Bigfoot Lodge has a Westside sibling
Lovers of the campy (pun intended) Bigfoot Lodge in Atwater Village can now enjoy that campiness (again with the pun) in the Culver City/West LA area, though in a more grown-up, slightly more sophisticated setting than its Eastside counterpart. (The bar is soft-open now; the official opening is this Wednesday, July 22.)
Gone are the cartoonish stuffed animals. In their stead are actual taxidermied animals (stag heads and the like) and a totem pole featuring the likeness of Sasquatch itself. Of course the log cabin feel is still apparent, with the walls lined in wood taken from the “Yes Man” set replica of the bar. Oh, and there’s no sign outside, so look for the sizable wood-crafted patio just down Venice Boulevard from Saints & Sinners, also from the same owners, the 1933 Group.
This location, dubbed Bigfoot West, also features the bar’s signature drinks ($10 each): the Toasted Marshmallow served with a flaming ‘mallow, the minty Girl Scout Cookie, the fruity Dudley Do-Right, and the hair-raising Sasquatch.
Toasted Marshmallow aflame at the bar
The bar held a VIP soft-opening party last week, and along with Caroline of Caroline on Crack and Natalie of The Liquid Muse, I partook in some of the bar’s offerings. Since I’ve had the incredibly strong Sasquatch before (though at the Atwater Village location the drink was served in a larger glass and not in the sugar-rimmed martini glass that I saw here), I opted for a different specialty cocktail and went with the Dudley Do-Right. That was a mistake. Not that it tasted bad, but it was just way too sweet for my taste. Had I read the description more closely, I would have known. It’s made with Canadian Club whiskey, amaretto, cranberry juice and lime. So the very nice bartender Ian made me a new drink that looked just like the Dudley Do-Right but didn’t taste anything like it: a Kentucky Apple (you’ll have to ask Ian for it because it’s his creation) with Wild Turkey, Apple Pucker, cranberry juice, and sweet and sour. Now, it sounds overwhelmingly sweet, but it wasn’t — it had just the right amount of sweetness to make Wild Turkey drinkable!
Bartender Ian pouring Caroline a Manhattan
The Kentucky Apple Ian made me. Not sure why they insist on using that unecessarily tall glass.
There is also a decent list of bourbons, whiskeys, scotches and ryes to choose from, as well as something that co-owner Dimitri Komarov called the Horny Goat: a “sexual tonic” made from bark, ants, deer antler and gogi berries. It’s not fully fermented yet, but Komarov assured us that a recent taste test proved it is well on its way. I think I’ll pass, thanks.
Lots o' booze
