Post #415725 by congawa on Mon, Oct 27, 2008 3:03 PM

I had a great time as well! I'd never seen Exotiki before and really enjoyed the mix of Hawaiian steel with the gypsy jazz guitar sounds of Jeff Ross...a great blend. Their version of Dark Eyes was a perfect combination of those two compatible styles. The Lucky Stars--who I've seen countless times before--were great as always, and having seen Mitch and his banjo at the 07 Hillbilly Fest, I was glad to see his band the Royal Deuces. (I had band practice that morning so unfortunately missed Capt. Jeffrey and the Chumbuckets.)

Regarding the mixed drinks, let me first say the Redwood is a great and comfortable place to hangout as others have said, the food at the Redwood is great (I've had the fish & chips a couple times and the burger once and both were excellent) and they have a nice selection of beers...making it a great home for Jeff's Sunday brunch and other events.

However, regarding their mixed drinks....on a previous visit I ordered their $12 mai tai and was severely disappointed--not right ingredients, and a near-Shirley Temple-amount of rum in a giant glass. Since the Redwood has a pirate/nautical theme its something they will hopefully remedy with time (especially with a nearby Trader Vic's opening soon). I haven't tried their other mixed drinks on the menu so I can't vouch yay or nay and those may be good--I stuck to beer yesterday. (I also won't grade them on my earlier attempt to guide them through making a Moscow Mule, since it's almost a trick question for anyplace other than the Tam O Shanter.) But despite that, its a fun place (they still have the big red phone hotline from the LA Times office back when this was the hangout for hard-drinking reporters), and easy to find parking on a Sunday afternoon.