6245 Hollywood Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90028
(323) 462-5890
http://youtu.be/a9jmCNiTDjQ
 |
 |
Type of Bar: Dive
What to Drink: A martini or a PBR
Why You Should Go: Last true bar on Hollywood
Boulevard, celebrity sightings, and the Black Dahlia
history.
There isn't a lot of "original" in Hollywood. Sure they celebrate the throwback,
with films like L.A. Confidential and others (which actually show a director's version of what actually happened there years before) but real, authentic Hollywood? Nah. It really doesn't exist anymore.
Well, that's what we thought anyway when we rolled into town. Turns out though, that on Hollywood Boulevard there's more "real" about five blocks east of Highland than all of the stuff they try to force down your throat at the Kodak Theater.
I'm talking about the Frolic Room, a throwback to at least 1930 when the connected theater, the Panteges, was built. The bar, officially made a bar in 1934 (as far as we know) started life as a hospitality lounge for the Pantages, and has therefore seen its share of Hollywood stars, sleaze, crime and tragedy. Enough to make it a Hollywood Landmark like its next-door neighbor (but because it's a bar and not a location for casting-couch calls that hasn't happened yet).
It's also the last bar on all of Hollywood Boulevard; the rest have been turned into dance clubs and Gap stores.
So if you're in the area and you want a beer, a shot and some authentic Hollywood throwback, go by the Frolic Room.