From Hermosa’s lively party bars to Manhattan Beach’s sophisticated yet still beach-casual taverns, here’s where to go out in the South Bay according a long-time local.
By Kevin Wilkerson, Hermosa & Manhattan Beach Blogger
You pretty much have to be a local to recognize the difference in Hermosa Beach and Manhattan Beach, two seaside communities in Los Angeles just south of LAX.
They pretty much look identical with very wide beaches, houses and not high-rise hotels facing the water, beach volleyball being played on seemingly endless courts and people riding bicycles down a two-lane concrete path called The Strand. Only those with a keen eye will notice that in Manhattan Beach, the street signs are blue with white letters while in Hermosa they are brown with yellow letters.
But there are subtle other differences. One is when it comes to nightlife. This article provides a simple guide to the best bars in each city so you don’t have to spend time wandering up and down Pier Plaza or Manhattan Beach Blvd., trying to figure out where to find the party. Instead, you can go straight thre and be right in the middle of it.
One thing to keep in mind: if you’re 25-35 and looking to party, head to Hermosa. If you’re 45+ and want a lively beach bar scene without feeling like you’re at a college reunion, Manhattan Beach may be more your style.
Hermosa Beach: Where The South Bay Goes To Party
A really simple guide to the bars and nightlife in Hermosa Beach would be to go to Baja Sharkeez on Pier Plaza and stay there until something happens. It does on most nights. Locals call it “the black hole” because many a times they have gone in on a late afternoon after being on the beach only to stay until last call. As one local put it,”when you get dressed to go to the beach at 1 o’clock in the afternoon you had better be careful what you have on because you may be still wearing it at 1 o’clock in the morning.” That’s very good advice!
For a little more of a refined experience (and crowd) there’s a beach bungalow type of bar called Tower 12. Spoiler alert: it’s owned by Sharkeez.
I also recommend Patrick Molloy’s and American Junkie for a good party scene. Bands are always playing at Lighthouse Cafe (cover charge varies and usually only during the evening); this was not only featured in LaLa Land but was considered one of top places for jazz music on the West Coast all the way into the 1he 980s. A friend heard Huey Lewis & The News there just before the release of it’s landmark Sports album. You’ll see Hennnessy’s Tavern but I don’t necessarily recommend it because it’s generally a more sit-down spot rather than a party bar.
Around the corner on The Strand, to the north is The Deck, which is a cleaned-up version of the locally-legendary Poop Deck, and to the south Surfer Girl at the Sea Sprite Motel; er, pardon me, the Sea Sprite Beach Club as it’s now called. The latter is a great daytime bar and about the only place you can sit outside and watch beach volleyball and the always-changing scene on The Strand.
Lately, Hermosa has become somewhat upscale in terms of restaurateurs and “dining concepts” and while that’s fine, it’s not something that will be covered here. Many of those places are along Hermosa Ave., tho there’s also a cuple of casual bars on that street. One is Barnacles (at 8th St), a basic bar with pretty good food and hardly ever a line, unlike places on Pier Plaza. This place is totally locals, tho all are welcome.
The other spots to check out are Underground Pub and Fox and Farrow. They are actually connected to each other with the former in the back and the latter in the front. Underground Pub is just that, a pub once owned by English soccer star George Best. It has pool tables and dart boards. Fox and Farrow is an intimate very nice restaurant that comes alive during Philadelphia Eagles games. Plus, everyone in the Beach Cities really likes the amicable twin brothers who own it, Kirk and Kiren.
About half a mile north, at an odd intersection locals call Five Points, is a casual round bar with sensational gourmet-quality food called Critter’s.
Manhattan Beach: The South Bay’s ‘Beverly Beach’
There are some locals who have a nickhame for MB: “Beverly Beach.” That’s because some of its high-end restaurants reminds them of Beverly Hills, so Beverly Hills at the beach.
That’s true in a sense but one step inside Shellback Tavern might make the stranger question that moniker. A long-standing Manhattan Beach icon, Shellback is an off-the-beach bar where you will find people in bathing suits, flip flops and often carrying bags of volleyballs. After all, the sport of beach volleyball was created in this town and the annual Manhattan AVP tournament is known as “the Wimbledon of Beach Volleyball.” That’s all lived out at “the Shell.”
Shellback is at the bottom of Manhattan Beach Blvd., and across the street is a high-end bar and restaurant called Strand House. And here’s the thing about this part of the world: the upscale diners don’t mind mixing it up with beach-clad locals. And sometimes the downstairs rocks, quite literally, when long-time party band Joe’s Band (led by a former roommate of mind) plays, which is once or twice a month on Friday nights.
Up on Manhattan Ave., at 11th Street, is the oldest bar in Manhattan Beach, Ercoles. Dating back to the 1920s, “Erc’s” as locals call it is a dive bar that gets a good singles crowd starting about 11 at night. At other times, it is home of what I call the world’s best burger and I’m sticking with that claim until proven otherwise (watch the video below).
A couple blocks down and across the street (at 8th), there’s a tiny bar which I like called Sandbar 66. It’s really a cool little lounge with fantastic drinks and is about this size of an apartment’s living room. It gets a very cool crowd.
There’s couple more bars you should check out, tho they are not downtown. They are at Rosecrans & Highland in what the city calls North Manhattan Beach but most locals refer to as El Porto (this is because it was once an incorporated area by that name). The must-go-to place there is Pancho’s, not for its restaurant but for its tiny cantina. In that cantina are some of the best live bands you can hear outside of the Sunset Strip. Day of Daze is comprised of band members who have played with rock legends: Jim Wheeler on sax has toured with Kenny Loggins and other members have toured with Fleetwood Mac, Stix and even Alice Copper. You never know who will show up because some band members might be on tour.
A good place to start an El Porto evening is at Fishbar (in what was the original Sharkeez location) and maybe check out the relocated Aloha Sharkeez. For Taco Tuesday, all of El Porto makes it into the small and casual OB’s Pub & Grill (but danged, no more peanut shells on the floor!) across from Pancho’s. Will you dare and try and join the 10 Tacos Club?? OB’s also has a sensational stirfry with a dollar off on Wednesdays. I also like it as a good breakfast place.
What are your favorite bars in Hermosa and Manhattan Beach? Leave us a comment
Related Content:
• The All-Time 10 Best South Bay Bars
• The All-Time Top 10 Best South Bay Bands
Kevin Wilkerson is the founder of PubClub.com, an award-winning journalist and former Hermosa and Manhattan Beach resident who spent years covering its nightlife scene. He has covered destinations, events and entertainment for more than two decades and received an Associated Press award for investigative journalism while working as a newspaper reporter.
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