Congress has cut federal funding for public media — a $3.4 million loss for LAist. We count on readers like you to protect our nonprofit newsroom. Become a monthly member and sustain local journalism.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
Westwood's 'Last Dive Bar' Closes, Making Westwood Suck Even More
The inside of O'Hara's in Westwood, which closed on Saturday (via Facebook)
()
Westwood always sucked.Take it from this Bruin that who was once new to Los Angeles and without a car to escape the area immediately around campus. Those dorms were a long walk from the hub of restaurants, entertainment, and stores that was known as Westwood Village, and boy were those options paltry. On Saturday, O'Hara's, a place that the L.A. Times called the "last of Westwood's dive bars," closed for good.
Despite its proximity to UCLA and it's quaint-sounding nickname, Westwood Village wasn't exactly the kind of college town neighborhood I was hoping for when I moved away from home. The food was mostly terrible and the two bars we had at the time were O'Hara's and the Westwood Brewing Company. "There are not a lot of places for students to get together," O'Hara's bartender Craig Leppert told The Daily Bruin last week. "Westwood doesn't have a great social scene."
Sure, there were bars on the peripheries of the Village, including Palomino and whatever the heck used to be at The Glendon Bar & Kitchen, but they were for a much higher-end clientele. There weren't going to be viewing parties at the Palomino for the annual UCLA-USC game. Places like that were indicative of why Westwood Village was so weird for students. It wasn't really our neighborhood. Things like pool tables, happy hours, and dancefloors aren't allowed in the area, supposedly due to the overreactive Westwood Neighborhood Council in response to a 1988 gang shooting.
We had few options. Spots like Penny Lane Records, Buffalo Exchange and In-N-Out shared the same block with expensive boutiques, Whole Foods, and restaurants that had three dollar signs on Yelp. Many of these less expensive places have since packed up and left, replaced by more businesses bound to meet the same fate.
Support for LAist comes from
Even the places that became hotspots for students were, honestly, not very good. Diddy Riese, notorious for the long lines of people waiting to get ice cream sandwiches that were once 75 cents? Mrs. Fields-quality cookies with Dreyer's ice cream. Across the street from that was a BJ's Restaurant and Brewhouse that was somehow more popular among Trojan outsiders than Bruins. BJ's, guys. The most legendary of all was a sandwich stand that was better known for being cheap and open late rather than their actual quality. R.I.P. Buck Fiddy, taken over by that guy from Entourage.
Thank God for that In-N-Out!
For those of us that were of legal drinking age—I turned 21 in 2006—or had a fake ID, O'Hara's (originally known as Maloney's and still called that by many) and BrewCo were the spots to get together and destroy a few pints and a plate full of mediocre wings. They had sticky floors and we all once had a friend that was puking in their gross bathrooms. But, goddammit, they were ours.
Maybe in 2016, the idea of hanging out in Westwood just doesn't have to be the only way anymore. The buses still never run on time, but at least Lyft and Uber don't make you reliant on that one guy you knew that had a car. "L.A. gets a lot smaller when there's an easy carpool," UCLA law student Angus Beverly told the L.A. Times.
In 2013, BrewCo closed down to make way for a Boiling Crab, and O'Hara's will become a Rocco's Tavern, turning the page on the Westwood I once knew. It's fine, I suppose. I never felt like I belonged anyway.
As Editor-in-Chief of our newsroom, I’m extremely proud of the work our top-notch journalists are doing here at LAist. We’re doing more hard-hitting watchdog journalism than ever before — powerful reporting on the economy, elections, climate and the homelessness crisis that is making a difference in your lives. At the same time, it’s never been more difficult to maintain a paywall-free, independent news source that informs, inspires, and engages everyone.
Simply put, we cannot do this essential work without your help. Federal funding for public media has been clawed back by Congress and that means LAist has lost $3.4 million in federal funding over the next two years. So we’re asking for your help. LAist has been there for you and we’re asking you to be here for us.
We rely on donations from readers like you to stay independent, which keeps our nonprofit newsroom strong and accountable to you.
No matter where you stand on the political spectrum, press freedom is at the core of keeping our nation free and fair. And as the landscape of free press changes, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust, but the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news from our community.
Please take action today to support your trusted source for local news with a donation that makes sense for your budget.
Thank you for your generous support and believing in independent news.
Chip in now to fund your local journalism
(
LAist
)
Trending on LAist
-
Censorship has long been controversial. But lately, the issue of who does and doesn’t have the right to restrict kids’ access to books has been heating up across the country in the so-called culture wars. -
With less to prove than LA, the city is becoming a center of impressive culinary creativity.
-
Nearly 470 sections of guardrailing were stolen in the last fiscal year in L.A. and Ventura counties.
-
Monarch butterflies are on a path to extinction, but there is a way to support them — and maybe see them in your own yard — by planting milkweed.
-
With California voters facing a decision on redistricting this November, Surf City is poised to join the brewing battle over Congressional voting districts.
-
The drug dealer, the last of five defendants to plead guilty to federal charges linked to the 'Friends' actor’s death, will face a maximum sentence of 65 years in prison.
Best of LAist