Prohibition Burgers & Beer

Meh… is what I give this place when it came to my sliders. It’s been about a year since my visit and never had a desire to go back. It’s a gimmicky place. I joined some coworkers after work on a Friday evening. One of my coworkers was raving at how amazing the good was. Maybe I came in with high hopes to start with? But seriously a good burger starts with well seasoned moist patties. Everything else is a bonus. First the good — atmosphere and a short wait. The not so good — their burger patties were bland and dry, even at medium rare. I ordered their 2 slider plate with fries. There was no dressing on the buns and I do remember ordering 2 different sliders. I couldn’t tell I was eating 2 distinctly flavored burgers even though the menu said they were. The food was average. It did not leave much of an impression or craving to go back, ever.

An absolute favorite of mine and am so sad about the temporary closure (thanks, drunk driver for turning it into a drive thru) Really craving the Fat Tony right now! Gosh, I miss this place! I’ll be in with bells on upon reopening!

I began to write this review and then I read that this place is currently closed for renovation. Here’s my review…
A little gem in my neighborhood. Prohibition Bar is a great local bar with friendly staff and the owners are awesome. Their garlic fries and sliders are delicious and the wide-​range of beers on tap are great. But if you’re not a beer drinker, you might be out of luck since they don’t sell anything else. On a good day, you might be able to order red or white wine, but call ahead because they don’t always have that on hand. I only wish that there were more options like classic cocktails.
There is always a good mix of people, young and old and everything in between, plenty of TV’s to catch the games, and an outdoor patio for those nice summer nights. There is no other place like this around here so give it a visit and support a local business.

Burgers and beers, a salad and desert, $ 110.00, for two. No up-​charge for the attitude or cold fries. Oh, and the entire staff is super trendy and gay… something they never let you forget.
No thanks. Service took forever and they acted like they were doing you a favor. A million better places out there.

Yeahhhh!!! This place is not closed! It’s just being repaired because some douche bag drove their car inside the restaurant. So thank you to management for responding to my review. Much appreciated and I will be there once you re-​open!

WORST service. Waste of $ 50. Food had barely any flavor. Waited 20 minutes for our appetizer when the place was empty. We had to remind them and ask them to bring it out. Our waiter didn’t check on us one time and we had to get up to ask for refills.
A refill took them almost 10 minutes to do. One time they took my drink away for a refill and forgot to bring it back. I had to get up and find them to ask for my drink back.
Mac n Cheese: horrible and tasted old
Burger: served semi cold and dry
Fries: good
I’ve never had to get up and ask for service this many times, especially when the place was empty. Will never go back or recommend it.
I highly suggest Umami down the street for less money and a MUCH better taste

Not a beer or burger person but decided to try and was glad I did — had the sliders vegetarian style –the vegan patty was good and I had the John Dillinger and the Frank Costello slider — they were both very good
The service was amazing and the server cheerfully brought me samples of beer — she didn’t even get upset when I didn’t order any. love the prohibition theme which is apparent in the décor

My experience here was pretty cool. I really dug it. I like they way they choose to decorate, that was pretty cool and unique. I came here with the expectation that I was going to be able to drink and not have to worry about driving home, so that was an added plus since I’m normally the driver. I must have tasted half their tasty beverages! I had some hard cider, some kicked up gnomesomthing beer and a couple others. All were tasty.
For starters we got the mac and cheese which was great, had a nice selection of cheeses and was exactly what I was looking for. We also got the garlic fries, the fries were crunchy and loaded with flavor, those were some of the best garlic fries I’ve had in a while.
I really liked my burger, I got the Frank Costello to go along with my apple cider and that paired really well. Of course, I had to also get the Apple Turnover after to just round out my apple night. The turnover was a little disappointing, I would have rather had an Apple Cobber or something like that but by this time I was happily toasty.

Hate to give someone a bad review but I ordered the Cobb salad and wanted it tossed with ranch and they put a gallon of ranch and it was nasty!
Burgers are always solid just wanted to try something else.

This is actually a very good burger place especially if you’re washing your car across the street.
Nice pub like interior wig a modern touch. burgers are decent size with fries. Will run you about 10 – 15 buckaroos per head.
Nice place to just hang out with a few friends.

Where to begin …
Tried to order calamari as an app, they said they’re out. Ordered garlic fries instead … 15 minutes later, our server tells us that their fryer is broken, ordered bruschetta instead, and it came out AFTER we were halfway done with our burgers … Our burgers took over an hour, and the restaurant was far from being packed.
The side salads the burger came with were warm and soggy. They also gave us the wrong salad. The burgers were cold and extremely over cooked. Tried to order apple turnovers for dessert, they were out of that as well. We got gelato instead, and it was almost completely melted.
2 stars because our server was apologetic, and at least they weren’t out of beer … Lol …

First off let me start by saying if your business is built around a craft beer selection… make sure ¼ are in stock. Went in and asked for the Epic’s Big Bad Baptist Stout, which was NOT available. Then asked for the Lagunitas Little Sumpin’ IPA, which was as you probably guessed, NOT available. Couldn’t even get a Bear Republic Racer 5 IPA. Totally unacceptible!
Then we attempted to order food. Another surprise came when the bartender said they were NOT accepting food orders because they were soo backed up. Apparently there was a groupon and they were not prepared for the response. Besides cool throw back burger names like the «Bugsey Seigel» or the «Baby Face Nelson», there really is NO reason to check this place out.

Came here with friends for some appetizers before going over to a football game down the street. We ordered the fried calamari and the garlic fries, both of which were excellent. The service was great and our iced teas were kept filled.
This is a small little place with tables and a bar area. The bathroom is single stall and was pretty clean.
Will definitely return to try out some of the burgers.

If your coming here for the first time… the best thing to do is the Dual Slider. It gives you a taste of 2 burgers at a size that still leaves room for some beers ;) Plus you can upgrade your fries to Tommy Garlic, which are to die for! I suggest you dip the Tommy Garlic fries in the spicy aioli and experience a flavor explosion in your mouth.
We order the dual slider: Al Capone and «Lucky» Luciano.
For drinks we had «The Saint» cider, Firestone Pivo Pils and Devil’s Ale Pale.
Everything was very good. Only compliant that prevented it from being 5 stars was that in an hour period we had 3 different servers, which I thought was odd.

I wanted write this review ‘cuz I feel this place is on it’s way down and that’s too bad!
I started coming here as soon as they opened about 3 years ago, with some very cool people working here to make it what it became, a great burger joint with great beer selection. Although, the décor was cheap and cheesy, the burgers were great, the bartenders were friendly, and the beer selection stout!
Lately, the burgers are ok, they always seem to get it wrong between rare, medium rare or medium. Furthermore they don’t seem to taste as good, maybe the quality of the meat they use… now.
But, best thing about this place is the beer selection and the male bartenders. (I don’t mean that sexually). The guys are friendly and seem like they all love their job.
The female bartenders all have chip on their shoulder, they seem like they are angry and you can tell they do not love their job! Can we all say «take a chill pill» (yes, I still use it) it’s a bar tending job, you get your tips by being friendly!
Hope the owners see this and decide to let go of some of these angry girls, let them get a job at the DMV or the city, they already have the qualities to work there…
The Real Foodie

Came here on a whim and was happy overall. It was empty at Sunday around 11… maybe it’s just not a good time for burgers? But the staff was nice and I was satisfied with my food. The standout to me was definitely how much beer was on tap and how many options they had. Probably would come more for the drinks than food, especially since you get a drink upgrade by checking in on Unilocal.
Also, I find the décor in here amusing. It’s prohibition themed (duh) but since it’s in Encino it still feels very modern. Compared to a place in Hollywood, where themes are hardcore, this doesn’t commit to the theme as hard. But there’s an area where you can take a mugshot photo, so get your Instagram filters ready.

The hubby was in the mood for a burger so we rolled over to this place. Passed it by a million times. Street parking was a breeze and there was no wait at about 8pm on a Friday night. The place had a good amount of people in there and what looked like some regulars at the bar. Staff was super friendly/​perky and took our orders quickly and always made sure we had refills of water. Quick and good service.
Food was good but nothing that special. My husband had the John Dillinger and I had the Fat Tony and upgraded my fries to garlic fries. My burger was good and a bit more rare then medium rare, i was okay with it. My husband got medium rare and thought it was a bit too rare. You could still see some of the fat in it that obviously hadn’t rendered down yet. He was happy with his burger but mine didn’t have much of the spice it made it seem out to be. The garlic fries were just meh. I always look for a strong garlicy stated (thik Gordeon Beirsch) and this was a let down. Ketchup and some kind of spicy mayo dip (which they never really explained) came with the fries.
I dig the secret menu concept on their website but wish I would have known about it before hand, some of those burgers sound better then the regular ones they have on their menu. They should definitely make it known since its not really a secret.

Meh.
I’ve been here a couple times & both times, I ordered the ($ 13) «John Dillinger» burger… and both times it came out later than expected, and not medium as like my burgers. Both times its come out either medium-​well to almost well done. I don’t like making a big deal about a burger… I just don’t wanna be «that» guy. Other than that, everything else on the burger works; the applewood bacon, gruyère, white ched & mozz goes oh-​so-​well with the caramelized onions… its delish. I just wished the consistency of how the burger is cooked was on the money; or why ask at all, «…how would you like your burger cooked?».
The ($ 5) «Tommy» garlic fries are a winner if you’re a garlic lover like me… but not enough to make up for the over-​cooked burger.
Their tap list is pretty good, but beware, they’re mid-​valley — Ventura Blvd priced as I’ve seen these same drafts offered for dollars less. Don’t get me started on their «limited release» bottles. Not so much limited and knowing what most 750ml bottles (bombers) cost retail, my jaw almost hit the floor when I saw how much they were charging.
The atmosphere is cold & sterile. It feels like their «prohibition» décor was somewhat slapped together on a budget w/​out giving too much thought.
When my burger, garlic fries & 2 beers come out to $ 40 (incl15% tip) its time to call it quits. So, my last thoughts on Prohibition is that it’s overrated & overly hyped & I can name a few places that have much better burgers, better service, better beers & better prices. I bet you can too. Get more bang for your buck elsewhere.
Time is money & I just can’t see myself spending any more time or my hard earned money here. I truly believe there’s much improvement needed for this burger joint… until then…
I’m deez® telling you to not follow the flock, they’re not as cool as you think.

First off I came here once before and the place was randomly closed 30 mins before their posted closing time. Hmmm, not good. So I came again a few weeks later with a friend to grab some burgers and beer. The beer was just ehhh. I thought mine was kind of flat. When I said something to the waitress she said that’s the way it was suppose to be. Weird. My friend thought his was decent enough.
The garlic fries were so garlicky they actually tasted very spicy. I personally did not care for them. But my friend greedily ate them up. For burgers I got the slider versions of the John Dillinger and Frank Costello. I thought both were pretty good but not outstanding. My friend ordered the Fat Tony cooked medium well. It however came out rare. Like super rare. The meat itself was barely even warm. Reluctantly we had to flag down the waitress and inform her of the mistake because he couldn’t even eat the burger that undercooked. She apologized, brought it back to the kitchen and they cooked it longer. He liked it after that and said he really liked it. However serving meat cooked the wrong way is a big no no to me. Especially for a place that’s suppose to specialize in burgers.

This place has been on my radar for quite some time. So when a trusted food-​loving friend suggested a visit was overdue and warranted last week, I was stoked and enthusiastic.
Taking advantage of their happy hour (50% off appetizers and $ 2 off burger), we arrived around 4pm and the place was fairly empty. There was no hostess or staff to greet us and we ended up seating ourselves. After a few minutes of scanning the menu, we were eventually greeted by our server who happened to be the bartender as well.
Though the theme is perfectly in sync with its burger, I found the atmosphere to be a bit cold and too contemporary. Décor was uninspiring comprised of a few mob photos, news paper clippings of nothing and line-​up wall in the front. Compared to similar gangster mob speakeasy theme restaurants that I’ve visited, it really lacked authenticity. Yes, they have some flat screen TV (32 inch) for sport viewing. Unfortunately, its position and location doesn’t provide ample and effective viewing.
For starters, we ordered the Poached Pear & Brie and Tommy Garlic fries. The garlic fries were fantastic. Perfectly crisp, garlicky and well seasoned. Cayenne really adds oomph to the flavor. I love poached pear teamed with melted brie and thinly sliced toast, it was tender and sublime. The sweetness from cabernet reduction really compliments the cheese.
All of the burgers are reasonably priced around $ 12 and named after famous mob bosses during the Prohibition era. Both my friend and I ordered the John Dillinger. It was cooked to specification (medium), juicy and fabulous. Piled with 3 type of cheeses (gruyère, white cheddar, mozzarella), I was surprised how well everything worked and not overpowering. You can’t go wrong with apple wood bacon and caramelized onions which seem to elevate just about anything these days, especially burgers.
To wash down this delightful treat, they have a great selection of draft beer on tap and ipa listed on their chalkboard. The black market Bavarian style Hefeweizen was refreshing and delicious. Nice hazy golden color and good amount of yeast.
Overall, we enjoyed our visit. Service was somewhat slow, but the food and beer were excellent. Make sure to get your mug shot picture at the line-​up wall by the entrance.