This was a busy week for me and a couple days after going to Foreign Cinema, I was in a car on my way down to Los Angeles for the Cal vs. USC football game. While the game didn't go too well, the weekend was still a blast.
For those of you who don't know, LA is the place I call home in the bottom of my heart. I spent the first 18 years of my life there and going back is always a little comforting. My parents still live in the same house that I grew up in and it's nice to have one constant in my ever changing life. Because I tend to only go to LA a couple of weekends a year, I tend to always go to a couple of my favorite places. Whether it's getting some Pinkberry or going out to Howl at the Moon, my Southern California trips are pretty predictable. So, in sticking with the challenge, not only did I try to go to some new places, but I also avoided the ones I usually go to.
It was a short trip and there wasn't a lot of time to explore too much, but after the Cal game (which we don't need to discuss here...) we were looking for a fun place to watch the Giants' first game against the Phillies. My friend, Lauren suggested that we go to a place near UCLA called Barney's Beanery. I didn't have any objections and so off we went.
The first thing you notice when you enter Barney's is the sheer number of TVs. Yes, it is a sports bar and TVs are a must but they went above and beyond in that area. There was a wall of TVs above the bar, some more behind the bar and one at each table as well as a few other scattered around. Someone commented that there might not even be any light fixtures in the place, everything was illuminated by the flat screens covering every surface.
The selection of food was even more impressive than the number of TV sets. The menu was literally a small newspaper and had just about anything you could possibly want to order. Don't believe me? Click here. Luckily, I had a general idea of what I was in the mood for (which NEVER happens) and just had to dig through the menu and hope they had it. Many in my group had to spend quite a bit of time trying to figure out what they wanted. Luckily for them, our server was fairly inattentive so they had plenty of time to figure out exactly what they wanted from the exhausting menu.
The beer selection was also fairly decent. The drink menu was organized by origin of the beer, be it state or country. They also showed different specialty draft mixes that could be ordered. For example, it explained the different beers that could be mixed with Guinness (black & tan, black velvet, etc.).
All in all the bar was a GREAT place to watch the Giants take home their first win against Philly. I also couldn't help thinking how incredible a bar/restaurant like that would have been near my college. Maybe an upcoming new thing will be seeing if I can open a franchise in Berkeley.
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