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Simmzy’s Long Beach

Want to have a nice meal with good food and drink but don’t want to deal with having to dress up? Then Simmzy’s is your place.

Founded by brothers Mike Simms, who also owns Tin Roof Bistro and M.B. Post, and Chris Simms, owner of Lazy Dog Cafe, Simmzy’s is a casual pub with an upscale menu — a gastropub, if you will. Chef Anne Conness works it out with creative (but not too creative as to be off-putting) dishes, such as the Bacon & Date Mascarpone Pizza and the addictive Blue Cheese Haystack (shoestring fries smothered in blue cheese dressing, garlic and spicy sauce).

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June Gloom. From Grubstreet Los Angeles.

You’ve spent many a day and night drinking beers at Venice beach — this much is a given. But have you ever thought that Venice should have its own brew? Well, longtime bar manager Tim Benedick and actor Kerr Smith, both Venice residents, recently launched Venice Beach Beer Company to fill this (seeming) void.

But how do you bottle the essence of Venice? Benedick and Smith have come up with two brews: Venice, an American amber ale with a blend of caramel and biscuit malts packed with five different hops, and June Gloom, a white Belgian beer combining the tastes of coriander and orange peel with a “cleaner” yeast than is usually used in this style.

“Venice is more than a laid-back beach town. It’s also a cutting-edge, artsy, in-your-face kind of town, too,” said Smith, perhaps best known for his stint as Jack McPhee on “Dawson’s Creek.” “That’s what we mean when we say Venice in a bottle: a blend of mellow malty flavor with aggressive hops. The two combine for sweet (beach-like) flavor with a hoppy (in-your-face, edgy) flavor.”

Venice Beach Beer Company plans to produce approximately 1,000 barrels in its first year. Find the brews at Venice Beach’s Hinano Cafe, Larry’s, Chaya Venice, Venice Beach Wines and Whole Foods on Lincoln Boulevard, among other places. A third brew, AWOL (Always West of Lincoln) IPA, will be available next year, and plans for a retail location are in the works.

Further reading:

Where to Find Venice Beach Beer Company’s First Two Brews by Grubstreet Los Angeles

Mohawk Bend, Echo Park’s new restaurant in a converted movie theater with an impressive 72 beer taps, is a great place for a drink and light meal. Appetizers and salads, as well as a nicely curated beer list, are the stars here, and the atmosphere is lively if a bit crowded. But where Mohawk Bend excels, it overreaches in other areas, especially when it comes to burgers and pizza.

Dining room at Mohawk Bend

...and behind the curtains, the back room

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Recess happy hour at Public School 612

If you’ve been to the downtown L.A. Daily Grill lately, you may have noticed a separate bar space just past the host stand. That’s Public School 612 (AKA PS 612), a new gastropub concept from the owners of the Daily Grill restaurants. This is the first of what the owners hope will be many PS 612 locations.

The bar opens every day at 4:00 p.m. and features food and drink, including a nicely edited beer list. There’s also a Recess happy hour on weekdays from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. with a bar bites menu that tops out at $4. The drink specials don’t include the bar’s cocktails, but there’s a $4 handle of beer (that’s actually available all night long), a $5 Skinny Margarita and a $10 carafe of wine.

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As I’ve previously written, this year’s L.A. Street Food Fest was held at the Rose Bowl, and it was a fun and flavorful event. I had a really great time. Unfortunately for the organizers, it was held over Carmageddon weekend when a portion of the 405 freeway was shut down, and that affected attendance. However, the lack of a big crowd and long lines probably contributed to my enjoyment, so it was a catch 22. I hope it all evens out next year!

Here were some of my favorite bites from this year’s event.

Baja Bites

Sea Urchin Tostada by Sabina Bandera of La Guerrerense

Pacific Oyster Asada w/ chicharron short rib, serrano ponzu butter, lemongrass foam by Javier Plascencia of Mision 19

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Eva's fried chicken

This Tuesday, June 22, Eva Restaurant is offering an all-you-can-eat-and-drink deal with Eureka North County pilsner and fried chicken for $25 per person. Actually, the special is being marketed as all-you-can-drink beer with “free” fried chicken, but we all know nothing is free. In any case, Eva’s fried chicken is pretty darn good, which I’ve said before, so this should be a great way to experience it. And it’s the only food that will be offered on this night, so hopefully you like it! And if the night is a success, then the restaurant may continue the special deal on a weekly basis.

The downtown location of Chaya, a Japanese-French brasserie mini chain, has recently launched a weekly beer garden menu available on its patio every Monday night throughout the summer. This is a once-a-week special menu offered in addition to its everyday happy hour menu, both of which are available all night from 5:00 p.m. to close. Not too shabby!

The beer garden menu features yakitori skewers ($2 each) grilled on the patio on new hibachis and include chicken, short rib, beef tongue, shrimp and shiitake mushrooms. I was recently invited by the restaurant to try the new skewers, and I liked the chicken the best, which shows mastery in grilling skills, I’d say. All the others were good, too, though the shiitake were a bit dry for my taste. Maybe top them with some of that teriyaki or chimichurri sauce that come on the other skewers?

Yakitori, from top: shrimp, beef tongue, shiitake, short rib and chicken

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Eastside favorite LAMill just announced the addition of beer, wine and sake to its menu, including two new drinks. The Tea Champagne drink is made with Imperial Palace Brut Blanc de Blancs and LAMill’s Organic White Pomegranate or Holiday in the Cup tea. The Black & Black is half Old Rasputin Imperial Russian Stout and half iced organic LAMill house coffee. That one sounds way too heavy for my palate, but if you try it, let us know what you thought of it! Expect a variety of wines, sparkling wines, beers (especially the Japanese kind) and sakes.

I’ve been to Rush Street a few times before, but I had never been for brunch. So when I was invited to try out the Chicago-themed restaurant’s weekend menu, I figured, Why not? There’s a bloody mary bar, after all, and even though I’m not a big bloody mary fan, I like the idea. So I went to see what else Rush Street had to offer.

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Where can you get a glass of cold beer, a bowl of crawfish and play nostalgic games all in once place? Try West 4th/Jane in Santa Monica. The newish bar opened in June just across the street from Border Grill in the old 3 on Fourth space. It’s an understated place, which is kind of refreshing for Santa Monica, but that doesn’t mean it’s totally no frills. The beer list is vast and includes everything from Schlitz to Allagash, and the food menu is just as varied, from tater tots to mussels.

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