Is the Lava Lounge worth a $23 Mai Tai - Is it worth $100 for 4 Mai Tais?

Not having been to the Lava Lounge in far too long, missing the mid-week Tiki-Ti excursion and working late, I visited the Lava Lounge for a quick Mai Tai.

However, the parking fee was $5 and I don't want to tempt fate by parking in the lot on Sunset, less the towing company abscond with my car.

The admission $5(unfortunately awful garage bands -not like the Mai Kai gents last time I was there.

The Mai Tai was $13 (12 + 1 tip).
No complaints about the Mai - Tai, well presented with fresh pineapple and a hula girl swizzle.

I also think Lava Lounge pours the strongest Mai Tai in town, by far. It will knock your socks off!

Not that the Lava Lounge isn't worth $23, it is, with its incredible space age tiki decor (although it could use more tiki.

However, I may have to think twice about making quick Lava Lounge visits a regular passtime - as I will spend approx $100 just for 4 Mai Tais on 4 separate nights!

The short answer is no. Though, it is worth it if a really good band is playing, because the Lava Lounge is such a cool place. As far as the parking, I've always had luck in the neighborhood across the street.

I've seen the Blue Hawaiians there on a few very packed occasions and it's really a amazing place. Too bad Hollywood is such a Hellish place to go now.
The "bling-bling", hip hop, reality tv, Jessica Simpson generation who have overrun the town has uttered the place uninhabitable.

It was my home from 1995-2002 and it was really great until around 2001, then it turned into what it is now...like watching MTV or a bad reality show.

[ Edited by: tikiyaki on 2005-04-22 07:07 ]

I've never had a problem parking for free there. I ususally park across the street, I've even asked a couple businesses there (as they were closing for the night), they said "it's fine"
And yes, their Mai-tais are super strong, easily a double. But $1 on a $12 drink (which is a drink price expected almost anywhere in Hollywood) that's less than 10% tip??? Save the parking fee and tip an extra buck.
I have yet to have a bad time there, so I'd say it's worth it!

Consider the cost per mai-tai at the Lava Lounge (which I have never been to) if I were to make a visit .... cross-country airtrip, rental car, a couple of nights in a hotel. That could end up being in excess of $600 per drink, if I were to have just one. I would just have to drink more mai-tais, to lower the average cost per drink, to perhaps $100 or lower per drink. (Tiki Economics 101 - save money by drinking more)

Of course, if I were to come to L.A., it would be for a combination of other factors, and it is way easier to splurge on a higher priced drink when one is on vacation. And being far from home and work, one has the luxury of consuming four mai-tais in one evening, rather than being forced to squeeze time for a single drink amongst your regular work and social commitments.

It is all a balance - in a world full of choices, where do we spend our free time and our free money. Do we find a single favorite location, and visit it as often as we can? Or do we venture out and sample as many different places as we can - even if it means flying cross-country - and treating a visit to a favorite local place as a more rare event, but one with more of a 'welcome home' feel to it.

Vern

On 2005-04-22 09:35, laney wrote:
But $1 on a $12 drink (which is a drink price expected almost anywhere in Hollywood) that's less than 10% tip??? Save the parking fee and tip an extra buck.

Thanks Laney! (Unga..fellow bartender)

Cover charges suck. If you are going to have a basic cover charge just to go in a place, you should offer a membership card that gives a huge break. If there is a band you have to pay, that's another story. But $5 just to go inside is hard to swallow. I prefer an option like a drink minimum. I'm just cheap..er I mean thrifty.

Just curious... Is there a happy hour 2-for-1 special deal at all that you could save some cabbage with? I live near The Mai Kai, and tend to go often for happy hour with friends. That includes appetizers too. Wednesdays during happy hour includes free sushi rolls, I believe.

Maybe if there is a 2-for-1 special there, you could indulge in 4 drinks for the price of two?

I agree! Cover charges bite!
~L

On 2005-04-22 07:07, tikiyaki wrote:
Too bad Hollywood is such a Hellish place to go now.
The "bling-bling", hip hop, reality tv, Jessica Simpson generation who have overrun the town has uttered the place uninhabitable.

[ Edited by: tikiyaki on 2005-04-22 07:07 ]

Too late, it was ruined by those long-haired sandal wearing, Bob Dylan hippie types and has gone down hill since. Damn kids.

On 2005-04-21 20:16, christiki295 wrote:
I visited the Lava Lounge for a quick Mai Tai.

There should never be such a thing as a "quick mai tai". (But I know what you meant.)

Ya Gotta Go!!!
Don't let the popularity of "dark Bars" or the increase in $$cocktails$$ keep you from hangin out at one of the coolest bars in Hollywood.

Pricey... but worth it!!!

or... buy a bottle of rum from the LQR Store- next door, sit in your car and guzzle and order ice waters from the BTender all nite!!! (JK)

Hollywood is great and there is a lot going on there now. On the weekend nigths there are people everywhere and it is alive. Tiki Ti is close by and so is the Lava Lounge.There are lots of old buildings with great architecture. And great drinks are costly but lets face it you go to these places once in a while and it is worth every penny. And please tip better, bartenders seem to remember good tippers. Specially if the drinks are well made.

I hear ya! I spent the better part of a c-note at Tiki Ti this last Wednesday on Ray's Mistakes and tips....but worth every penny! Whatever the cover charge will be at Lava Lounge on Tuesday May 3rd (I think I heard $4.00) it will be worth it to see a pre-Oasis appearance of the Fisherman Trio!!! 9:00 P.M. show time. Be there!! (You, too, hiltiki!!) As for parking, that night I intend to play it safe, pay $3.00 for a pass, and take the Gold Line to the Red Line, and just walk over from Grauman's. Then I can sleep on the way home, rather than worrying about an early morning "visit" from our friends the CHP!