Crawling Through The Redondo Beach and Hermosa Beach Bars
The opening of the new Rock & Brews rock and beer (mostly) bar in Redondo Beach, CA, provided the perfect launching pad for a day of bar-hopping in the South Bay Beach Cities.
I had arrived to Rock & Brews from Manhattan Beach and what followed was a full day of fun.
It also included a margarita at a Mexican restaurant I had been curious about but never been to previously, beers sitting on a picnic table overlooking the boats in King Harbor, wine at the most romantic bar in the South Bay (I was with a dude friend so this wasn’t a romantic occasion) and a final stop for a beer at our best neighborhood bar. And no, I wasn’t driving.
It won’t be the last time I make this trip and it’s unlikely I’ll be the only one to do it, too, because Rock & Brews gives us in the South Bay a reason to go an area that we previously rarely considered, and that is Riviera Village.
Rock & Brews is cozy, just the kind of place the area needs to attract people like me, young and fun and mostly single.
I went there on its opening media day, snapped a few photos of Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley of KISS who are involved in all Rock & Brews restaurants, rocked out to the rock music and watched videos – the screens are so huge over the bar you can see them all the way from the front patio – and had a tasty lunch of pizza and pulled pork BBQ with a couple Stella Artois beers on one of the outside tables.
After Rock & Brews, I went in search of a Mexican restaurant in the Village that I had seen for years but never been to for some reason. Well, one reason is that there had been little incentive for a single guy to squander time in Riviera Village when Hermosa Beach and Manhattan Beach are there for the taking. Rock & Brews will likely change this for not just for me, but for people throughout the entire South Bay.
I wasn’t even sure where the restaurant was located or even its name, but eventually I wound up on I Street and found Casa Puildo. Turns out they pour fresh margaritas – no mix; I hate margaritas with those awful pre-made mixes – for 7 bucks. That’s for a double, too, and it’s the regular price. Go for lunch and they are 5 bucks (Tues-Fri., 11 a.m.-2 p.m.).
Satisfied that I had found a good margarita at a good price at a good place to enjoy them, I rolled down the Esplanade to meet a friend in King Harbor. He pulled a couple of beers from his fridge and we went to a bit of locals’ secret spot (that will remain a locals’ secret here, at least for the time being) by the docks.
When those beers were gone, we walked a short distance to Baleen Kitchen in King Harbor, which this blog’s parent site accurately describes as South Bay’s Most Romantic Bar. It was Happy Hour and we took a table by the fireplace and got a couple glasses of house chardonnay for $5 each.
My friend lives just up the street but I still had to go about four miles to Manhattan Beach. So I made one final stop at the North End on the Hermosa/Manhattan border.
The LA Kings were playing in the NHL Playoffs and this is THE bar of Kings in Los Angeles. In fact, half the team is in there when they are not on the ice. It’s a cool, laid-back casual bar and the place exploded when the team won the game.
Yes, it was a great day of bar hopping in the South Bay.
And it was sparked by Rock & Brews, a place that makes for a great starting point for such an adventure. Or, for those who live in Redondo, a great finishing place.
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