Pittsburgh Game-Watching Bar Has Changed From Shark’s Cove But Retains Pool Tables and Terrible Towels
Steelers fans, worry not, for your Hermosa Beach game-watching bar is still your game-watching bar.
Game Changers, the new sports bar on Hermosa Ave., is open for business and that means Steelers fans are in business. It will be showing Pittsburgh games this fall, and expect good service; even before the bar put up its own sign, it installed a Steelers sign on the building.
For the most part, the place looks the same as its predecessor. It has that long bar and pool tables. Yet at the same time, it’s distinctly different. It’s much more “airy” and open, less dark and much more inviting than Shark’s Cove, which was so dingy it kind of felt like walking into a dungeon (Shark’s Cove remains a great place to watch sports and party at its Manhattan Beach location.)
Game Changers, run by former Sharkeez and Cafe Boogaloo managers, features more than 50 beers on tap, enough to quench the desires of even the thirstiest Steelers fan.
Give the place a bit of time to get into mid-season form, as it’s entering the 2011 football season as the equivalent of a free agent. It may take a game or two in order to get the ball rolling but Steelers fans – and Hermosa Beach barflies – will soon be cheering it.
Game Changers is located at 1220 Hermosa Ave., Hermosa Beach, CA.
Other game-watching bars in Hermosa Beach are:
• Chicago Bears – Silvio’s
• New England Patriots – FFFF (Fat Face Fenner’s)
Related Article:
Hermosa Beach Nightlife
I was at Game Changers Hermosa watching a University o Washington football game, and it took me 100 minutes to get my burger order. (And 40 minutes after the waitress told me it would be just a sec!) I think the overall atmosphere for watching games and drink specials is great (I drove from Burbank), but the kitchen needs some help.
I think Game Changers Sports Bar Caters to Steelers Fans in Hermosa Beach | Bars & Nightlife Blogs: PubClub Bars Blogger is a good blog post and you do a nice job of writing in depth.
Outstanding comments, Steelers Sam. I have passed them along to management! (Gary.) Cheers!
Game Changers – Opening Day
Keepin’ it POSITIVE: Fortunately, Game Changers was already opened for business when we arrived at 9:30 AM so there is no need to fear missing future kickoffs (or my Bloody Mary and omelet).
Speaking more with the staff, they do plan to put a multiple-television setup on the bar wall. This, I understand, would be a 16 panel video matrix capable of being a one big TV broadcast, a 4X4, or individual screens. (The mirrors on the North wall remain somewhat of a mystery to me.)
Jen was a great host to our table and the bartender seemed to keep up with the drink orders pretty well. The Steelers game was broadcasted on the North wall televisions as expected with audio broadcasted over the sound system. It was also good to see Jimmy, a familiar face from the Cove, at the new Game Changer.
We learned that the staff did get word of the Steelers songs (Thanks Jimmy!) and they were on tap. Unfortunately, except for the defense-rallying “Renegade” by Styx, the victory songs didn’t get have a shot to get utilized on this particular Sunday, due to the performance (or rather, lack thereof) of those in black and gold in Baltimore and not because of any fault of the bar. This aspect remains to be seen and will hopefully be put to the full test on the 18th!
Keepin’ it REAL: The audio seemed to leave a bit to be desired. While music may sound better on the new speakers than before, the audio broadcast of the game seemed to be lackluster. Often official calls could not be heard and the volume seemed to need to be pumped up a bit. I found it interesting that the audio switched from the Steelers game to the Eagles-Rams game, for example, during a Steelers-broadcast commercial. I’m not sure if I like that yet, but I found it intriguing that they utilized that technology. So I never *heard* a commercial on Sunday, though I saw many. I’m uncertain if that is good or bad.
Bad was the food service. Let me qualify that: Breakfast, for those at our table or ordered it, appeared to be delicious. Lunch, however, was a different story. We ordered at about 11:10 AM because they would not take our lunch orders sooner. The food arrived around 12:30 PM. In “Hell’s Kitchen” fashion, we were prepared to walk out without food if the game had ended before we got our sandwiches. Of course we’d have paid for our tab up to that point, but it was unsure whether the food would make it out of the kitchen at all that day. None of this was very surprising and we’re definitely willing to give them the benefit of the first day of the season, of course.
Seating was a bit scarce. The new, pristine pool tables lacked covers which meant not only were they in danger of spills and tears (I don’t know if there were any) but it also meant there was a distinct lack of seating area for patrons who wanted to eat and drink (what a concept) while watching the game.
Hopeful for Future IMPROVEMENTS: Week 2, I would expect to have the management bring in a few more workers for the tables and kitchen. There is likely little they can do to speed up the food prep, unless buying more grill area is on the week’s agenda, but they should be better prepared for the ‘lunch rush’ since this (along with the beverages enjoyed) is their bread and butter (pun intended).
I’d like to hear increased volume on the audio. Beverage-wise, they’d do better to publicize or promote drink specials like the Cove had done. The Cove had well drinks at a reduced price until noon and buckets/pitchers of beer were featured regularly. This can be win-win… of course, the management knows this; they certainly aren’t rookies at running a bar. The bar’s “beers on tap” has quite a ways to go to catch up to the previously promoted “50” yard line. This weekend, the count was at third and four, I believe. I also trust that they will find suitable covers to transform (at least some of) the pool tables into restaurant seating.
This Sunday, I plan to return to Game Changers for another round of Steelers football. Like the defending AFC Championship team that I’ll be rooting for, I’m hoping for improved performance and an even better overall experience. If this staff can keep improving on service and, eventually, come through on some of the promises and expectations I keep hearing about, I will be returning again and again.
SteelersSam §§
So how was it on opening day. PubClub.com was in there and all seemed okay, but didn’t arrive until the 4th quarter when the spirit of the opening game was long gone.
The Game Changers Sports Bar may have a Steelers sign out front, but it’s not looking too promising for the gatherings of fans that have had so faithfully appeared every Steelers Sunday back when it was the Shark’s Cove. In the former bar’s dingy, cave-like motif, it was a sports bar. It didn’t try to be anything more or less. Televisions went through several technology transitions but Steelers football could be found on three of the four walls. Steelers banners, photographs, and memorabilia covered the spaces in between.
I’m not saying that the old bar couldn’t use a facelift. Kudos to the new owners for cleaning up the bathrooms (this was a huge need!), brightening up the walls, and making some new purchases. However, only one wall boasts televisions: 18 medium size flat screens. Of note is a confusing array of large, differing sized mirrors in the center of the North wall where some large screen televisions (still patiently sitting in a store, perhaps) really should be taking up the real estate.
Equally confusing are the three large, gift-wrapped picture frames to the East and the six couches on a narrow, raised section where I could choose to stretch out and watch the rest of the bar patrons staring at the televisions… or at me! Bars that sat a dozen were replaced with round tables that could sit (comfortably) three each but not if they are all eating and watching the game. Since the show is only visible in one direction, the choice is between the grub or the game. Perhaps we could all eat at halftime. They did manage to keep the bar stools, even the ones with the split wooden seats held together with a couple of not-quite-sunken Phillips-head screws. Ouch.
So, on this day before the opening game, I feel a bit afraid. Very afraid. What did they do with all of Shark’s Cove’s Steelers stuff? Is it on eBay? Is the new staff (kitchen, bar, and tables) going to be prepared for the onslaught of thirsty and hungry Steelers fans? We are hungry for a Steelers sports bar. (“We don’t need no long drapery hanging from the ceiling.”) Are they going to play the Steelers songs that we’ve come to enjoy at the appropriate places? Did Shark’s sellers brief the new owners on any of this? It appears that possibly the new management is not yet quite clued in to what it takes to produce the kind of experience that the Hermosa Beach Steelers fans have gotten accustomed to over the years. The kind of experience that set this bar apart as a Steelers icon in the South Bay. The kind that attracts multitudes of loyal fans as well as local media attention and live news coverage on Monday nights past.
One final concern is the Sunday morning opening time. Tomorrow is the first game of the season. According to workers this afternoon, the doors will unlock at 10AM. This is not good. Not good for the fans and is not good for the bar tab. I like to be in my seat with a Bloody Mary (and possibly breakfast) for the latter part of the Fox Pregame show. I certainly don’t want to be filing in the door during kickoff! For this weekend, at least, I will eat breakfast at home before I go, just in case. The bar’s loss of down. Perhaps this will be some of what will change during the season.
On a hopeful note, speaking with some of the workers, I understand that they plan to install more televisions, possibly above the bar. As to the motif being a sports bar, it seems to have an identity issue at the moment. The only sports parcels of note appear to be limited to the Steelers sign out front and a Washington Huskies banner inside. However, If you are looking for a local watering hole that displays an old-world globe and a vintage typewriter in its window, this is your place. I am very willing and eager to give the Game Changers a shot (pun intended), but it appears to me that their NFL season may get off to a somewhat rough start with the home crowd.
— Steelers Sam