Thread: The Pike Bar in Long Beach

OK so I read about this place a few times and I kept thinking it was Downtown but it's on Fourth St and has nothing to do with the Pike complex by the Aquarium. It's a dive bar on 4th near Orange that is owned by a guy who was in Social Distortion.

They have live performers every night and on Sundays they let the patrons bring their iPods in and control the music. That was enough to get me and GalvanIZed over there to check it out. We had heard about the fish and chips and had to see if they were as good as everyone keeps saying.

First off, they couldn't hook up the iPod because someone stole the cord, so that put a damper on the cool idea that got us there. We checked out the jukebox and were pleased to find "Hell Comes to Your House", some Dead Kennedys and other classic punk CD's. We setttled on some Flipper, Naked Raygun, Buzzcocks etc to set the mood and ordered some of the legendary Fish and chips.

We decided to split an order and that was a wise choice becasue no way would we have finished two of these. The fish were long pieces that were breaded with a nice light batter and super tender in the center. It reminded me of the way they cook it in the UK, in fact I wouldn't doubt if he picked up the recipe while touring over there and decided we needed it in Long Beach.

The french fries were cut into chips and cooked real well so that some of the thinner pieces turn into almost potato chips. It comes with tartar sauce and I think malt vineger but the tartar sauce was perfect for me and Gal. Each piece of fish was about a 10 inches long and real crunchy. It tasted like sole, super light and flaky. They pick up the fresh fish daily and it really makes a differencein the taste compared the frozen fish usually used in fish and chips.

Anyways, the atmosphere is real casual and the patrons seemed to be a lot of locals with very little attitude. Sometimes going to a new bar is like entering someones secret surf spot but this place was real friendly. The service was excellent with the waiter being there every few minutes to make sure everything was ok and to get more drinks. Gal decided to add a shot of rum to her coke and the shot glas was generously filled with plenty enough booze to make her drink a strong one.

Overall it was a pleasant experience and I'm eager to try it again since it's real close and the vibe is just right for Long Beach. Next time I'm bringing my camera so I can tease you with how good food looks.

Oh yeah, I'm also bringing a mini-to-RCA cord to plug in the iPod.

Mike Zampelli aka Rinkrat

I'll have to check it out RR...Im always on the lookout for unpretentious places with good chow and good drinks.

Plus I love Social D!

Cheers

The only time I've ever been there was a Monday night at 11:30.


There were only 5 people in the whole damn place and three of them were with me.

The music was so loud I couldn't hear the person sitting directly next to me. I know it's a bar... and I know loud music is played in bars... but the place was empty and it was a Monday night.

I asked the dj to turn it down just a little three times. Each time he did... but then as soon as he found a "jam" that he really loved he would turn it right back up.

**** that place.

Go to Gallagher's.

Broadway & Temple

It's not owned by anybody famous but there's plenty of room, good food, lots of televisions, live music, trivia nights and other good stuff.

Yeesss Rinkrat, great synopsis of our evening at The Pike. I was so dang excited to play Life by Flipper on the jukebox. I forgot how long that song is, freaking classic. I also loved hearing Concerned Citizen by the Super Heroines off of Hell Comes to Your House.

I had that on cassette and listened to it non-stop on my "Walkman". And, the song that really captures my feeling for the evening: Sixteen Again by the Buzzcocks.

Warm fuzzies. RR, I think I'm beginning to "get" what you mean when you say Punk Rock is like Doo Wap.

Yeah, next there will be a chain of punk rock hamburger joints.

Picture Arby's with a "D" at the beginning. Where's Puckmonkey for the Photoshop?