The Bamboo Club

PART OF THE DIRTBAG RUN REVIEW SERIES:

Ever go to a place and spend the night thinking, 'Damn, this place has a lot of potential to be a real cool spot'. That is precisely the sentiment this little dive bar would-be venue aspiring club happens to be crammed away in a little lonely part of South Whittier.

The Bamboo Club, Bamboo Bar, Oceans Bar, whatever name it goes by these days is a living reminder of how perilous it is to try to be too much at once, but at the same time how grand it is to say the heck with it and try anyways. I've been here on the 'clubby' nights and to see my fair share of Rockabilly and metal shows. The upside? The stage area and floor are pretty well crammed, so there is no real bad seat in the place.  The dance floor even has a stripper pole, and the bar serves as a natural divider between this part of the venue and the sportsbar part, complete with tv's, darts, and billiards.

OH ahd hipster alert, they have Pabst Blue Ribbon in the 40oz bottles for 8 bux!

The barternders make some stiff drinks, and you can't go wrong with the beer being fairly dirt cheap here.

It's charm lies in the motley crue that congregates here, from those young pretty things too worried with driving ALL THE WAY OUT TO LA for a nightclub, to the guys that love that about them, to dirtbags like me that like a cheap drink, a decent vibe, cool bands, and why not some darts and billiards.

All in all a better place to end the Original Dirtbag run there is not, as Tony 'Macaroni' the legendary (IMHO) taco slinger waits outside with handmade tortillas, serving up tacos, quesadillas, and other Mexican food nums.

This place is also called the Bamboo Bar and I think that's a more fitting name because it isn't really a nightclub like it's often referred. If anything, it's a sports bar but most definitely not a club.

I came here a couple of weeks ago to see one of my favorite local rockabilly bands play. The location is pretty huge with a small stage area and dance floor (complete with a stripper pole) in the back. The sound was kind of shitty and it got hot as hell in the stage area, but all the bands put on a great show.

They have 3 pool tables, an electronic jukebox, some plasma TVs and a big HUGE bar right in the middle. We got there early so we didn't have to wait too long to get drinks. There's tons of seating everywhere so it's easy to find a place to rest your feet. The ladies' bathroom is small but there was never too much of a wait to get inside.

The bar is located kind of far from the freeway so I don't think most people would come here unless they were local or to see a particular band play. And maybe it's just the scene but there were a TON of hot guys here the night I went...always a bonus!