Across a small parking lot from The Roxy Theater on the Sunset Strip is the Rainbow Bar & Grill . Opened in 1972 by some of the same team that started Whiskey A Go Go, is the longest continuously operating restaurant and club on the Sunset Strip (the Whiskey opened first, but was closed for 4 years). People often mistakenly refer to it as the Rainbow Room in Los Angeles, but it’s technically in the city of West Hollywood, and the Rainbow Room is actually a historic restaurant and nightclub in New York.
Story
Before becoming Rainbow Bar & Grill, it was the Villa Nova restaurant , owned by film director Vincente Minelli. He proposed to Judy Garland at the restaurant in 1945. Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio went on their first date there in 1953.
Despite its name and its West Hollywood location, “The Bow” is not a gay bar, but a rock and roll icon. When it was opened, the name was to reflect the peace and freedom of the post-Vietnam 1970s and the persistence of music culture on the Sunset Strip after the curfew riots a few years earlier.
The Rainbow Bar & Grill’s opening event in 1972 was a party for Elton John that set the tone for a parade of pop-rock stars that evolved from ’70s idols John Lennon, Keith Moon, Grace Slick, Ringo Starr, Neil Diamond, Janis Joplin, Led Zeppelin and Alice Cooper to the heavy metal bands that took over The Strip in the ’80s, such as Mötley Crüe, Poison and Guns N’ Roses. Lemmy from Motorhead lived a couple of blocks away and had a designated chair at the back bar.
The restaurant downstairs and the small Over the Rainbow music and dance club upstairs are still frequented by strip-hitting musicians and wannabes, as well as an interesting array of current and retired pornstars.
The place
The Rainbow is a casual, old-school restaurant and dive bar on the ground floor with large red vinyl booths, dark wood, and every inch of wall space filled with rock star snapshots. You could easily imagine it as the setting for a gangster movie, but you may have seen it in some Guns N ‘Roses music videos.
There is an outdoor patio with plastic tables and chairs where you can sit and enjoy the constant flow of eccentric humanity into the dark interior. Climbing a steep staircase, the wood-floored Over the Rainbow has live music or DJs and dances with a bar and stools to one side.
Most of the bands are rock and blues with an open mic night on Mondays.
The restaurant is known for having decent Italian and American food and prices not outrageous for the neighborhood. Their pizza, burgers, and Caesar salad are much appreciated. The bar is popular for serving reasonably strong drinks for the price, but nothing too fruitful.
Entertainment
The Rainbow Bar & Grill has discontinued maintaining an entertainment calendar on its website. Follow them on Facebook or Twitter to see who’s playing.
The Rainbow Bar & Grill
9015 Sunset Blvd
West Hollywood, CA 90069
(310) 278-4232
www.rainbowbarandgrill.com
Lunch: Monday to Friday from 11 am to 4 pm
Dinner: 7 days from 5 pm to 2 am
Over the Rainbow: 9 pm to 2 am
There is a $ 5 charge after 9pm. M. During the week and $ 10 on weekends that can be exchanged for that value in food or drinks inside.
Valet parking is often reported to be slow.
References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbow_Bar_%26_Grill
http://www.yelp.com/biz/rainbow-bar-and-grill-los-angeles
http://thesunsetstrip.com/info/sunset-strip-history
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Lemmy
