[DVY]

Hit the nightlife this Saturday near Santa Monica(first Busby's Wes then near 3rd street). Parked in one of those mall parking spots.

Busby's West- horrible, everybody staring at the football game. Nobody standing or socializing. Everybody in their own groups
Britannia Pub- empty and old dumpy looking women and older men.
Misfits- empty.
Copa d'Oro- decent ratio. young-ish looking crowd. Lots of indian girls. Chatted up a few girls, but nothing too interesting.
Ended the night at Ma'Kai Lounge- packed dance bar/lounge. Mix of black, white and indian crowds. Pretty stuffy. Friend and I hit it off w/2 black girls who were there for a b-day.

All in all, give my experience a C-. What bars/clubs/lounges do you guys recommend in Santa Monica?

[Veloce]

Move to travel thread plz.

I've had success at Copa De Oro when I worked out there. Very cool lounge with solid ratios and good talent. Give it a few more shots, try Thursdays.

[Drazen]

Bungalow, Huntley, Viceroy (all more upscale). Main Street Bars (less upscale) and Venice bars. Go early everywhere, stay away from the promenade (although bungalow is right there).

I'm also a fan of Mom's Bar on SM Blvd and Bundy.

[jergens007]

Bungalow and Wilshire lounge (only on saturdays) they are upscale.

(10-16-2012 05:56 PM)PartyonBro Wrote:  

Bungalow, Huntley, Viceroy (all more upscale). Main Street Bars (less upscale) and Venice bars. Go early everywhere, stay away from the promenade (although bungalow is right there).

I'm also a fan of Mom's Bar on SM Blvd and Bundy.

[Basil Ransom]

(10-16-2012 06:43 PM)jergens007 Wrote:  

Bungalow and Wilshire lounge (only on saturdays) they are upscale.

This guy I know told me about Wilshire Lounge, but I couldn't locate it - where is it?

I keep meaning to check out Bodega - I've been there for an event, it has a great space that looks very amenable to macking.

[Mujeriego]

(10-16-2012 03:08 PM)thedude3737 Wrote:  

I've had success at Copa De Oro

Met a UCLA coed there that ended up giving me a hummer in the alley across from Von's on Broadway. The talent was good and ratios didn't seem bad.

The rooftop bar at the Viceroy is small and dimly lit. Seemed like a good date spot to set the vibe before bouncing a girl to your crib. I recall the talent being respectable but I've only been there once.

[Drazen]

Wilshire is a restaurant with a bar on 24th and Wilshire on the south side of the street. I've only been there to eat though, its a great venue. Never been on a weekend though. Brown wood paneling with a valet lot, kind of hard to see.

[booshala]

(10-16-2012 11:14 PM)PartyonBro Wrote:  

Wilshire is a restaurant with a bar on 24th and Wilshire on the south side of the street. I've only been there to eat though, its a great venue. Never been on a weekend though. Brown wood paneling with a valet lot, kind of hard to see.

This was a notorious cougar joint 3-4 years ago, but maybe the demographics have changed? I second Copa d' Oro, especially for their $5 cocktail happy hour. Barney's Beanery in the promenade is ok if you like the whole frat/sorority vibe.

[speakeasy]

(10-16-2012 11:10 PM)Mujeriego Wrote:  

(10-16-2012 03:08 PM)thedude3737 Wrote:  

I've had success at Copa De Oro

Met a UCLA coed there that ended up giving me a hummer in the alley across from Von's on Broadway. The talent was good and ratios didn't seem bad.

The rooftop bar at the Viceroy is small and dimly lit. Seemed like a good date spot to set the vibe before bouncing a girl to your crib. I recall the talent being respectable but I've only been there once.

Good tip. Been to the Viceroy several times and had no idea there was a bar on the roof.

P.S. -- To OP, for future reference might want to post this in The Los Angeles Thread if you're asking about L.A. area spots.

[DVY]

Thanks guys. Will try to check all of these out.

[CaP7]

I've been going out in Santa Monica at least once a week on average for the past year, solid. These posts are my experiences with Santa Monica after moving to L.A. from San Diego. I'll start with the East side and work West, since that was how my living situation went. I'm currently Central.

Busby's - Low class, slutty college girls on weekend nights. Not a lot of bars in L.A. that I've been to where I've seen 21yo girls walk up to the bar solo, order two shots, and take both solo. There is some definite slumming going on here. College dance game happens, it's real dark, so easy to isolate. The one thing I like here is that it's ok to be poor at this bar. Sometimes you just need a break in L.A.

Q's, Cabo, Brewhaus - The overall vibe and rep with all three of these spots is that you need to go in a group. I had a hard time blending in solo at all three. If you don't live close, don't bother. I can see where you could have success if you loved to watch sports and lived within a 6 block radius. That's pretty much the crowd here. Mainly UCLA students and locals.

Bar Food - I've literally taken 7-8 dates here. Great spot to hang out and chill because the place is nice with masculine decor, music is quiet, and it's easy to sit next to the girl due to the configuration of the tables. Small plates, strong drinks = good combo. Not a good place to pick up women. I rarely saw approachable girls here. I closed a couple first dates after taking them here.

South - Not a good spot. Similar to the Brentwood "Big 3", but different neighborhood.

I have to mention that if there is a USC/UCLA/Big Sports weekend/UFC fight, then all of these places (less Bar Food) are packed 'nuts to butts'. I've walked by all of them on at least 10 weekend nights where the ratio was not in my favor.

The bus to DT Santa Monica is $1.00 and a $8.00 cab ride home. If you're serious about getting laid...Use these.

[CaP7]

Please excuse any basic posting flaws as I try to get the hang of this. The forum has given me tons of value in the last year as I was solo for at least the first 6 month's of my move to L.A.

Central.

Central - Only mention this because every time I roll past this place, I see sets of 2 hot girls in heels and jeans walking in and around. I've heard other good things from yelp about the talent levels here too. Meaning to check out. Live music venue.

Wilshire - This restaurant/lounge is generally filled with good looking people. It's loud, but the girls are super hot. Cover is $10 and the line goes quick. Most people I see in here dress well. I usually didn't bother with this place and went to the...

...Charleston - right next door. Bartenders are hot and the bouncers are cool. I've had multiple girls open me here while I was solo at the bar. It's a mixed crowd of 20's and 30's. Great place to go solo.

Sonny McLeans - Irish bar here that has a lot to do. I love talking girls into doing stupid bar games. Darts here is perfect for that. My line - "When's the last time you played darts?" seems to work here a lot. Other than that, just a solid Irish Bar.

Gas Lite - Kareoke bar. If you like Asians...

V Lounge - Grimy club type place that has DJ's Didn't spend a lot of time here.

Many people take cabs to this area as parking is tough. I'm within walking distance (3-4 blocks) and I still don't spend a lot of time here due to the lack of options if it's a slow night. If it's a big night, which means a weekend, warm weather, and school in session, then this area can be awesome for easy lays.

[DVY]

@Cap7- Funny enough, after a long hiatus. I returned to SM this weekend.

Circle bar- Terrible layout. Only thing good is that you can go in a circle and mack on the girls on the way in and circle around the bar easily. Tiny dance floor. Shitty smoking area. Some trailer-trash girl(4 or 5 at the max) was trying to pick me up. Then upon me ignoring her, tried to pick each one of my friends up. Pure comedy.

O'Briens- sausage-fest. Strangely enough some fine looking girls in here walking around. Probably hopping in and out. Its fairly narrow and people file shoulder to shoulder past each other. Its a good place to grab girls to another place.

and the clubby bar next door to it- hottest girls. 5 dollar cover (um I haven't seen that before...usually its 20 or free). Pepperdine girls out in full-force. It was hot-college girl galore night out. Loads of cute girls. Wasn't feeling dancey, but this place you can def. swoop the girl at the bar and close w/a little dance.

Ended up #-closing a bunch of girls in a row, because of terrible logistics. Girls ask where you live, and if its too far (aka more than 5 mins walking, no bang).

My favorite part of the night is chatting up all the girls who are ordering food from the food-truck (theres this bomb hot-dog truck and a korean/mexican fusion truck). lots of girls standing around eating. Met this beautiful asian girl and beautiful mexican girl there.

Strangely enough, I think its more productive to patrol the food-truck area than the actual bar... Not as loud, easy to open, girls are in a good mood because of the food.

[CaP7]

As you go further West in Santa Monica, the crowd changes from girls in their 20's and in college, to women in their 30's who are successful and career minded, or divorced and still decent looking. Santa Monica feels like a heaven for career minded women in their 30's. It seems like I could go out with 5 of them a week here. It drives me nuts. I am 35 and really only want to date 23-27. Of course I'll take the outliers to maintain...

Now for the best spot to do work that I have found in L.A., Downtown Santa Monica. When GMan talks about doing work by going to 9-10 places in one night, I can relate. I think there are very few places where this is logistically possible for most without spending $100 on cabs and driving all over a city, thus wasting a lot of time. I came up doing this in my 20's every weekend in the Gas Lamp, so when I figured this out for Santa Monica, it was huge for me. It took some work to figure out, but I got it down for the most part.

Bar Choele - This place is not well known, but always has a couple of hotties and it's easy to approach. Multiple successes here. Don't stay long if this place is dead - you'll know immediately.

Copa de oro - Kind of a date spot early in the night. I've never been late night.

Makai - Great spot to pick up tourists in the summer. Lots of people halfway dancing, which works for me because I'm older and don't dance well to modern music. Great spot to go late night to pick up tipsy's

Viceroy - A bit of a walk, but easily doable. Crowd here not what it once was. 5 people have told me this including 2 bartenders. Older, wealthier types go here. Not my scene, but could be for some. If I was 50, I would be here every weekend because age definitely does not matter here. Just dress well. Suit is sure to attract here.

Bodega - Wine bar. Go here if you're trying to chase girls that feel like trying to be classy that night. Always a good ratio in my experience. I felt good here solo. I felt good solo all the time DTSM actually. Not as many large friend groups and tourists always help that part of the scene.

Promenade - I don't go here. There's a place called Sonoma Wine Garden that is good on warm nights here (rare). Always a couple of girls in pairs that can be approached. Other than that, I think it's best to stay away from the shopping crowd. I think there are too many kids around the mall part for people to feel comfortable boozing.

Misfit - Good food. Great drinks. Lots of girls like this place, but they all sit at the tables. The bar is not set up well for talking. The bar stools are huge and take up all the space here. Really dumb setup all around. More of a hipster place anyway.

Kings Head - Poor ratio, but the dudes here all keep to themselves. The girls that do come in are easy pickings. I've seen lots of fatties here though.

Robata Bar - bartender Dave is great. He helped me close an Australian sister pair here. I felt bad that he didn't close his sister, but hey, I can't do all the work. This is a great spot for older women and women on sexcation. Very easy to open here and was fine solo.

Now for the heavy hitters...

Penthouse @ Huntleigh Hotel - No cover, no line, circle bar, classier. Single cougars that live 2-3 blocks away are always here and always DTF. They love this place for happy hour or mid week. in 10 years when I'm 45, this will be my barrel in which to shoot fish. It's a bit harder to go solo, as you feel like you are always in the center of the crowd and people are watching you do nothing. That's probably the only downside. Girls come in groups and leave single. Hotties from the Palisades and Malibu are here. This place is always entertaining. Very easy to meet people here as well.

Bungalow - I can't figure this spot out, meaning, I have not enjoyed success here. Ratios can be great one night, then terrible the next. Line is stupid, so get there before 9pm and chill out, which ruins your night as you are now invested. Lots of groups. Lots of guys that don't care to talk to anyone, just take in the scene. The women are all hot and mixed of 20's and 30's, but there's a lot of groups of 5-6. Lot harder to open than pairs. A pair will only have to justify being a slut to one girl and they probably trust each other already, so it's easy. Justify your sluttiness to 4 other girls who are all going to gossip about you for the next 2 weeks? Hell no. I think that a lot of numbers are passed out here. I don't feel a lot of closed deals. Regardless, this is the hottest place in Santa Monica right now, the girls all dress for the parade, and if you have great game you should be here once a week.

[CaP7]

Main Street Part I: My Date Blueprint.

A) Areal for happy hour. 7 days a week. Open air restaurant with nice bar and seating area. Great service, somewhat classy without being stuffy. Great drinks. Hang out and develop your repoire.

B) From there, go to another bar, but head North. There are lots of spots. Victorian, M Street, etc. Doesn't matter.

C) After she's feeling good, head towards the beach. Walk past the playgrounds and make her go on the swings. She'll love it and have the time of her life (make sure she has a jacket or is wearing yours by this time).

D) Make up some shit about how warm the water is, then go dare her to check it out. It's kind of a hike, but keep playing around with her so she doesn't think about it. It should be dark by now.

E) Kiss here and escalate as much as you can. (You should have kissed her on the swings you pussy).

It's my personal goal to have sex on the beach using this method in 2013. The idea was partly formulated when I saw a bunch of used condoms by the lifeguard tower on one of my runs. It's working for somebody! I actually went with 3 guys to Areal, two Saturdays ago, met a girl at Areal, then did the same date. It was the closest I've come to closing this... My friends were champs for distracting her group while I was pressing. What girl isn't curious to go check out the swings? It's automatic.

[DVY]

I have been up in the air about deciding where to live. I work near the West-side Pavillion (Pico and Westwood).

Would be pretty amazing to walk to work everyday. (Plus its relatively easy to go to DT/K-town/Westwood/ Santa Monica or Culver city)

That being said, walking to nightlife/restaurants/ biking to the beach etc would be cool too.

Break-down living in SM. My budget is flexible, dont mind room-mates or solo. Where would you recommend? What price-tag would this run approximately.

[CaP7]

Yeah DVY, I saw a cloud of people at the spot next to O'Briens 2 weekends ago and wondered what was up. Didn't think about a Pepperdine bar there. That might have been V Lounge, I'm not sure.

Food trucks late night are a great idea, and one that I used when I used to go out full force in Pacific Beach. I actually hate late night food though and watching girls eat after 8pm turns me off. I heard of a guy that would set his alarm for 1am and walk down to Joe's Pizza at 1:30 for a couple of slices every Friday and Sat night. He was trying to gain weight for lifting and supposedly he would pull by default there. Joe's is right next to Makai. Last man standing type of game, similar to Roosh's Iceland sidewalk game.

[CaP7]

Need more info. What type of work do you do? Industry? What type and age of women are you looking for? Where do the bulk of your friends live? What do you do for workouts?

I needed to ask those questions of myself before I could decide where to live.

For instance, I REALLY wanted to live in West Hollywood and go after the actresses/models/coke whores, but realistically speaking it wasn't a good fit. My workouts, dates, networking, and commute are all fantastic in Santa Monica.

[Drazen]

I was out in Santa Monica on Friday night as well. First time in a while, actually tried out the promenade for the first time in forever. Started off at Moms bar for a few rounds, cabbed it to the Misfit. Vibe was ok, pretty touristy, really tight bar area. not sure I'd go back here. Hit up chloe, I think I'd go back here, but its so small...yeah, if its not immediately good its good to move on pretty quickly. probably more of a starting off spot before going somewhere like the Viceroy.

ended up at 31-ten, which was not bad at all.

[DVY]

Dentist. Works 6 days/week. I am in my mid 20s.
Girls- ages 18-26. 27-35 is acceptable but not preferred. I seem to attract/get along better w/asian girls. But i am not picky about race/ethnicity. All girls can be sexy...
My childhood friends live in the san fernando valley (non-issue). I barely see them as is. SFV sucks for everything except families and food.
Working out- I bought the cheap costco 24hr fitness pass for 2 years. (Theres an amazing 24hr fitness in sherman oaks near me.) Heard theres a decent 24 in SM. This is not that important of an issue...Basically any gym w/squat rack would do. Im doing starting strength now religiously. Wouldn't mind joining a good boxing gym in the near future, when I add some decent weight on (LA dudes are a lot bigger than SF dudes, lol).

[CaP7]

Main Street - Part II: College girls, frat boys, and beach bums.

Main St is a little different than downtown in the fact that there are less tourists, and the locals are usually from farther out in Santa Monica. The downtown locals are mid to highly successful singles. Main St locals are living 4 to an apartment (or it seems like that) or are settled down in relationships. I personally love the younger college girls and the frat guys don't bother me because it makes me feel different (ok fine, superior).

The best place to go is definitely the Victorian and the subsequent basement. The biggest mistake I made in 2012 was not going to the Halloween party there on that Saturday night. Any guy that didn't pull there, based on what I saw trying to get in, seriously needs to go back to the drawing board. I offered the bouncer $200, and he said no. You needed tickets. On a weekend night, this place is filled with hot girls until about midnight, then the ratio turns, quick. Do work early here, then head to...

...3110 - This is the second best place to pick up. I LOVE posting up at this bar. I did it for 3 hours alone one night and got 3 numbers and a ton of other entertainment. The crowd at this bar is always shifting. The place is big and girls come from all angles to get their drinks here. Perfect spot. Dress down a little bit.

Library - I heard this is a good spot on Weds nights. Never been though.

Finn McCools - Easy place to approach. Warm vibes. Live music nights can get loud and blow you out though.

O'Brien's - Love this place. Much better than O'Brien's on Wilshire in Central SM. There can be a lot of groups and a lot of guys, but the drinks are great and everyone is approachable. Outdoor patio area. This place gets packed with a line, so you'll want to start out earlier here.

Areal - More of a restaurant than a bar, but a great place to start and will get really busy with slow service if the rest of Main St is going off. You get girls here that don't want to deal with the B.S. of a hotter bar. Probably the classiest place on Main St in terms of a bar. I'm a big fan of this place for the food and the service. Girls seem to be most comfortable here compared to any of the above places.

Sign up and go on Bar Crawls! Google this. Great way to approach since you can say, "Hey, weren't you at the last bar?" Instant connection, plus, EVERYONE is boozing and being social. It's like a street party vibe, only California outlawed those years ago...

[CaP7]

(01-29-2013 02:49 AM)DVY Wrote:  

Dentist. Works 6 days/week. I am in my mid 20s.
Girls- ages 18-26. 27-35 is acceptable but not preferred. I seem to attract/get along better w/asian girls. But i am not picky about race/ethnicity. All girls can be sexy...
My childhood friends live in the san fernando valley (non-issue). I barely see them as is. SFV sucks for everything except families and food.
Working out- I bought the cheap costco 24hr fitness pass for 2 years. (Theres an amazing 24hr fitness in sherman oaks near me.) Heard theres a decent 24 in SM. This is not that important of an issue...Basically any gym w/squat rack would do. Im doing starting strength now religiously. Wouldn't mind joining a good boxing gym in the near future, when I add some decent weight on (LA dudes are a lot bigger than SF dudes, lol).

There is no reason at all for you to be living East of the 405. It's way too easy to isolate yourself. Figure out traffic patterns and pick a place west of 405 where you can pursue a better lifestyle next to some good logistics. Think about how you can best entertain a women in a 1 bedroom apartment. Things like biking to the beach, meeting at a great restaurant within walking distance to your bed, having friends over to your place all matter. I'm guessing you make good money but have high student loan debt. Pick a spot along Broadway or Colorado for $1,400/month and cut out other stuff you don't need. Spend $ on logistics.

I had a great spot picked out just off of Melrose within walking distance to the Hudson and Laurel Hardware, two awesome bars, plus Melrose. Entertaining women at my apartment would have been a lot more difficult since I'm an active person. I have a load of options now that are all an excuse to get her over to my place. In West Hollywood I would have booze and food (which is expensive) and movies (boring). In Santa Monica I have the beach, bike to the beach, work out on the beach, Promenade, Hiking, Abbott Kinney, easier parking, better restaurants, etc.

The thing about Santa Monica that I've also found is that there are a ton of people here that are more successful than less. You have to have a good job to live here. I've met 10-15 guys just by playing a little golf and showing up at a few happy hours and hanging out when invited. All of them make $80k+ and are all 25-35. The further East you go, the wider the demographic group, and thus the harder it is to meet like-minded people. My life has improved a lot since I get invited to things now and I have people to invite. Bungalow on Friday night is a lot more fun with a group of 20 people at a birthday deal than by yourself. Not to mention it's a lot easier to approach other groups.

Padmapper.com is one of the best sites. Roommates are uncomfortable for her, and extremely hard to find good ones.

That 24 hr pass probably doesn't work at the SM location off of Olympic. Check it out.

[slubu]

Dammit all this talk makes me want to move to Santa Monica.

[DVY]

@Cap7- What area in SM would you choose (off of Broadway/Colorado)? Closer towards 3rd street (say 5th) or higher up?

Hows the cabbing situation during the weekdays? Is it a problem?

A buddy off mine really likes 11th and montana. Niche coffeeshops, young professional girls, etc. Thoughts?

[CaP7]

(01-29-2013 02:07 PM)DVY Wrote:  

@Cap7- What area in SM would you choose (off of Broadway/Colorado)? Closer towards 3rd street (say 5th) or higher up?

Hows the cabbing situation during the weekdays? Is it a problem?

A buddy off mine really likes 11th and montana. Niche coffeeshops, young professional girls, etc. Thoughts?

I'm only speaking in generalities here. There are all kinds of exceptions here for great spots to live in SM. I mentioned Broadway/Colorado because there are less expensive places there in good neighborhoods for reasonable. Montana has a lot of 30's and 40's single women looking for a rich husband. Father's office has some hotties, but R&D Kitchen is at 14th and Montana and that has a definite rep. We all say R&D stands for Rich and Divorced. If you're specifically targeting younger, I would stay away from that area. Plus there isn't any real value to that area. An extra $400/month for access to some coffee shops? 1bd there is $2k/mo. You'll find that the soccer moms and strollers will be a turnoff as well.

Why not along Pico, West of the SMC? $5 cab ride to everywhere, and you can get a spot for $1,500k/mo. Easy commute, you'll have a good neighborhood that's probably filled with people you will actually like, young slutty girls, and awesome things to do everywhere you look. North of Wilshire can get stuffy. If I wasn't as sensitive about my commute to the Valley, I would live here. Right now I'm around 26th and Santa Monica. I pay $1,450, but I have a sweet setup for having people over, including 2 parking spaces. I just moved in a few months ago. It takes work to find good spots anywhere.

Cabs are extremely easy to get during the week. Multiple cab companies only cover Santa Monica. The only trouble I've ever had was along Main St after midnight. I solved that problem with Uber app. If you don't know about it, now you do.