Mutt Lynch’s, one of Newport Beach, CA’s classic dive bars, is back open after a four-month remodel.
“Still a party and you’re invited,” reads the message on the old-fashioned marquee.
It is one of the trio of traditional and – among locals, legendary – dive bars along the walk and bike path adjacent to the beach. The other two are the Beach Ball and Blackie’s By The Sea.
Mutt Lunch’s is a 47-year-old bar situated in a 100-year-old building on a corner with a full view of the beach, ocean and Newport Beach Pier. It now had additional beachfront bar seating, garage door-style roll-up windows, renovated booths (sorely needed), pop art wall tiling, and the addition of a communal booth underneath a “Schoon-delier,” a custom chandelier made of the 32=oz goblet that has become synonymous with the bar.
This family-owned business kept things within its own family to make the upgrades. The design was led by Meghan Murray, daughter of Mutt’s founders Gail and Dan Lynch and she hired former dishwasher Jamie Flores, who is now a local contractor, to implement the changes.
One thing that has not changed is the fact is still serves schooners of beer.
The original Mutt Lynch’s opened in 1976 near the ferry dock on the Balboa Peninsula next to the Fun Zone arcade. It was named after founder Dan’s father, Emmett Lynch, who was affectionately given the nickname “Mutt” when he served in the Army during World War 1.
In 1982, a fire originating in the hotel above the bar destroyed it but the resourceful owners picked up the pieces and moved to the bar’s current location. Somehow, the wooden bar survived the fire and is a focal point of this often-bustling beach bar today.
Mutt Lynch’s is located on the Newport Beach Boardwalk at 2300 W. Oceanfront. It is open from 8 a.m., – and no, that’s not a typo – until 10 p.m., 365 days a year. Its website is https://www.muttlynchs.com.
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