To provide just one hint of the décor inside, an actual tumbleweed sits perched on a shelf behind the bar, mixing with neon beer signs, framed photos of musicians and an extensive set of liquor bottles perched on what is probably a solid but seemingly precarious-looking series of wood shelves. Many dive bars display their available bottle beer selections in some way, but Cinema Bar has taken the next logical step in what looks like framing the bottles in fitting fashion, a shrine of sorts to cold domestic beer.
Beyond the affordable drinks and ample street parking after 6 PM just outside the front door, the Cinema Bar calling card is no doubt the steady stream of live music that rotates through the Los Angeles dive bar anywhere from four to seven nights a week. In addition to musicians across a number of genres, open mic night is held each Wednesday for aspiring singers and songwriters. Los Angeles “gypsy Jazz” band Hot Club of Los Angeles has held a residency at Cinema Bar for over a decade, commanding the stage every Monday.
During live music nights, the space can become very cozy very quickly, the small bar jutting out into the makeshift dance floor lined with only a handful of tall tables. The tight confines offer little distance between ear and speaker, something to be prepared for thanks to a prominent set of speakers surrounding the stage. A metal sign inscribed with “The Cinema” serves as backdrop to the stage area, one of the few modern-looking twists among a pleasantly divey Cinema Bar atmosphere.
