The Circle Bar Is Back! Legendary Santa Monica Watering Hole Reopens On Main Street

By Kevin Wilkeson, PubClub.com’s LA Nightlife Blogger

The Circle Bar is back! This legendary Santa Monica watering hole on Main Street is open again. The once super-popular bar had closed but come Friday May 22 it will again be part of the LA nightlife scene.

A dimly-lit casual watering hole with a circular bar – thus its name – Circle Bar is under new managament and while those words can often make purists cringe, that’s not the case here. Its owners know the area and the people. They are Mark and Addie Van Gessel who also own Tavern on Main in Santa Monica and Hinano Cafe in Venice Beach. Every local barfly in the area knows those two places well.

“We’re not looking to change what people loved about Circle Bar,” Addie Van Gessel said. “We’re focused on bringing it back in a way that feels authentic – an unpretentious, music-driven space where the focus is on the dance floor, not the guest list.”

The Circle Bar will stay true to its roots, maintaining the same floor plan it has had since 1949 with enhancements to sound, lighting and an elevated DJ booth the owners call “The Halo.” The music program will feature rotating local and regional DJs, along with occasional special guest appearances. There’s also a massive 100+ inch screen with an 8K laser projector for visual programming. The circular bar is new and the floor is shiny, so those areas have been enhanced and that’s a good thing.

Drinks – and of course the crowd – are what really make a bar great and Circle Bar will have the Pacific Cooler made with tequila or mezcal, yuzu, and pamplemousse; the Roadhouse Mule featuring vodka or rum, cacao, lime, and ginger beer; and the Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, a vibrant mix of gin, Aperol, St. Germain, mango, and lemon. Happy Hour – called “Power Hour” – is daily from 6-7 with $5 bubbles and wine, along with discounted margaritas, Old Fashioneds, and Aperol Spritzes.

“Circle Bar isn’t just a bar,” said Mark Van Gessel. “It’s part of Santa Monica’s cultural DNA. Everyone has a Circle Bar story. We want to honor what made it special while bringing fresh life into the space, keeping the focus on great music and drinks, and a fun atmosphere so a new generation can create their own Circle Bar stories.”

I know Circle Bar from when I worked at TBWA/Chiat/Day, which at the time was in the “binocular building” down the street. On Fridays after work, a parade of us employees would go to either Circle Bar or “the ballerina bar” (alas, now a drug store) to socialize and start the weekend. It was dark and old-fashioned; I recall the edge of the bar was padded like those classic dives I would see in those classic 70’s detective shows.  I liked Circle Bar so much I would circle back there on other nights, even though I lived in party-rich Manhattan Beach at the time.

It was established in 1949 and was known as a casual hangout bar that, I must say, also had a fair number of nice-looking girls, which also was a big part of its appeal for guys. That, in turn, brought in the girls. The circular bar was ideal for scoping out other singles and nobody cared if the occasional celebrity was in there. Through the years Jim Morrison, Truman Capote, Sean Penn, Anthony Kiedis, Sean Penn, Robert Downey Jr., and cast members of hit shows like Mad Men drank at Circle Bar. And me too!

And then, something happened that to me ruined the place. It went upscale. There were velvet ropes and a beefy bouncer outside. That’s stuff for the Hollywood scene, not casual Main Street in Santa Monica, so I quit going there. Plus, I left Chiat/Day so there went those post-work Friday evenings.

So I’m thrilled Circle Bar is back and even happier that local owners are running it. It’s a good re-addition to the Santa Monica bar scene.

Kevin Wilkerson is an AP award-winning journalist who writes about Santa Monica – and other worldwide locations – for PubClub.com and other publications.