A Drink or Two at the Frolic Room

Just beyond the corner of Hollywood and Vine is a sweet little dive bar called the Frolic Room. Ryan's been talking about this place since we arrived back in October. He's located and pointed it out every time we have driven past it. He always highlights that this is where the likes of Charles Bukowski could be found wetting his whistle back in the day.

The bar has been around since the 1930s, and in present times it certainly does a great job of holding onto its vintage appeal.

Upon first walking in, the bar is dark, quaint, and small. This is the kind of place that could get crowded quickly on a busy night, and I've heard it often does. I reckon some celebrities have closets the size of this bar.

We visited at two in the afternoon. Business looked steady, and old jazz music was playing on the jukebox.

There was a small crowd of people at the far end of the bar. We sat at the opposite end and there were a couple single people occupying seats in the middle. The bar ran the length of the long narrow room. Opposite the bar was a mural made up of Al Hirschfeld caricatures. A modern, flat-screen jukebox was mounted to the wall. A thin band of  rainbow lights (that invoked a feeling of disco and arcades) ran along the molding of the small room. There were signed photos of various celebrities taped to the mirrors behind the bar.

Sweet mural

"I could come here every day after school," Ryan professed, and I laughed because it was true. This was just the type of establishment where you could mellow out, have a drink, maybe pick up a conversation with a stranger, or even study. Even when one of the patrons got up and played a series of Metallica jams from the jukebox, the ambiance was still warm and somehow quiet.

Bukowski taking a swig

In the past, and I'm not sure if they still do it, but the Frolic Room would host Bukowski readings in honor of the beat poet. Bukowski, who is often referred to as the Poet Laureate of Skid Row, was just the type of character you could imagine sitting amongst the crowds here.

One very haunting claim to this bar - and I'm not sure if it's fact or urban legend, but some people had claimed to see Elizabeth Short (the Black Dahlia) at the Frolic Room before she was brutally murdered. Whether that's true I'm not certain, there are a lot of skeptics, but one thing seems to be agreed upon is that the Frolic Room was one of Miss Short's favorite hangouts.

Nowadays people also claim Miss Short's ghost haunts the Hollywood Boulevard area, giving out flowers to folks who address her by her first name.

Elizabeth Short (The Black Dahlia)

The Frolic Room was also featured in a scene in the movie LA Confidential where a very dapper Jack Vincennes (played by the equally dapper Kevin Spacey) stands like a statue just outside the entrance of the bar, looking into the dark, noir, LA night.

Scene from LA Confidential

The Frolic Room is indeed a fun little place. We were served drinks by a sweet, older woman named Brenda who dressed punk and had awesome eye makeup. She tended bar with what looked like great ease.

This would be just the place for day drinking, or maybe just one or two day drinks. I would highly recommend it as a stop on any LA pub crawl.