Safari Club

Pocket-sized lounge located on the first level of the Bay Park Hotel. This is not a buzzy local hotspot with throngs of people, but this under-the-radar lounge is a great place to relax with friends over drinks or game or two of pool. Thursday nights are live music nights and showcases many of the areas local musicians and bands. We came in for open mic night (Safari's open mic premiere) the other day and there was quite a wide range of entertaining music, from R&B to classic rock and country.

You can also order seafood and American classic menu items from the hotel's upstairs restaurant, Crazy Horse. They have a wonderful salad bar with decades-old recipes, like the shrimp curry cous cous. Kitchen closes at 9pm, so be sure to make all your selections and put your order in before they close up.

The low-lit Safari Club is a great spot to linger over cocktails and enjoy some good conversation and music. There's a jukebox, dart board and large flat screen too.

Kudos to the bartender--he's really on the ball--professional, fast, friendly--and the fact that they have live music on some nights. Really good performance last night by New Zealand country singer-songwriter Jackie Bristow and her Australian guitarist. Food from the Crazy Horse Restaurant (reviewed separately) upstairs was outstanding.

Monterey's happy hour options are not limitless, but they are sufficient now that we've discovered the Safari Club. The lounge is tucked away in the basement of a somewhat nondescript hotel between the Highway 1 onramp and the Del Monte shopping center. We first visited on a lark, anticipating a splendidly tacky dive. We found instead a clean and inviting lounge with a very friendly and generous bartender. The happy hour value is quite good, especially when you take into consideration the fresh and varied free mini buffet on offer--crackers, crudités, salami, dips. Our only complaint is that the jukebox is absurdly overpriced and not very loud. The bartender told us that there's a third-party vendor who operates and maintains it. I think they should get their own system, but that's a petty gripe. Overall, I wouldn't hesitate to bring friends to the Safari Club--no ironic nudge in the ribs required.