The Crawfords exterior is about as minimalist as it gets, yellow painted brick surrounding a blue tiled door under the twin phrases “Fried Chicken” and “Ice Cold Beer” that really drive the concept home nicely. A handful of small café-like tables and chairs can be found lining the front of the bar as a makeshift patio that is more or less restricted to the thin piece of real estate between the street and the sidewalk. String lights hang over this strip of patio, making for attractive outdoor Westlake drinking when the weather cooperates.
On the fried chicken front, the reviews are generally positive, Crawfords sometimes cited as one of the best friend chicken stops in Los Angeles. Chicken comes in normal and spicy varieties accompanied by a simple set of sides that includes staples like mac & cheese and potato salad. All orders are placed at the bar counter, an original piece held over from Linda’s Place, before being brought out to one of the assorted tables inside and out.
Decorations throughout the Crawfords space feel a bit like doing an eBay search for “vintage beer sign” and snagging the first few listings. And that’s not a bad thing, of course, the timeless illuminated pieces anchored to exposed brick revealed when the Linda’s Place walls were peeled back. A Blatz light hangs over the bar’s pool table, typically offered for $2 a game with timed specials that sometimes cut the price in half. No dive bar is complete without some level of taxidermy of course, a few pieces distributed throughout Crawfords among additional string lights and canoe suspended from the ceiling.
