Boozehounds, here are the best bars in Hermosa Beach: Blue 32, Cruz Room, Union Cattle Co., Patrick Malloy's, Cafe Boogaloo, Suzy's Bar and Grill, and the Lighthouse. All of those places exceeded occupancy limits in 2007, according to the Daily Breeze, while Paisano's and Sangria was cited for serving minors, Cantina Real twice violated alcohol storage requirement, and The Shore and the Drangon violated its license by selling more alcohol than food. Nice work! All of those spots will likely be mentioned at tonight's meeting about conditional use permits of Hermosa Beach's bars and taverns. And some people, like Sandy Saeman, a 20-year Hermosa Avenue resident who apparently doesn't party at all, is upset about all the drunken fools. "I'm asking all the people that are tired of watching people urinate on their houses, people tired of hearing noises screaming into the night to come down," Saeman tells the paper. At the meeting, the Planning Commission could decide to revoke or revise conditional use permits. At least one restaurant owner cries foul, says crime decreased in the past year and the bar/restaurant scene "contributed to only a fraction of the city's total disturbance calls."
· To party or not to party ... tonight's review has bar complaints on tap [Daily Breeze]

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Listing price: $3.5 million
Property: 8,842 SF building on 7,143 SF lot; includes nightclub, art gallery and car repair place.

We first featured the Club Los Globos property last May and were sure it would have sold by now. Sadly, no. It's a great location, although the listing is a bit strange. Can you really call this the Sunset Strip? And furthermore, what exactly is a milking cow? Is a cow included or is that a misstated metaphor ("cash cow"). And is this dingy corner of Silver Lake really a "hotspot" tourist destination, and what third-world country are these tourists from? So many questions.

After 30 years in the business the seller's have decided to retire!!!
World Famous "Sunset Strip" Night Club, Bar & Restaurant..Milking Cow..
For Sale Real Estate & Business Opportunity. Over 30 years established in the same Location. PLUS an Art Gallery & Auto Repair shop on the same premises... LAND IS SUITABLE 100% COMMERCIAL OR MIX USE RESIDENTIAL. "HOTSPOT" TOURIST DESTINATION.

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[SBE's Privilege shrouded in Stoli; picture via reader]

HOLLYWOOD - Despite having her Malibu castle destroyed during the first run of Malibu wildfires, we learned over the weekend that the "People's Princess" Lilly Lawrence was kind enough to bring food to the picketing writers outside Paramount Studios. She loses, but she still gives. We love you People's Princess. [CurbedWire Staff]

BEVERLY GROVE - The pop-up store trend continues. More info about Rhino Records' temporary shelter for December at 8032 West Third Street, near the Grove. Via the presser: "The Third Street outlet will offer customers a chance to see and feel limited edition boxed sets, silkscreen posters, fine art photographs, and other Rhino merchandise in person rather than rely on the thumbnail images and sound samples that are the currency of the digital domain." [CurbedWire Inbox]

HOLLYWOOD - The wrapped facade of SBE's Privilege generated a question awhile ago. Via the grapevine (actually Eater), we learn it's just another renovation turning the space into another supper club-du-jour. It keeps the fickle clientele happy. However, a reader sends in the above photo of the Stoli ads surrounding the place. Once removed we should be treated to another Philippe Starck concoction. We're looking for renderings! (hint,hint). [CurbedWire Inbox]

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[The Chapman Flats, Downtown, now with Orange stucco]

HOLLYWOOD: We'd heard the clubs were doomed, but now a reader tells us so. "I just heard that the property that houses Circus Disco and Arena (two large gay nightclubs in case you didn't know) along with Pennsylvania Building Supply was sold for $62 million and plans are for mixed-use/housing development." Our research found that the project, identified as "The Lexington," is being developed by DS Ventures and will contain 687 new condos. We are still looking for renderings. [CurbedWire Inbox]

LOS ANGELES: Tomorrow, the city's new Green Building Program goes before the City Planning Commission at a meeting in Van Nuys. Basically, any project with 50+ new dwelling units or 50,000 square feet of floor area will have to meet the intent of LEED certification. An email we received questions the "vagueness" of the new standards and the additional costs to go green, that will eventually get passed on to homebuyers. (Full Disclosure: Curbed LA's Josh participated in several of the stakeholder workshops for this program). [CurbedWire Inbox]

DOWNTOWN: And from a concerned Downtown pedestrian/stucco hater: "I was walking home yesterday and passed by the Chapman building. They've painted some of the panels above the ground floor orange and it looks really tacky! Looks like they're taking down the glass that used to be there and filling it in with orange stucco?! Also looks like some food joint is going up in the corner ground floor spot as there's several huge cooking air vents. Do you know what's moving in there?" [CurbedWire Inbox]

Our sister Eater LA (via LAist) gets the scoop on Cedd Moses' new ultra-exclusive downtown bar. If you can afford the $2,750 and up membership then maybe you already know its super-secret location near the Staples Center. The rumor we've heard - a basement location inside the old Standard Oil Company on Olympic. It's near the Staples Center. It's got historic and architectural pedigree. It's even got sculpture by Joan Miro and Jean Dubuffet in the garden court (according to the book, An Architectural Guidebook to Los Angeles). Have any insight on where Cedd Moses is installing his fingerprint scanners? Let us know.

UPDATE: A commenter (confirmed by our sister site) tells us the Doheny location is actually going to be in the Petroleum Building across the street at 714 West Olympic Boulevard. Someone got their oil buildings confused.

[Image of Petroleum building from you-are-here]

For a story about San Francisco canceling its famous Halloween party, the NY Times looks at how famous gay neighborhoods like the Castro and West Hollywood are no longer considered gay meccas. The "graying of the [gay] population and the high cost of real estate," notes the Times, are some of reasons why West Hollywood is changing, and why straights are taking over once-gay bars like Spike and the I Candy Lounge. Other gay neighborhoods that may be considered passe are Key West and the West Village, notes the paper, but there's no mention of Silver Lake/Echo Park or that area's vanishing gay bar scene.
· Gay Enclaves Face Prospect of Being Passé [NY Times]

(Photo of the upside-down hanging lamps at the Starck-designed S Bar)

Normally, restaurant and nightlife coverage is left to our sister, and indeed, she provides an excellent write- up of our adventures last night at the new Hollywood Katsuya. But we feel compelled to also post about it, because designer Philippe Starck seems to have fallen on his head, or hit the crack pipe, or had a bastard child with Kelly Wearstler for the design of his new S Bar, hidden behind Katsuya. And we mean that in the best possible way. By now his work for the Mondrian and Delano hotels have become Wallpaper*-cliches. So it's refreshing to see him busting out with Versailles trompe-l'œil (while Versailles was partly under renovation a couple of years ago - funny) and those wacky upside-down lamps. We remarked to Eater we felt like we fell through the looking glass as soon as we walked in - and sure enough, "Alice In Wonderland" was playing on screens in the restroom.

And spotted at the party: Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Curbed LA crush, Councilmember Eric Garcetti. Our mayor apparently likes to hit the hot spots on opening night.

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Fearful that downtown's nightlife scene will be permanently taken over by douchebags, one reader writes in:

"I moved downtown from Brentwood two years ago in part because I wanted to get away from the lame young Hollywood scene prevalent on the Westside. After giving both Elevate & J lounge a couple tries, I must admit that I am sadly disappointed. These clubs think they're Le Deux, Winston's, and even Teddy's all rolled into one. The weird thing is they offer none of the eye-candy or "bragging rights" that these places do in compensation for their horrible service & experience. The sentiment seems to be the same around town, and a quick Yelp search will tell you the same. I came here expecting a bit more refinement, was I expecting too much? Is downtown destined to become West LA's not-so-cool little brother, always trying just a little to hard but coming up short?"

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[image via SavetheBoom.com]

The OC Register reports that Laguna's famed gay bar, and Bill Rosendahl's pet project, will close its doors for good on September 3rd. Not even a desperate appeal to George Clooney and Brad Pitt could save the Boom.

The landmark Laguna Beach gay bar will close its doors permanently Sept. 3 after co-owners Patrick O'Loughlin and James Marchese were unable to reach an agreement with property owner Steven Udvar Hazy.

Although Hazy offered a lease through spring 2008 for the properties housing the Boom Boom Room and the adjacent Coast Inn, O'Loughlin opted to close the bar.

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[Image courtesy of David Bullock aka eecue]

DOWNTOWN - blogdowntown takes a peek inside Elevate Lounge, the new restaurant and lounge atop 811 Wilshire that opens tonight. The adjoining Takami Sushi makes its debut next week, but blogdowntown has the scoop on the space: "The restaurant and lounge sit in a 14,000 square foot space that includes 7,000 square feet of patio. At Elevate, patio and indoor space really merge together as 150 feet of glass door opens up and slides away. The lounge features two bars and a sound system that's tuned to keep the music loud on the dance floor while allowing a more mellow conversation to those on the patio." [blogdowntown]

LOS ANGELES - They're back in the Saddle (Ranch) again! The Real World returns to Los Angeles, 14 years after it first unleashed innocent cowpokes like Jon into the big bad city. The first house was located near Venice Beach on 30th Street. No word yet on where this season's house will be, but we do know its going green: "'The Real World' house will include everything from solar energy solutions to bamboo flooring, recycled glass counters, some sustainable furniture and recycled vintage décor, energy star appliances, a solar heated swimming pool and energy efficient lighting." That will be useful when the new batch of castmates puke all over the environment-friendly decor. [Defamer/Franklin Ave]

COACHELLA VALLEY - If you slept through Tuesday night's earthquake, don't worry. The LA Times holds its own in the fearmongering-and-apocalypse department. Let's sum up this cheery article, "Scientist makes dire earthquake prediction." We are all going to die. We're about 3 centuries overdue for a Really Big One, where "there will be several thousand dead and billions of dollars in damage," according to Lucy Jones, a seismologist at the U.S. Geological Survey. So go ahead, have that second dessert. We're all doomed anyway. Doomed, we tells ya! [LA Times]

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