vintage pub reopened: Formosa in LA

[JeffOYB]

I searched here but found zero so... famous vintage era bar has been closed. was going to be lost. formosa cafe in Hollywood. citizens pushed for keeping. reopened w bad redo. citizens complained. new redo and now open again as authentic. im from MI but I'm going this week! pardon my thumb text. https://la.eater.com/2019/6/20/18693175/formosa-cafe-west-hollywood-old-open-reopening-bar-new

 

[Fading Fast]

I searched here but found zero so... famous vintage era bar has been closed. was going to be lost. formosa cafe in Hollywood. citizens pushed for keeping. reopened w bad redo. citizens complained. new redo and now open again as authentic. im from MI but I'm going this week! pardon my thumb text. https://la.eater.com/2019/6/20/18693175/formosa-cafe-west-hollywood-old-open-reopening-bar-new

The place looks and sounds fantastic. Have a great time and please let us know how your visit went.

 

[Inkstainedwretch]

The Formosa was used as a location in the classic neo-noir "L.A. Confidential." It's where LAPD detective Ed Exley confronts Lana Turner and boyfriend Johnny Stompanato.

 

[Hurricane Jack]

Hopefully it just doesn't become a tourist trap as often happens. McSorley's Old Ale House in the East Village, NY & Kelly's Westport Inn, Westport, MO come to mind although they have both been in business continuously since the beginning. Locals rarely go, just tourists.

 

[JeffOYB]

Well, I went last night. Very good restoration. But... Sad sad sad the SOUND of the place is intolerable. It wasn't even music. A nightclub beat at 8pm and not in a nightclub. 95% 20-somethings. I saw maybe 3 adults in the building. I talked to the staff, got some sympathy. I asked "Are these songs we're hearing?" They couldn't tell. Couldn't say what the "bands" were. I know quite a few of today's acts, but this was beyond that.

We all chatte about where a grown-up could go for a civilized drink in the area. They were sweet, we had fun. They had a few ideas that I looked into. All flops. Tho I might try Village Idiot at some point. Jones across the street -- beautiful leather furnishings, large paintings, great atmosphere, but again with the lame soundtrack. It actually had songs. But overly strident rock. Then I tried the Roosevelt Hotel on H'wood Blvd -- again, beautiful but again w the driving club beat ruining the chance for conviviality.

I pondered that this kind of venue soundtrack might be suitable for dating -- it forces you to hunker down with who you're with. If you're w more than one person, though, you'd have to shout, so i'm not sure the social potential of that. I'm pretty sure shouting venues are encouraging ppl to dance, which these places can't accommodate since they aren't clubs.

Figaro has had tolerable music in the past (Django, etc) but last night it didn't -- more of the loud w hard beat silliness -- so i kept strolling. Near the end some French numbers came on, but it closes at 10:30p.

The nearby Fred 62 soda fountain plays actual classic pop tunes, with lyrics and instruments that are distinguishable. Great staff and ppl and visiting potential. I had a malted there.

I finally got to the Dresden Room which was a hit. For the first hour Marty and Elaine attempt to make music. It's painful and we're supposed to laugh, these past 35 years. But now after an hour it's open mic and the fun begins. As a backing band M&E are still humorous but it works! Local semi-pro vocal talents play with standards and do a nice job. Sometimes even danceable. Friendly ppl and staff. So that's where i ended up. Classic venue.

 

[tonyb]

Hopefully it just doesn't become a tourist trap as often happens. McSorley's Old Ale House in the East Village, NY & Kelly's Westport Inn, Westport, MO come to mind although they have both been in business continuously since the beginning. Locals rarely go, just tourists.

It’s like that Yogi Berra line: “Nobody goes there anymore; it’s too crowded.”

Oxymoronic as that may initially sound, it makes perfect sense to those who have seen their old haunts taken over by the sorts of people who wouldn’t have set foot in the joints back before they got “saved.”

The unintended irony is that in their search for “authenticity,” they carve the authentic soul clean out of the places. It’s the structures and their histories, in part, but it’s more the characters who once frequented the joints. And they either die off or get priced out.

But, I’m getting to be an old and cranky hardass who has about had his fill of these know-it-all youngsters who profess a fondness for “dives” but have never once in their lives been in a *real* dive and likely wouldn’t have gotten out of it unscathed if they had.