as the food. After about 10, the diners give way to drinkers and this has become one of the beach's best "upscale" hangouts (keep in mind, it's the beach). The part-owner is also involved with the Brewco (formerly Manhattan beach Brewing) next door as well as Shade and Mucho's (keep reading). Brewco's open-air windows are giving the place a patio feel and it's bringing in diners and casual drinkers.

Part of the classy crowd in the Shade Hotel's Zinc Lounge.

Some say when you live in Manhattan, you have it made in the shade. Perhaps they are just hangin' out in the lobby bar of the upscale hotel Shade. The bar, called the Zinc Lounge, brings in the nicely-dressed crowd, and not always from the South Bay. If there's a celebrity hangout in the South Bay, this is the place. The space is well designed, comfortable and offers couches for seating and places for leaning. Drinks are pricey ($7 for beers, up to $14 for some martinis) so the clientele is often more mature than anywhere else in the predominately mid-20s beach cities bars. In fact, there's more cougars prowling in Shade than in the Santa Monica mountains. But there's also younger cats in this fun crowd, too.

Shade, which by archaic Manhattan Beach liquor laws for new bars must give last call by 11, is in a newly developed section of downtown Manhattan. The area includes an upscale Greek restaurant, a bakery, deli and the kinds of eclectic shops that make one wonder how the heck they stay in business (though $500 tables and chairs at the furniture store could explain a lot). What it does is create a ripple-down effect to give neighboring bars a lively life after-11 life.

Shark's Cove has become a thriving bar for the young and fun.

One prime example is Shark's Cove. Shark's Cove is a combination of pub and nightlife in a single setting. A sports bar by light of day, it puts a small band in on weekends, has plasma TVs everywhere – even at some of the booths – and behind the bar is a really cool blue light panel that, at first glance from a distance, appears to be an aquarium. This gives the place a club-type feel but it's still casual and comfortable and later at night it cranks with live music and a very fun crowd. There's 18 beers on tap, too.

For a real club-type feel, Twelve+Highland (behind Shark's Cove on 12th Street) is pumping with a young, lively crowd. It's not really a club, but has the look and feel (there's usually a cover of $5-10) and potential patrons are advised to arrive on weekends by 10:30.

Still, many of those from Shade prefer to make the 5-minute walk down to Manhattan Ave., to local landmark Ercoles. Our vote as L.A.'s Best Dive Bar, Erc's serves cheap drinks, has a classic jukebox, wooden booths and a pool table. This cozy atmosphere picks up at midnight and goes to closing at 1:30. Both here and at the Shell, the crowd is comprised fun people who like to drink, mingle and meet in a shorts and sandals casual climate (Erc's is now mainly a 30s crowd). The hamburgers, so juicy it takes a stack of napkins to stay clean, are unarguably the Best in the World.

Manhattan madness: Just another night out in this fun beach town.

The Erc's crowd may have also started the night at Mucho's, an upsacle Mexican restaurant and bar with a great-looking crowd. The excellent design provides room at the bar without bumping into diners and the eye candy is as intoxicating as the margaritas mixed by the likes of the gregarious Gregor.

The cool and hip Side Door is a small yet energetic lounge/club.

It's only about the size of your living room, but The Side Door is as popular as your best wine party. The crowd and atmosphere is upscale but it pulls it off without pretension. This small place has a DJ playing really cool "almost club" tunes, meaning its a bit Euro but not the thump-thump-thump of a big nightclub. It's best to get there before 10:30 to avoid the inevitable line. Lucky girls who arrive early get a seat on the cozy blue couch.

El Porto [MAP]

The new Sharkeez, located at Upper Manhattan's former bar..

Once a town of it's own identity, the north end of Manhattan Beach is known to locals as El Porto. It runs from just south of Rosecrans to 45th Street.

The focal point is Sharkeez. The parent of the Hermosa establishment, this is the original location (others are in Newport Beach, Huntington Beach and Santa Barbara). It features a tropical decor, potent drinks and the same festive atmosphere as its siblings. The crowd is mostly locals who walk in and stagger home.

There's always a party at Sharkeez Manhattan Beach.
PHoto: Jack Fleming Photography

A mecca for the sunburned and thirsty, Sharkeez is MB's crazy cantina.

There's almost always something going on at Sharkeez – a sporting event, birthday party, work celebration or bachelor or bachlorette bash. Happy Hours featuring 2-for-1s until 6:30 and until 8 on Thursdays, are a post-work highlight.

Groups gather to have fun at Sharkeez in Manhattan Beach.

Tuesdays feature Taco Tuesday and when the sorority girls from Loyola Maramount come in for their regular socials– which is nearly every Thursday – it's like walking into a beer commercial.

The new location is already rocking and it's easy to envision it quickly becoming The Black Hole of Manhattan. Plus now, there are bands on Sunday afternoons, with drink specials until 10 at night.

OB's is a pub for local dwellers who like the 50 bottled and 10 draft beer selections. On Tuesdays, it's SRO for the South Bay's Best Taco Tuesday. Be patient and grab a drink while waiting for a table to clear; it's worth the wait. The tacos – chicken, fish and marinated beef – are huge; two is plenty even for big appetites (scarf down 10 and earn your name on a plaque). This is complemented by $1 domestic drafts and margarita specials.

The amazing Amanda sometimes sings weekends at OBs.

On other nights, OB's huge bottled beer selection is a draw, as is the varied menu. Wednesday is stirfry night and it's an awesome meal and Thursdays' "Burger and beer" night is also popular. The BBQ sandwich is so good one might think they are in Texas (except the hot waitresses are not in cowboy hats and just about everyone is wearing sandals). This is a pub-type place, great for watching sports and hangin' loose, like the surfboard logo indicates.

The dynamic Little Jimmy (top) and Todd Sucherman of Styx. Yes, at Pancho's.

No lines, no cover but a crowded bar can be found across the streets at Pancho's. A Mexican restaurant with an upstairs cantina, it has had hot live music on weekends with young, hip crowd. Lately, Pancho's has become a rock n' roll All-Start show with bands featuring, among others, the guitar player from Tom Petty, the drummer from Styx, a bass player from Kenny Loggins, you name it. Even Jay Spell of Jimmy Buffett's Coral Reefer Band (with Michael Utley in the audience). Sometimes, they just blow the roof off the place. Day of Daze is the regular band with rock covers and Little Jimmy is a local legend.

The bar is small and it's often shoulder-to-shoulder but for up-close live rock it's an "in" place to party. After Taco Tuesday at OB's, many people then go to Pancho's for karaoke, their inhibitions largely removed by those OB's drink specials.

FishBar is yes, a seafood restaurant. But the place in the original Sharkeez location is also a bar, and it's been cranking on Fridays for its Happy Hour with half-priced drinks (5-7 p.m.). Plus weekend nights are good and Sundays the Happy Hour kicks in again after 9 p.m.

Okay, it's a dive – but a friendly dive – and it's open later than any other bar in Manhattan. This makes Summer's, located at the neon sign behind the parking structure, the late-night call of the North End.

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RELATED CONTENT

• Hermosa Beach/Redondo Beach Bars & Restaurants

• AVP Manhattan Open

• Bikinis and Martinis – MB Surf Festival

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