Angels & Kings

OOPS late as. Oh well, review still stands.

This place had the darkest dimmest lighting I've ever encountered at any bar. Lots of rock 'n roll goth-y types here.

Angels and Kings be loud and rowdy.

Easy to envision a brawl between a biker and a mohawked punker with some WWE amazon chick breaking it up.

Obviously I stuck out like a sore thumb.

But having dragged my angel of a friend and her king here several months ago, I am glad we came through.

Because we had some tasty smooth shots! Thanks to another angel (or was that devil) of a bartendress. Extra star for that.

We did not spot Pete Wentz or Dave Grohl. Booooo.

But I did have an awesome trippy dream about the main Foo Fighter.

So random but kool. Kind of like how we wound up at Angels and Kings.

;]

GREAT BAR IN HOLLYWOOD!!!!

-Chill atmosphere
-Great Music
-Strong drinks
-Fun Bartenders
-Plenty of seating
-Nice Decor
-Great for Birthday get-together
-Venue available for private events

And for me, it's less than a 5 minute walk!!!

Okay, I must say that I didn't hate the place. Despite the fact that throughout my circle of friends it's known as "a and (insert bad possibly very offensive word here)" A&K somehow delivered last night. However, this was probably due to the copious amounts of alcohol I had beforehand and the fact that I was in some very good company.

I believe that A&K is the kind of place where you have to be in good company. If you're going to go here drag a few friends with you - because if just one, or two, or three of you go - it's probably going to suck. Like a few other Yelpers unfortunately I didn't get the memo of wearing all black here and I left my Bauhaus shirt at home. I guess my bright red Abercrombie sweater was good enough though - or maybe it was just too dark and I couldn't see everyones stares. The crowd is an eclectic mix of people who have/are: a) done too much bathroom candy b) skinny bitches in midriff and coochie baring outfits c) old dudes who have gotten their hands on some black hair dye at Rite-Aid d) the occasional random person who just somehow doesn't fit in.

It's also not the best place to come for a conversation. The music is loud. College boy frat party truck with rims loud. It's pretty hard to have a decent conversation with "I want to F you like an animmmmmmmaaaaaal" blaring - so this place isn't really for everyone. Also it's dark as hell in here, and everyones wearing black with either a black mohawk, a partially shaved head, or fishnets so good luck trying to find your friend if you lose them. On the plus side if you're creepy and stare long enough you can usually see at least one person in some degree of indecent exposure (2 couples last night, LMFAO!).

Well onto the good stuff. Wells are only $6 and they are made pretty stiff. My vodka and redbull was way more vodka than redbull, so kudos mr. bartender. Also everyone congregates towards the bar so there are couches and booths that are usually pretty empty and despite the overall gothic attitude people are willing to share booths. Plus there's no cover.

In short A&K is in no way my go to bar (ever), but it's not as bad as I once thought.

I loved the Angels and Kings in Chicago...well, the old one that was on Clark St. Angels and Kings Hollywood does not disappoint either!

Drinks are not as expensive as you'd think, the decor is cool. It's a great place in Hollywood to escape Hollywood, if you know what I mean.

True story: I met my current boyfriend here while I was visiting LA. We now live together in Hollywood. It can happen!

I love businesses that still smile at you and give you the best damn service ever when you give them your Groupon. This is one of them.

Our bartender was friendly and recommended drinks, but warned us that they are simple and don't make fancy cocktails when my friend asked for a nonexistent cocktail list. Since we came after New Year's, everything got cleaned out, so they ran out of scotch and the better liquor.

My vodka martini was pretty good and since the bartender knew I don't usually drink them, he gave me less vermouth so it wouldn't be too dry. I don't think I care either way since I'm so used to vodka.

My friend and I went crazy ordering food. We shared the potato chips and chicken strips and got our own pizzas.

Potato chips were our least favorite since they were overdone and brown. The waiter offered us 3 different dipping sauces for our chicken strips- buffalo, BBQ and ranch. We both devoured the ranch and asked for more. The chicken strips themselves impressed me. They're not made with dense flour like other places (I eat a lot of chicken strips and nuggets and popcorn chicken), but rather light. I want to say panko was used, but the martini prevented me from confirming it. Either way, they were pretty damn good and light for bar food. The chicken was actually in strips (probably because it was a patty) and very different than what I'm used to!

Margherita pizza at bars really turns me off, especially after the one I recently had a couple weeks ago, but this one was actually ... wait for it- GOOD. The mozzarella was fresh because we had strings of cheese from each bite and the tomatoes were sweet and juicy. My friend and I were really surprised at how much we liked it.

The BBQ chicken pizza was my favorite for the night. I loved everything about it-- from the strips of chicken to the red onions to the sweet and perfect BBQ sauce to the crust. I guess compared to other places that have BBQ chicken pizza, this was REALLY good. I kept dipping the crust in the BBQ sauce too... not shameful at all.

The bartender gave us some tin foil containers to hold our leftovers and said that he didn't expect 2 girls to come in and order a ton of food. But he was right about the food being good. It's not typical bar food and I'm so glad for it!

I loved the personal attention and service here from the bartender and since it was after New Year's, it was pretty empty. Usually, it's a pretty packed place when I pass by on Fridays and Saturdays (makes sense) and I'd like to come again for their cheap drinks when it's a full house.

Bitchin' bad ass mother fuckin' bar.

I'm not a bar person. Well I'm more a bar person than a club person but still, I don't go out often with the sole intent and purpose of getting drunk. I was visiting my friend in LA and she had to work on Saturday night--so instead of staying in, I headed over to Hollywood Blvd, into Angels & Kings and grabbed a stool at the bar. It's totally one of those places that you don't feel like an ass showing up solo and striking up random conversations with strangers.

The clientele was eclectic and the music was pretty mellow at first and then got more "rock n' roll" as the evening progressed. The staff were amazing and everybody seemed to be having a great time. I did notice a lot of cheapskate customers come up tot he bar and tip $1 on $20 or more worth of drinks which prompted me to be a bit more generous when it came time to pay my tab. But the bartenders handled these people very graciously and shrugged it off. I guess bartending isn't what it used to be when I did it in my early 20s because if that was me, I would have stopped serving them.

All in all, I'd choose this place over any of the "hot" clubs in LA, and by "hot" I mean overcrowded with drunken children in stilettos and hipster garb.

This place is casual like a dive bar but it's not. No pretentious people here though. If they come, they'll leave I'm sure. This place isn't the "it" spot but it's a fun spot that attracts a good crowd of fun seeking people.

Mixed crowd. Love it.

Great doorman/bouncer/ID checker. Fun personality.

Surprise such a place exist in Hollywood.

Music? Loud.

Parking? It's Hollywood, just park at Hollywood and Highland and walk over or take the Metro Red Line.

One of my go-to weekend hang outs. Not too divey, not too pretentious. The drinks are strong and pretty well priced. You'll normally find me here on Friday nights (as opposed to Saturday nights, which, for some reason tend to have a really, really weird crowd). The bar doesn't really get crazy busy until after midnight or so it seems. But that is fine with me, as I like to actually have conversations with my friends when we go there. A&K definitely has been the setting for some ridiculously hilarious and eventful nights. Service is pretty freaking good considering how busy/hectic it gets there. I really just like this place though because it's not a room packed with fake girls with fake boobs and asshole guys just looking to get laid. (Well. Both of those exist in A&K, just not in the same quantities as other bars in Hollywood).

This bar had a few really great "fun" ideas that made it unique from other watering holes, but it seems as if the execution of the clever ideas didn't pan out as well as planned. As you can see in pictures posted for this place (I too am guilty of this), there's a photoshoot-ish area near one of the exits where you can obtain evidence of your night of debauchery. I mean, who doesn't want a drunken lindsay lohan-esque mugshot to wince at once you've sobered up the next day? Clever idea if you have your own camera with flash on hand. But it seems like the placard went missing a lot, and it turns out that stupid drunk girls hanging out in a crowd near the exit and the line for the bathroom can be rather annoying. (I too have been a stupid drunk girl in this context, so it's okay for me to say that. I think).

AND speaking of the bathroom, A&K's black bathroom walls used to be covered in chalk-written messages, both cute and evil and sometimes just incomprehensible. However cool and fun the idea was though, it just so happens that if you give a girl a piece of chalk, and ample wall space, she will take up to 10x longer in the restroom (the single-toilet restroom mind you) than "normal", which is already excruciatingly long because we all know that when girls "use the bathroom" they really are primping hair, redoing makeup, gossiping with other girlfriends who've joined in for moral support, texting exes, and god knows what else. So this chalk-writing addition is just detrimental to the bladders of those waiting in line. And even knowing all of this, I was still saddened the last time I went to A&K and was told that chalk would no longer be provided for the reasons described above. Again, clever idea. Maybe when you invest in a bathroom with a stall separating sink from toilet, you can implement the chalk idea for the gals waiting in line rather than the gals writing poetry on the walls and spurning ex lovers instead of using the bathroom for its true purpose.

Next time I'm just going to bring my own chalk. Shhhh.....

I'll probably keep frequenting A&K, so long as the weirdos keep their distance. (Last time I was there, a guy was walking around with a skull-topped scepter. That's really just the tip of the iceberg. But at least it's entertaining!)

D-- ark interior makes this an intriguing spot
A-- ll of the drinks were strong, tipsy after just 2
R-- eally enjoyed their margherita pizza
K-- ind of fun to take pics in their jail booth
N-- ice artwork including a deer with M16 looking guns
E-- veryone was chill in the crowd
S-- ong selection is key. I was hooked when I heard Muse
S-- ort of excited to go again. Great spot in HWood.