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This weekend is going to be a doozy for the area around the STAPLES Center downtown. We're guessing the sports fans that will be coming in to see the Kings, Clippers, Lakers or Amgen Tour this weekend are probably going to stick around to have a drink or dinner at some point, even if just to wait out traffic. So which fans are local managers cheering for?
Blogdowntown did the legwork and asked bartenders and managers around the STAPLES center the potentially sensitive question: just what did they think of their clientele?
Clippers fans are a mellower crowd, bartenders told Blogdowntown. They sip wine and champagne at Trader Vic's, and they never seem to get too excited (perhaps with the exception of the fan formerly known as "Clipper Darrell"). They never create problems, but then again they're not going all-out on the bill.
Kings fans sound like the ideal crowd. They get excited about their team, and then they eat and drink a ton. They drink mostly domestic beer at Hooter's, although they'll get fancy and order 3-course meals over at Wolfgang Puck's. At the end of the meal, they show their appreciation with a great tip. "[The Kings are] the best crowd," Angel Baez, who tends bar at Wolfgang Puck’s, told Blogdowntown.
You knew it would come to this: Lakers fans have the worst rep at bars. They don't order much food, and when they do, they're fussier about it and don't end up tipping well. Lakers fans like beer but they go for harder stuff, like Jägermeister, Jack Daniel’s and Hennessy. They like getting wasted before the game, and you might have heard that Lakers fans get really rowdy. Like dump-a-fan-in-the-fire-pit rowdy, hide-everything-made-of-glass rowdy.
Jessica Palmisano, the manager of Big Wang’s told Blogdowntown that things could get ugly this weekend: "[If the Lakers get swept this weekend], I would not be averse to taking away glassware."
