It’s a Saturday night, I’m buzzing, and I just took a picture in a photo booth that smells like my grand-mother’s closet. I step out of the booth and start bobbing my head to Violent Femmes’s “Add It On”. I take a look around and I’m almost convinced that I’m inside the mind of a mad man, or Morpheus has just offered me the red pill. My friend leans over and shouts, “check out those two lesbians.” I look over and I see two women dressed in lingerie, wearing masquerade masks, and freaking each other. And that’s when I realize: I love this place.

 

I was at the infamous Bar 107 smack dab in the middle of downtown Los Angeles. From the outside, there is nothing special about the place except a small sign reading, “Old Style”.

http://www.damionwagner.com/portfolio/websites/bar107/index.html

Once you enter, you are magically whisked away to another world. The decor is unexplainable. There is no consistency to anything. There’s a deer head wearing a trucker’s hat, a picture of Don Rickles, and the leg lamp from “The Christmas Story”.

There is a small dance floor in the middle of the bar. The music is definitely eccentric but that certainly goes with the theme of the bar. The great thing about the dance floor is that no matter how bad you dance no one seems to care. In fact, the weirder you dance the more you fit in.

 

And just when you thought it couldn’t get any weirder, in the far back of the bar is a smaller bar, serving drinks out of the back a van. That’s right, they serve drinks…out…of…the…back…of…a…van.

 

The drinks are inexpensive and served pretty strong. Four Gin and Tonics ran me $20, and for those of you living in LA, that’s like finding a unicorn in your backyard.

 

The best part of this bar is it’s crowd. You don’t get a sense that anyone is there to show off. It’s a very artsy scene. You can see anything from the punk star to the gay asian gangster. It has something for everyone. There are no long lines to get in, and there’s no need to dress all fancy. This is a place where you can come and just kick back. You can be yourself, and in LA that’s rare.

 

So take it from JohnnyD, if you’re looking for a bar that allows you to be yourself, is decorated by a blind gay midget, and serves cheap drinks, Bar 107 is where you want to be.

I give it 4 out of 5 Neaves

 

 

Bar 107

107 4^th Street

Downtown Los Angeles