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Many tourists, when in New York City love to go to a dessert shop called Serendipity Three. Supposedly Marilyn Monroe ate one of their frozen hot chocolates. That's all fine and dandy to me, but if I'm going to look for an old-timer-celebrity hang out spot, it's not going to be a quaint and bubbly dessert shop.
It's going to be a bar.
Yes, a hole-in-the-wall bar where tourists frown upon going into. A bar where not only one celebrity, but hundreds of the biggest names past and present got drunk.
"What are you talkin' bout Willis?" I'm talking about The Formosa Café right on Santa Monica and Formosa, next to the old Warner Bros. lot when it was located in Hollywood. During the nighttime on weekends, there are several locals, during happy hour, there's just a handful. There are no tourists in sight.
Places like this are not advertised in movies.
Along the wall there are candid photos, not headshots, of everyone that's frequented. The Rat and Brat Pack, Marilyn and Marlon, Bergman, Hitchcock, Gable, Pickford, West, Ball, Arnez. The bartender even says that Keifer Sutherland frequents the place as one of his many stops on a Saturday night, has a few boiler makers, throws a 24-like fit, and storms out. (I'm just joking about the 24-like fit part). They still shoot the series True Blood in The Lot next door, so my guess is the cast gets their drink on at the café too.
When in the Formosa Café, you do not get the sense that celebrities went here for a photo op with the press. They went here for privacy, to get a date (especially if that was Marilyn) drunk, talk candidly and conduct behind the counter deals on whatever that might be. Now that's history to me.
BTW: Their most noted cocktail, their Mai Tai, isn't half that bad.
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Went here about a month ago for a birthday gathering. We arrived pretty early, so it was dead.
The space - worn down, and a weird layout. The main bar/dining room is just long and narrow with old banquettes. Inside, there are restrooms - single toilet kinda thing for each gender. Luckily, there was never a line when I had to go.
The outside patio is pretty large, and they serve food out there as well. Someone in the party ordered the wasabi fries - awful. They were basically fries poorly tossed in wasabi powder or something. Most of the fries were regular, then you'd get one that was WASABI! Blech.
The drinks - they were ok. Well drinks were about $8 a pop. Oh, yeah, there's a bar on the outside patio too.
Also outside is another restroom. It was pretty much like a gas station restroom. Blah.
I don't think it ever got really crowded. We were there until it closed.
I would only go here again for a gathering of some sort - but not as a regular place to hang out.
This place takes me back.
L.A. Confidential. Damn.
Oh, yeah...drinks are cheap.
Over-rated. This closet almost closed once. Luckily for their regulars they stayed open, but I really don't know too many people who frequent this little dive. Sort of small-time to me; why hang around here where it's too cramped even for a midget mouse when you can be having a good time 15-20 blocks west? Or, until a few years ago, at the great Fame Cafe?... (R.I.P.... *sniffle*).
This review is based on bar only. I did not eat. But not opposed! Just had come from Jones, still full from delicious pizza and salad.
As a native Los Angelesian, I'm ashamed to say this was my first time to the WeHo staple bar. But so glad I finally made it in!
My friend and I were in a spontaneous up for anything mood and decided to give Formosa a shot. We wound up having a lovely time at the dimly lit kitschy bar, with our stiff drinks from the kind bartender and friendly conversation from the non-tattooed-inspired-shirt clad men at the bar.
This place is great because you could go with just one friend for a mellow, yet fun night out. Or, you could go with a group and grab a table and a bite.
It's an LA classic, so everyone should give it a shot at least once. I'll be back.
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This review is only about the bar. This place has history and character which ranks high in my book. Formosa doesn't seem to get too crowded here since it's not exactly the "flavor of the moment". I haven't tried their food. It's a good place to stop by for a drink without worrying about waiting in a line to get in.
Formosa Cafe kind of makes me think of Bette Davis's character in "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?" Not because it's insane, just sort of decayed and obvious in its oldness. If you're currently saying to yourself, 'huh?' because you don't know the actress or the movie, that's okay-Formosa seems a little forgotten too.
It lacks the glamor of its days as a celebrity haunt and unlike Musso & Frank's, Canter's or The Dresden, the popularity seems to have waned as well. But I still like it, darn it. The food may very well suck, but it has enough elements that hint at its heyday to keep me coming around for $5 happy hour cocktails (from 4 to 7 weekdays), like the lantern-like lighting with little birds adorning their milky glass panes, mirrored "Guys" and "Dolls" signs for the bathrooms that feature illustrations so weathered they must be original, and photos of celebrities who in their day were undoubtedly relevant, but who faded into obscurity as soon as their frame mountings started yellowing.
Granted, maybe some would argue those photos could be replaced for modern ones, and maybe the furniture and paint too, but really, there's nothing wrong about getting old other than denying that reality.
The staff are all friendly and helpful and drinks were perfect-bf's dirty gin martini was not awash in olive brine but had enough to merely hint at salty. I know that picking style (and history) over substance isn't necessarily a good bet, but since I don't come here looking to eat, I've found plenty of all three.
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This place has the best Mai Tais in the entire universe. (okay I might have to visit more places or try more Mai Tais) but irregardless they pour them stiff here and the food is not bad-- on the level of PF Changs without the spicy sauce.
Booths are old skool Hollywood cool and the crowd tends to drift older so its a great place to chill, get drunk and stare at old photos of Tinstletown's brightest from years to decades ago.
I was pleasantly surprised by how delicious the food was at The Formosa. It was my first time there and I had business assosciates visiting from the east coast who wanted to experience a bit of what they termed "old Hollywood." They were not disappointed.
I loved the decor and that border line lounge-lizard atmosphere. The Lobster Truffle Mac and Cheese was amazing, the Pad Thai noodles pretty good, great gin martinins and wonderful service.
It's funny, this is a 3 and I still *insist* you should go there. The era of Los Angeles as so far from the rest of America, a stolen Mexican land of hollywood players, hopefuls, and beautiful real estate is over, but you can still experience the relics that stood as hot spots back in the day.
When I get around to making my list of classic bars and places in Los Angeles Formosa Café will be on it. Remember the scene in 'L.A. Confidential'? If you're a movie buff, check it out right before or after you go to Jones accross the street, wonderful for the same reason. I lived in the 'wood for many years, lived a couple blocks away, and the classic charm of Formosa still makes me smile. Notice this review has nothing to do with the service (decent), prices (decent), food (eh) or crowd (eh). Have a martini and pretend you're Veronica Lake.
I love the low lighting and old booths here. The converted railroad car feel in the back lends an old-school vibe to the place as well. Formosa's a really swell place to duck inside in the late afternoon and with some friends and wile away a dissipated hour or four while the sun goes down and the evening customers file in.
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LOVE THE FORMOSA.
I have been here a number of times and I am never disappointed.
My first time here, I was with 2 other people, and we were each completely blown away by how good our food was. Amazing.
The Formosa is a famous little place here in Hollywood. Lots of the studio execs used to eat here back in the day as it's right next to a film studio.
Now, it's a colorful little dive bar / chinese restaurant type place.
It's not very big. But it's got a lot of character!
It's also been in a number of movies and TV shows. Ah, the only one I can think of right now is the live-action TV version of "The Tick". Anyone see it? Patrick Warburton was in it? Anyhow they used to go here a lot in the show. OK That's my lame story.
Anyhow I simply love this place. I hate how all the good restaurants are in Hollywood - there's nothing like this in Boston!!!!!!
* Edit: to show how much I love this place - for prosperity's sake I offer you this: *
The Formosa Cafe doesn't look like much from the outside. An unimpressive, brick-red building with white & black striped awnings, it sits in a particularly faded section of Hollywood, near the corner of Santa Monica & La Brea Boulevards - a corner where hookers have been known to peddle their services even in broad daylight.
But the key to the Cafe's good fortune can be seen just to the west of the place, right across Formosa Avenue (from which the Cafe takes its name): that walled, beige complex next door is none other than Warner Hollywood Studio.
Since the Formosa Cafe is the nearest bar (and restaurant) to that historic movie studio, the little café (which used to be a trolley car) was frequented by just about every movie star in Hollywood. In fact, Formosa still bills itself as the place "where the stars dine".
The walls of the Cafe are lined with over 250 black & white photos of the stars who dined here in the past, a virtual "Who's Who" of Hollywood: James Dean, Frank Sinatra, Paul Newman, Humphrey Bogart, Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe, Clark Gable, Marlon Brando, Jack Benny, Elizabeth Taylor, Jack Webb, Martin & Lewis, Grace Kelly... and these aren't store-bought photos - these pics were autographed and hand-delivered by the celebrities themselves.
The place has been open since 1925, when the studio next door was named United Artists. The Formosa was already almost three decades old when 'Old Blue Eyes' enjoyed their chicken chow mein the day after he won an Oscar for his performance in the film "From Here to Eternity." Marilyn dined here while making the classic "Some Like it Hot." Elvis dropped by while making "Kid Galahad." Bogart was known to favor the bar. You might even be seated in the same red leather booth where Marilyn and Clark dined together while making "The Misfits."
Today, the studio next door is still active in both TV and movie production, and apparently, the Cafe is still a popular "industry" watering hole, especially after dark, serving passable Chinese, American and seafood dishes, plus a mean cocktail. It's not all history here. The stars still show up at the Formosa, and not just when they were filming ""L.A. Confidential" here. Bono of U2 has been spotted here, as have Michael Douglas, Nicolas Cage, Jodie Foster, Matthew Perry, Rod Steiger, Richard Dreyfus, Christian Slater, Karl Malden, Robert Wagner, even Britney Spears. A while back, Shannen Doherty smashed a bottle against a man's car in the restaurant's parking lot (she got two year's probabtion for the incident).
But don't expect glitz; it's a down-to-earth, some might say gritty, slice of L.A. history, with an ambiance straight out of a Raymond Chandler paperback.
In fact, if you saw the 1997 film noir, "L.A. Confidential," you'll recognize it as the dark restaurant where a detective mistakes the real Lana Turner for a hooker "cut" to look like the actress.
Other recent movies shot on location at the Formosa include 1996's "Swingers" and 1998's "Still Breathing."
The Formosa played a key role in "Still Breathing," where Brendan Fraser has recurring dreams of meeting his future wife in "Formosa." He assumes this means the island nation off China, but winds up instead in L.A., where he meets Joanna Going at the Formosa Cafe.
In 1991, when its lease expired, the Formosa was almost torn down to make room for a studio parking lot. Fortunately, the city declared it a historic landmark, and it was saved.
They serve lunch and dinner on weekdays, and dinner-only on weekends (when open at 6 PM). Prices are low. Dinner for two will only set you back about $30. But half the people only stop by for the cocktails and the after-dark scene. They're open until 1 a.m. (21 & over. Cameras aren't allowed inside.)
(Rumor has it that the Formosa Cafe may soon be moved a short distance away from its present location, to make room for a studio parking lot.)
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When a large wooden sign posted above the bar boasts, "Where the Stars Dine," you can probably rest assured that the stars do not, in fact, dine here. And they don't. Not anymore and not for a long time. Although they once did come here in droves, as evidence by the hundreds of black and white face shots hung all around the border of the ceiling on every side of every room.
The Formosa has a lot of history going for it, but sadly, not much else. The drinks are nothing special (and, for the record, making a White Russian with a bunch of dinky half and half creamers, is unforgivable blasphemy. I know the restaurant serves Chinese food, but are you telling me there is no real half and half in that kitchen? Sheesh.) and, atlhough I have never had the food, hardly anyone has ever raved about it.
Normally, I like places with a lot of history and this place does have the ghosts of decades past. But I fear the energy and life left this place some time ago.
And take down that stupid sign.
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After realizing we weren't going to eat at Jones after all, the gay boyfriend and I reviewed our options.
1. Baja Fresh
2. Pomodoro
3. hotdogs from Target
4. Get drunk in our car with stuff bought from BevMo (hey, they do sell bar snackies)
5. Zeke's BBQ (gag, after eating BBQ all day, there was no way I was eating more BBQ)
6. a muffin and coffee from Starbucks
7. Formosa
Guess what, we went to Formosa. I had gone years and years ago. I knew all about its historic significance. But I had no clear impression of the food or drinks.
We had two friends with us. After reviewing the menu, we opted to get individual meals. One ordered the catfish with wasabi mashed potatoes, another had pad thai, the gay boyfriend got kung pow chicken and I got the Formosa rice which was a fried rice of chicken, shrimp and Chinese sausage.
The catfish with wasabi mashed potatoes was good. The sauce for the catfish was pooled to the side of it and wasn't so great. My friend tried to avoid it as much as possible.
The pad thai was spicy as hell. None of us could figure out why it was served with more hot sauce.
The gay boyfriend's kung pao chicken wasn't spicy at all. Mind boggling.
And my fried rice was all right. I make better fried rice, actually. It had about 6 medium shrimp and enough chicken and Chinese sausage. I ate a few spoonfuls and then gave up for lack of stomach room. I think it was a good deal in comparison to the $11 potstickers (you get 5) and the plate of fried rice was $14.
Most meals capped around $15 but appetizers were $8-12. I'd stick with entrees then and share.
Of the three desserts being offered that night (and none of them very Asian-y), we chose the chocolate souffle. It was a fairly small portion but worked out well for the four of us since we were so stuffed.
We then had a round of drinks after our meal. They don't have mint so I couldn't have anything minty but I was stuck on that idea of something "refreshing." Well, don't order a vodka stinger like I did. Mouthwash comes to mind. But my friends' hurricanes and mai tais were pretty good.
Service was nice and fairly attentive.
I'd come back in I was ever in the area again that is one step up from the fast food joints next door but is still relatively inexpensive.
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Fun old Hollywood novelty "Chinese" food.
Just be aware it's not very authentic.
Cool place to look at old photos etc.
You'll run into the Hollywood artsy crowd here.
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Food is GROSS. Avoid the crappy food and go across the street to Carl's Jr., you will definitely have a better (and cheaper) meal.
I didn't come here for dinner, but i did sit at the restaurant to have a couple drinks with friends. The decor is really chic. Chinese meets old hollywood. It's dark and reminds me of a speakeasy or something of the sort. It was cute. This is the place that made me fall in love with regular margaritas. (sigh) It was love at first sight. I recommed coming here as a pre-party place. ;)
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This was one of my fave little places to drink at while romping around LA in my 20's. Great memories of falling off stools, making out with people in the teensy tiny red bathroom and hanging with awesome people having conversations we were all too drunk to remember having.
But after coming here for dinner on Friday night, I was quickly reminded of how terrible the food is here. Oh, the food. This might be some of the worst food in the area and how you can mess up a plate of sliders and some mac n cheese is beyond me, but Formosa has successfully done it.
The sliders were chewy and had maybe one or two crumbles of blue cheese on them. You can't put blue cheese on the description and then chinse out like that. Not cool. Then there was the mac n cheese. It tasted like what I recall elementary school glue smelling like. Just thick and gooey, but not in the gooey good way.
The service was also pretty bad. Our server was impossible to flag down and a few times walked right by us even after saying, "Excuse me, excuse me, EXCUSE ME!!?!?" And nada. It wasn't THAT busy. About the only saving grace was the fact that the drinks still hold their punch and so long as you eat before coming here, you will be set.
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I hear people knocking the food and yes, it is no place to take say, a hot broad for a romantical… Read more »
It's a bit smaller than what I thought it'd be, but it beats the heck out of going to a place like Ivar. I don't dance so it works out great. The scene is laid back, but I'd rather go elsewhere in WeHo for drinks. There's a lot of history about this place - wish it was booming now as it once did years ago...
My boyfriend had the kobe beef burger with wasabi sesame fries (hold the wasabi). It was amazing.
I had the pad thai.
It was okay.
Both were around $14.
I got a diet coke that they charged $4!
But the ambience is nice. Very dark.
The bathrooms are kinda gross. Could be better.
Service was solid. Good not the best.
Didn't go up to the patio..should have. Regret that.
Didn't get alcohol either. They didn't have a drink menu, only full bar (minus blender).
The crowd seemed very typical Hollywood.
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Friend took me here. Good spot for a first drink.
As part of the LA Conservancy Noir-chitecture tour, I finally made my first visit to the Formosa Cafe. Not that I hadn't tried before but it was always crowded and Jones was across the street.
In true Yelper style, we made sure a bar / restaurant was our last stop in this seven site tour. I felt bad for the folks who were on their third stop, enjoying the tap beer and history, but had to go after an hour of lounging.
I got my lobster truffle mac & cheese and a variety of drinks and caught the 3rd quarter of the San Diego Kansas City game. I also got a nice sense of the history of the place. The prices were not that bad. I'm just not sure if I can do a happy hour in a museum. But you should check it out at least once in your lifetime.
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in terms of an old hollywood restaurant crawl, formosa is a must.
the railroad car intimacy, together with the olden cocktails is a fine way to flash back, not least because of the number of movie studios within a stone's throw of formosa.
what is most sad, i think, is that the behemoth mall that includes best buy, target and bevmo (i may be mistake about this last) couldn't see why claustrophobically surrounding formosa might be a needlessly selfish and greedy developer move. imagine the good karma if those developers left even a postage-stamp sized parking lot for formosa. for corn's sake, how many more chain stores do we need packed into a lot of that size? screw them for screwing formosa. i expect they were as usual, out-of-towners who couldn't care less. i hope they all invested with madoff.
this puts me in mind of the 60-year-old luggage store on vine that won a lawsuit against the w hotel to remain where they had done business for those decades. i wish more businesses had the time/gumption to do such things.
yes the 'chinese' food is unchanged since the 1950s (or earlier, i can't recall the opening date). but the fried rice is a historically-specific experience because of this.
Where can two middle-aged guys from Seattle, acting like the former juvenile delinquents that they once were, cap off a nice evening of irresponsible cruising and exploration?
Why not a place much older than they? Why not a place steeped in Los Angeles history and lore that has relatively cheap beers, cheap eats, and a nice mix of purty people and regular folk, with lots and lots of Hollywood royalty on the walls?
Seriously, my buddy from the 7th grade drama club (did I say juvenile delinquents? I meant to say "drama geeks". But with attitude!) and I needed a place to land and he knew the bartender here - an actor who played a scary guy in the X-Files and just finished shooting something called REST STOP or something, in which he played a serial killer of people at a rest stop - so we ended up there and I was happy to find that we could just hang out, drink beers, talk, nosh on bar food and feel relatively hip for two middle-aged nobodies out on the town, not looking to score or anything, just remembering what it was like to spend a night just shootin' the breeze.
Who knew the Formosa was, among other things, a comfortable, affordable dive? One with tons of celebrity headshots (one Asian sighting, but I didn't know who she was), history, including rumors of an underground tunnel connecting it to a nearby studio which Humphrey Bogart and others could take so they could just pop in for a hard one during a hard day's work, sure, but what keeps it going is the cheap and comfortable part.
Ahhhhh.
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Call me crazy, but I didn't go here for the bar.
On a whim, I decided to meet up with some of my boyfriend's friends for dinner - they had just moved to town. My vodka-seven was perfect, the boyfriend claims the beer selection was good, and I really enjoyed the pad-thai. The service was only slightly standoffish, the atmosphere was odd in a good way, and I got to hear some sleeze-ball try and pick up a skinny blonde with the following line, "you know, I have a patio. You should come see it sometime." I snorted with laughter - so much for silent judging.
Food & Drinks = 3.5-4
Atmosphere + plus pathetic dude with the sextacular patio = 5
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Well, I'm only the 1,123rd reviewer to add input on this fabled place, so I'll just say, this place is a little nugget of gold in the wasteland of crappy bars that thrive around here.
The mac n'cheese is a crowd favorite, but let me warn you, its kinda greasy and its not that good. Mac n'cheese w/ lobster for under 15? Think again.
Their drinks are semi-stiff, actually pretty much what you were supposed to expect.
Overall, pretty friendly on the pocket. Nice place to meet, or hang-out after work.
Make war, not hugs.
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Awesome happy hour. Awesome-er attentive flirty waitresses.
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First of all, you have to respect the history of this place. I really soaked the entire atmosphere in.
While I was there, I tried the Calamari, Mongolian Beef and some chicken appetizers. The food was good, not great. But the service is awesome and I will be going back to enjoy my Blue Moons at Formosa!
Not that expensive either. $25 bucks gets you a good meal and a couple drinks.
I believe it is at least a must stop for anyone into the history of Southern California.
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I'm a girl who loves to dance so when you mix alcohol with inaudible crappy music, the experience is just subpar. The place, regardless of its history, is basically a glorified dive. I enjoyed the company at the private party we had (and the open bar helped) but the dark dim-lit room just wasn't cutting it for me. If you like that type of vibe, go right ahead. It's not my cup of tea.
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Something's not quite right in Hollywood land. When did they decide that less than ordinary cuisine is a good selection for an institution that has been around forever, in a train cart nonetheless, and next to the old Samuel Goldwyn Studios? It's like putting Marilyn Monroe in the Jacqueline Smith line for K-Mart. Or making Frank Sinatra do infomercials for adjustable beds... it just doesn't fly with me and it's... tacky, real fucking tacky.
Come on, things have got to change sometime and food has got to keep up with the times to remain fresh. But not only are the selections on the menu ordinary, somehow they managed to suck out all the charm from this historic place with their less than stellar menu selection. Maybe the wrecking ball that was scheduled to demolish this place in the early '90s can hit just the kitchen. Somehow my guess is "No".
At least there's alcohol, lots and lots of endless martinis that I'll be drinking to remind me that hey, Dean Martin probably sat his ass down on the same seat and my ass might be touching that same piece of furniture. Yeah. At least my ass can be happy about that fact.
.
re-post 02/08/2008
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Thumbs down.
I vouch that something killed all those old celebs on the wall, it just might have been Formosa Cafe.
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I had two absolutely polar experiences here.
The first was on my first hour of legal drinking. Boyfriend and I decided to walk to celebrate my crossing over to the Legal Side. My drink was well-made. The bartender was great, friendly and exactly how a bartender should be. I was rendered ecstatic by the experience, overwhelmed by my own cheesiness, and enjoying my generous drink. Which wasn't really LA-bar-prices, so that was mood-elevating as well.
The second was about a month later, and it left me with a very bad taste in my mouth. I was supposed to drive later that night, but my friend and I met up for a drink, so I ordered a Midori sour. The bartender, who loudly announced that the only reason he carded me was that my friend looked underage (who says that to a girl?), served me my drink as if I'd shat in his cereal. Moreover, I asked for easy ice, because it was freezing outside, and my drink tasted like a fucking gallon of citric acid diluted with a tablespoon of simple syrup. 404: Midori not found.
I didn't want to be a douche and complain to the bartender, but eventually, after encouragement from other patrons, I did. Again, he walked up to me like I'd killed his mother and declared that if I wanted easy ice to score more alcohol, I was barking up the wrong tree. No, I replied timidly, I just don't like ice. But seriously, this drink has no Midori and the sweet and sour mix is eating holes in my esophagus. He huffed and puffed and added more, but, to his credit, apologized after serving it to me again.
Overall, maybe the bar is great in the middle of the night on a Tuesday, but I don't want to go back there to test the waters again. Plus, even late at night, when there's no one in the bar, shitty music blares from bad speakers. And that just ain't right.
+Veggie spring rolls
+Chill vibe
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Lobster truffle mac and cheese sure sounds like an amazing thing, right?
Nope.
At least, not here.
UNLESS you have a thing for mushrooms that are ALMOST as rubbery as the lobster, and flavorless cheese.
...It kind of mirrors the way the rampant neon signage and metaphorical stench of half baked Cal-Asian fusion completely sullies the Old Hollywood sorta charm the dark wood and ancient photographs lining the walls manage to inspire.
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What a random place. Is it Chinese? Is it American? Well maybe a little bit of both. Buddha's statues placed here and there, and above them are bunch of black and white photos of old Hollywood celebrities. Ummm.... ok.
What they offered was as random as the place too. Mac and Cheese, baby back ribs, chow fun, tempura, kung pao chicken, kobe beef burger??? Oh, so they offer some Japanese stuff too. What the...? Was the owner being indecisive???
4 of us shared the following:
Calamari
Came with sweet chili and honey mustard sauce. What is it, a Chicken McNugget? (though I think Chicken McNuggets actually do go well with those sauce) No, it wasn't all that good...
Lobster Truffle Mac & Cheese
I think I found 4 little pieces of lobster in it. It tasted pretty good over all, until I found out that there are Shiitake mushrooms in it! It really didn't go well with the rest of the cheesy stuff...
Catfish with Wasabi mashed potatoes
Mashed potatoes were pretty good, but the catfish... It was seasoned already, and it tasted pretty good as is, but they had to pour red curry sauce. Once again, I don't think it went well together. Besides, who'd think wasabi and curry are the good combo?
Mongolian Beef
Meh. Average beef and average long beans. I struggled a bit to pick up super thin long beans with a fork... Where were chopsticks???
I blame my friends for my rather unpleasing dinner. I really do. Hell, they are all Asians. 2 were born and raised in Japan, 1 was born in Philippine. We all should know better than picking a place that's American-Chinese-fusion-with-a-bit-of-Japanese-stu ff-included-and-call-it-a-hip-place...
I guess we call that Hollywood?
(Fine, it's a drinking place, I shouldn't have had high expectation on their food... but then again, why do they have so many dinner tables there if it's a "drinking place"???)
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Two assumptions you will not want to make:
1) That the veggie spring rolls might be tasty. They are absolutely revolting. The innards are an unidentifiable mush and the wrappers, slimy.
2) That the parking garage will be relatively inexpensive because it's free for the first hour and a buck for the second hour. After hour two, the price skyrockets and I ended up paying $10 for 4 hours of parking.
If you don't make the same mistakes I did, you might have a great time. The bartender was really nice, and extended happy hour past 7 just for the hell of it! Happy hour featured $3 beers (including imports-- although their selection was meager), and $4 appetizers (yes, the revolting spring rolls).
We were a big group, celebrating a friend's promotion and upcoming move, and the bartender and waitress took good care of us. Our waitress successful managed to split our tab into a dozen complicated pieces at different points throughout the evening. At one point we moved out to the back patio, which was nice and had heat lamps, but closed at midnight. They also let us bring in a cake, and brought plates, etc.
Anyway, at one point a friend ordered their sesame fries, which were really quite delicious, but then, I'm a sucker for all things sesame, so I'm biased.
Unfortunately, the spring rolls were so bad that I must keep them at 3 stars. A friend who is a regular there says they are usually good, but he eats frozen food for dinner every night and thus cannot be trusted.
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This place is great!!!
The drinks are wonderful!!
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Came here just for the novelty. The lobster mac and cheese was pretty yummy, but mac and cheese is yummy anywhere. The food and drinks overall were on the dusty side. As much as I hate the huge sterile Best Buy plaza that is engulfing this block, I wouldn't be too sad if they tore down this "historic" location.
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If you are looking for a "party spot" - stop reading.
If you think the Formosa Cafe has pictures of old Hollywood royalty on the walls for kitsch-appeal- stop reading.
If you spend your bar time looking for someone famous - stop reading,
And please, never, ever under any circumstances step one foot into the Formosa Cafe.
You don't belong there.
This was a hangout for sincerce actors when "sincere actor" was not an oxymoron.
The walls of this low-lighted landmark have seen more life than the average human being.
So don't go to the Formosa Cafe. It's been there since 1934. It will be there after your Yelp review.
Tonight I had ...
Seared Ahi Tuna Salad
Truffle and herb french fries
Pork Fried Rice
Short Ribs
A Mai Tai and a Shirley Temple
All excellent with Charles Mingus on the overhead and it cost us $43.
People thought this was:
LA institution or somewhat sketch bar that is past it's prime? Ehhh... let's just say if I'm getting my drink on, I would prefer to do it at Jones across the street.
Formosa Cafe is fine, I guess. The bartenders are friendly, they don't charge you for club soda (like some bars I know that will remain unmentioned because I might change my mind about "them" later), and I suppose if you want some greasy Americanized Chinese to help sop up your glass of Blue Moon, it might be more than fine. I of course am never a fan of establishments that are so dark that you can't examine your food for hairs or fat globules, and prefer to not be touched by older men while I sip a glass of Sauverign Blanc near the somewhat awkward bar set up. But that's just me. I'm neurotic, have irrational fears about what is concealed by dark lighting, and prefer the company of attractive preppy men who are within my acceptable age range. Overly particular or impeccably standarded? Let's just say I haven't found a bar (or man) I truly love... yet.
People thought this was:
Game Night/ Happy Hour/…
Neighborhood: Silver Lake
happy hour no cover
Neighborhood: Hollywood
Neighborhood: West Hollywood
Category: Bars
Los Angeles, CA
Category: Restaurants
Neighborhood: West Hollywood
Category: Restaurants
Neighborhood: Mid-City West
Category: Chinese
Neighborhood: West Hollywood
Category: Sports Bars
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