Palm Springs Bar Crawl - Ideas?

Hopefully, the title will change with a date and time for such an event. As everyone is away, Palm Springs has a long history of being way cool. In a few weeks, Tiki will be celebrated all weekend long. However, modern times for PS hasn't blest its citizens with really great places that serve really great well-made drinks, historical or not.

That being said, I know there has been interest in putting together a Palm Springs Bar Crawl, focused on its history and some of its cool factor.

My question as I think about this is, first, what places would you feel need to be included on such a crawl and secondly, why. I look forward to hearing your responses as this topic unfolds.

My first suggestions are

1. Melvins - A true rat pack hangout,
2. Lord Fletchers - Another historical place with a blowout English pub and barkeep.

3. Shanghai Reds? um... Nice name, it's got to be better than the one in the marina. Nice font too. :)

[ Edited by: Bora Boris 2012-04-22 20:53 ]

4. Lyons
5. Toucans
6. Bar at the hipster hotel that Rory works at (forgot the name)
7. Private Tiki party at the "Diamonds Are Forever" Elrod House. (Set it up Douglas !! :))

John and everyone...

Glad to see you noticed the thread.

What I am looking at are Bars with history - as well as bars with great drinks. Unfortunately, this won't be a tiki themed extravaganza. However, There are some great glamorous places with great (non vodka) drinks being made.

Two that come to mind are Treo and Tropicale. These two places still care about quality drinks.

Lyons - I can't vouch for the drinks and the atmosphere isn't as over the top as Lord Fletchers. My pick would be Fletchers. It was featured on Anthony Bourdain's program and for good reason.

If I had to pick, my top three choices would be

Melvins - Quality drinks at an authentic rat pack establishment.
The Riveria - The whole wow appeal and glamour thing is still going on.
Lord Fletchers - This is your father's prime rib English pub and has to be seen to be appreciated,

As add ons,

Treo and, or Tropicale - These places still care deeply about quality drinks and have an atmosphere that says Palm Springs is still cool.

And for good measure, sure, Toucans -a serious gay bar that welcomes straight people. And, it is somewhat tiki.

When I think about the typical John-O bar crawl, the historic vibe and a mix of modern cool need to run through the trip.

The Parker Hotel has a couple of cool bars, plus the whole place kind of has a weird Mid-century meets pop art kind of vibe.

http://www.theparkerpalmsprings.com/

On 2012-04-23 10:23, Jason Wickedly wrote:
The Parker Hotel has a couple of cool bars, plus the whole place kind of has a weird Mid-century meets pop art kind of vibe.

http://www.theparkerpalmsprings.com/

O' ya. Forgot about this one. I think I'll stop by tonight and see what the vibe is like.

On 2012-04-23 09:32, telescopes wrote:

Lyons - I can't vouch for the drinks and the atmosphere isn't as over the top as Lord Fletchers.

My pick would be Fletchers.

But Lord Fletchers doesn't have the mid-century pedigree, it opened in the Disco late 1970's. :(

Lyons has been in business since 1938 !! :)

[ Edited by: JOHN-O 2012-04-23 12:47 ]

Telescopes --

I can vouch for the drinks at Lyon's -- I've had great Manhattans, and other old-school drinks there a number of times (with large sidecars). (And the excellent food, though probably not part of the bar crawl.) And the fact that their clientele is definitely old-time Palm Springs. And the great old school piano lounge guy on weekends. And that on a lot of Saturday nights, Marvin "Mr. Electric" Roy (as seen on Ed Sullivan, Merv Griffin, etc. back in the 60s and 70s) does card tricks at the table (at least for a limited time--he's 86 or 87). The interior has had some makeovers (though hard to complain about a giant Winston Churchill in stained glass), but still has the vibe to be a worthy stop on a crawl.

Caltiki Brent

Ditto with Telescopes, Melvyns (1925) The Riviera, The Parker, Elrod House would be a dream...now if we are thinking spy theme, we could do the Aerial Tramway to the top and pretend we are in Rio and have some people stand in as James and Jaws (MOONRAKER).....any volunteers?

Also Pinocchios...I'm reaching I know..they have tropical umbrellas...we could bring a special Tiki nose for the Pinocchio!

Susie "Kuke" Combs

On 2012-04-23 09:32, telescopes wrote:

The Riveria - The whole wow appeal and glamour thing is still going on.

WooHoo for The Riveria!!! Very Swanky Place to go for a Cocktail :)

The martinis at Lyon's are pretty good - and the entertainment and atmosphere are great.
This sounds like a lot of fun, please count us in.
teresa & tim

"The Purple Room" at Club Trinidad is historic (albeit a dive) but should be on any historic bar crawl (many of the Rat Pack allegedly performed and ate Spagetti there. Birba is a cool newer place (so not much history) and is a short walk from Trio (located next to SHAG the store with both in the same historic Albert Frey designed building). I'll even open up SHAG the store for a private crawler gathering and Complimentary Special Cocktail!

"The Purple Palm" in the Colony Palms Hotel is historic. This hotel was once partially owned by boxer Jack Dempsy. It was originally named Colonial House in 1936 by owner Al wertheimer (a reputed gangster with his Purple Gang) and it served as an underground gambling house and Brothel. It was later purchased by Robert Howard (owner of race horse Seabiscuit - of the movie fame) after World War II and renamed Howard Manor. This is also walking distance from Birba and Trio.

Copley's, mostly a restaurant, but with a decent bar, was Cary Grants guest house back in the 40's and has excellent food too. It's also in walking distance of the other places mentioned.

My friend Rory (aka "Wildsville Man") occasionally bar tends at Saguaro Hotel. This new place which was formerly a Holiday Inn has been around for decades too and is really cool. They're other hotel, The Ace, is also a lot of fun in their "Amigo Room" and this was originally a Howard Johnsons Hotel in 1965 with the restaurant "Kings Highway" formerly a Denny's.

Lyon's English Grille was, and still is, owned by The Lyons family and opened in 1938! The old man still lives down the street from us.

The Parker was first a Holiday Inn and then purchased by cowboy Gene Autry in 1963 and later renamed The Gene Autry Hotel. It was later sold and became "Givenchy" (the well known brand of Hubert de Givenchy) and was later sold to Merv Griffin and renamed "The Merv Griffin Givenchy" (horrible sounding name). It was then purchased by the Parker Meridian hotel group and redone almost entirely to a very good "Hollywood Regency" type decor by famed designer (and pottery guy) "Jonathan Adler" with the name later being shortened to The Parker.

That should be a good start! Also, mention Jay and MiShell sent you to The Tropicale and you'll be treated especially well (we eat there often and the owners are friends & SHAG fans).

[ Edited by: mmoderntiki 2012-04-23 22:29 ]

Now we are talking.

I can vouch for the Amigo Room at King's Highway. A true John-O dive bar that makes excellent drinks. By the way, the Parker is way mid-century cool and worth it.

I do like Lyon's quite a bit and it would probably work out as a great place to have dinner as well, plus it keeps us in Palm Springs proper.

Please, keep these great ideas coming.

I cleaned up the text and added some additional history to my previous post a couple back!

[ Edited by: mmoderntiki 2012-04-24 14:56 ]

Thank you mmoderntiki for these great suggestions.

Here is Proposal One. Proposal two, a walking tour, to follow later.

Here is just one possible route that emphasizes historical, hip, cool, and epitomizes Palm Springs and the Rat Pack with a little Dive thrown in for John. I call it the 111 bus line route as all of the places are connected via a short ride on the 111.

Begin at the Ingleside Inn at Melvyns for meet and drink.

Journey via a very short bus ride to Lyon's for a fuel stop and soak in the old English atmosphere of prime rib and steak.

Catch the bus again and stop at the Ace Hotel for some relaxing muddled drinks at their Amigo Room, pool side.

A short ride to Club Trinidad to gaze at Club Trindad's Purple Room and then

off to the Parker where you can explore the craziest and coolest mid-century grounds in the desert. Just don't get lost in their maze of outdoor gardens and fountains.

Suggestion 2

This is a walking tour.

Begin at the Riviera - then drive to
Trio,
From there, walk to Copley's and then on to
Birba with a short walk to the
Purple Palm and/or perhaps the
Tropicale.

We can also visit the Shag store along the way.

Check with the above mentioned posts to read the history behind each.

Each of these suggestions will provide bar crawler a worthwhile experience and some eye candy along the way.

[ Edited by: telescopes 2012-04-24 13:17 ]

To anyone who is interested, but namely, John-O, I am scoping out bar crawl walks for Palm Springs.

Next Friday, May 11th, I am leading a group of locals on an experimental bar crawl. If successful, I will report my findings to the group here in hopes that eventually, John-O can bring his talents to Palm Springs and take us all on a crawl for the memory books.

We are calling this crawl, "Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue" in honor of a young attendee who is getting married next month. Yes, a June wedding.

Starting at 3:00 on Friday, we will meet at Trio. This is the something borrowed. It has had many names over the years and is Rory's old place of work. They even mention his contribution on the menu. Plus, they make fantastic drinks.

At 4:00, we will walk to the Purple Palms, the notorious hangout of Chicago gangsters. They, sitting at the pool-side bar, we will remember what Palm Springs used to be. This is our something blue. At 5:00, we will walk to Birba, our something new, and at 5:30 or so, we will finish our evening at Copley's, Cary Grant's old guest house and our something old.

Wouldn't it be great if we stop at the Shag store and really put this evening over the top with PS in all in the air?

We'll see.

If you are in the area, you are certainly invited to join us. Right now, it's a group of 12, but to tell the truth, I'd love to have some tc'ers along for the ride.

Had cocktails and dinner at ACE last year and would highly recommend it.

I took a group of 30 on a crawl to the following: The Shag Store, Trio, The Purple Palm, The Blue Coyote (we waited for Copley's to open) Copley's, and then to Birba.

What a great vibe all of these places sent out. This was certainly an easy walk and anyone of them would be enjoyed by visitors to PS this weekend.

Love the idea of a Palm Springs bar crawl -- so many great ones to choose from! If you're going to Melvyn's, think about stopping at the Viceroy next door, too. Their gardens are beautiful, and a great place to enjoy an old-fashioned! Hope to be able to join you guys for this!

I just got back from Palm Springs this evening and I just wanted to thank everyone with all the great suggestions. I usually go to Melvins every time I visit Palm Springs but decided to try some of the mentioned places instead. My favorite was the Purple Room followed by Copley's and Tropicale. We couldn't go to Lyons or Lord Fletcher they are closed Mondays and Tuesdays. We checked out the Purple Room one afternoon but that was closed also.