Sweetwater Saloon

Bartenders are awesome! Drinks are stiff. Ha-​ha! Friendly people, smiling faces. Good vibe. I will be here every weekend. Cheap prices!!!

I remember going to Long Beach Pride 2011 and finding parking by this bar (I got lucky) and thinking how I would never want to enter this awkward looking establishment. Well come 2014 I’m dating a guy who lives between one and two minutes north of it and I found myself to be somewhat of a regular.
The bartenders here are awesome as they make strong and cheap drinks. There’s two pool tables here and always a stranger willing to play pool with you.
Of course this is Long Beach, so two annoying occurring themes include, lack of parking and the inability to accept cards as payment! Both of these are no-no’s in my book.
Next time I’m staying over at my friend’s in Long Beach, I will make it a point to stop by here as I usually do. But parking is too annoying to go out of my way, just to stop by this bar.

Ok so if you’re gay and live in long beach, or just there a lot. Odds are you have been here! Yes it’s just a dive bar, but so what. This bar is home to many gays and lesbians that just want to have a good time and great customer service! Huge Shout out to all the awesome bartenders and my suggestion… Miguel can make a yummy Mexican lollipop, Patrick will have you hammered with a margarita, Keith can make a great gummy bear shot, Terry’s Gimlets are on point. and Shariese can open a beer like nobody’s business ;) lol!

This place is wonderful ! Have been three times now and will keep going back ! Being a heavy drinker in the past I feel I am a good judge on bartenders and character. One bartender named Steven is unbelievable. High energy, wonderful smile, and great service. Also gives you great attention when you want. He works Wed thru Sat morning shift starting at ten.
The bar has had few and sometimes many people, especially on Saturdays with their bargain beer prices. Hope to see you there soon !

I love this place, Terry is great and his infused liquors are always amazing (I wish he had time to always make them). Also the drinks are fantastic for your money, I like tasting my booze and they have pool. Two staples I look for in a bar. And always a good crowd of people plus it’s walking distance from my girlfriends house to stumble home too :)

I had the worst service, came here for my girl friends birthday and we came to the bar where a nice female bartender served us. We later played pool and «locals» came up and asked to play with us and later bought my girl friend and friends shots. My girl friend also put money in the machine and for some reason her songs kept getting skipped because she put on «hip hop». We played pool and enjoyed our nigh all while being harassed by the so called locals and them hitting on not only myself but my straight friends who stated «I’m straight». Towards the end of the night, my gf was asking why her songs weren’t getting played then TERRY said to bring our cups and he’ll play her songs but prior to that he said he had no control over the music player. Since the locals were being so disrespectful, it quickly escalated into a issue and we left, while leaving terry made a comment telling us to leave and keep going & that’s where words were exchanged and he followed us outside along with the locals. He used the words like queer and a white lady called us «Spanish speaking immigrants» and said «I’ll give you $ 7 if you never come back here». He kept shoving us out of the bar, all while saying it’s closed but there were people still in there. This place is racist and a joke, I definitely wouldn’t recommend this place.

Had the worst time at Sweet water last night, the manager Terry was totally Rude and racist towards my crew and I. We got harassed but a couple of «regulars» along with terry. Apparently this bar doesn’t like hip hop or hip music. This is a washed up bar. The older lesbians look like men which is fine, but no sense of style. I can’t believe how rudely we were treated at this place, from other reviews I see this is common here. Basically if you’re not a local or regular you get looked down on. Please, we came in there and bought enough drinks to be treated like an equal. We’re all gay here trying to have a good time, but not with the racist locals who actually called my crew and I «immigrants.» How racist can one be? I’d love to speak to upper management because Terry was a complete asshole to us. Never coming back everyone is better off choosing any other bar down Broadway.

Very entertaining crowd, lot of people having fun. More lesbians. and pool players. Drink prices on the $$ side.

Staff is friendly and I must say it’s the better bar nearby. There’s pool tables, a jukebox and a docent size. The crowd is always mix and there is no cover charge.
It’s a great dive, neighborhood bar.

My girlfriend and I came here to have a beer before having dinner as we were in the area a little early, and she recommended this place. Despite the fact the place was not overly crowded or even that busy, the bartender flat out refused to serve us or even acknowledge us. He went out of his way to not make eye contact with us. It took me about two minutes to realize a) where we were and b) we were being discriminated upon. Others who walked to the bar after us were greeted warmly and served immediately, including people who ordered RIGHT next to me. My girlfriend was even shocked about it. She’s not a regular anymore.
To your staff: You’re no better than the bigots who discriminate against homosexuals.
If someone had told me something to the extent of «hey we’re trying to maintain a certain atmosphere, I think you’d like (insert other local bar) a whole lot better» I would have thanked them and have left without incident. I have been to other gay bars with a mixed group and never experienced this.
After reading a couple of reviews, I see that ignoring certain people is commonplace here, as is rudeness.

I usually never have a problem in this bar. I’ve been going to it for years usually during a Thursday or Friday night and Kevin has been nothing but nice, courteous and straight up hot to look at! But yesterday was the first time I went in on a Sunday and had such a bad experience, I’ll never go back if I ever have to see Robin again! She was just out right disturbing! She was making racial comments regardless of who was in the bar. Its a gay bar and she was making remarks about lesbains. She clearly has a hatred for them. And to make things worse, she was making just crude remarks about Asians, and being half Japanese, I had to get up and leave without even finishing my drink! It clearly wouldn’t be in your best interest to keep her on your your payroll as a bartender if you want to keep having your regulars coming in!

Stopped in for a beer. Bartender just looked at us and didn’t say anything. I asked again and what kind of beer they had and he started throwing straws at me. It was then I realized he was waisted it was only about 5pm. He must have thrown 20 – 30 straws at my face and wouldn’t serve us. Never treated so rudely ever. How do they stay in business? I only picked 1 star cause I had to.

Right by my house… A+
Happy hour… A+
Pool, darts, jukebox… A+
Friendly bartenders and pretty low key. Great place to get saturated with happy hour pitcher of Bud. I normally had Bud, but for some reason here the Bud on tape is actually pretty good and cold.
Bummer it’s cash only but there’s an ATM inside.

Great place to be, after the Brit. Terry is an excellent bartender. On point with his pour, his service, and his ability to determine when a customer has had too much to drink. Why is that last thing important? Because, as a customer I don’t want to have to deal with people who are too drunk to stand or know to leave me alone. This guy is straight with you, but not straight. Come here for a fun, safe, atmosphere. Ask for terry if you want cool, sexy, fun!

Probably my favorite gay bar in Long Beach.
The staff here is the probably the friendliest I’ve ever encountered in a bar and the crowd is equally friendly. It also has one of the mixed crowds I’ve ever seen, with a good split between gay men and lesbian. It varies between a ⁷⁰⁄₃₀ split either way, depending not he night.
The drinks are fairly priced and I love a bar with a jukebox and pool tables. The dart board is a great bonus, but you have to bring your own darts.
There are only two things holding me back from giving this place 5 stars. The bathrooms are a bit on the shitty side, even for a dicey bar. Also, the bar is cash only (like many of its competitors), and I feel that makes you a shitty member of the community as we all know that comes down to shady bookkeeping.

Yay! I was so happy to find a new bar in the neighborhood. Terry the bartender was awesome… so why the 3 stars. ummm the bathroom was gross and unsafe.
Drinks were solid and enough to keep you entertained for the evening.

I like this place a lot because of the people and bartenders. The prices straight up suck on premium beverages, so stick to that well and enjoy this chill place.

BoooooooHooooooo victim, VICTIM, VICTIM! I Don’t get my way «PREJUDICE, RACISM & DISCRIMINATION» last refuge of MORONS, IDIOTS & those who know nothing else! LOL! Let’s see how their stories elevate to now… LOL! And if you don’t want to go back… DON’T! DSB!
The SW rocks… but don’t listen to anyone… GO IN AND FIND OUT FOR YOURSELF! We’re all adults and have minds of our own! Treat them well and they’ll do right by you! PERIOD! As always THANKS to Ms Robin, Mr Terry, Mr Kevin & Mr Steven, NO MATTER WHAT PEOPLE SAY… YOU GUYS ARE OK IN MY BOOK! But then again I’ve never subscribed to being a «victim», thanks!

My partner and I came here Saturday night, Nov 2^nd, and stood at the front of the bar, waiting to order drinks. The place was not packed, but there were generally around 2 or 3 people at a time waiting to order. Therefore, it became the oddest experience I’ve had in a long time to be plainly ignored and avoided for 15 minutes by the one bartender. It was a short female bartender with short hair, wearing a newspaper boy cap, who was the only bartender at the time.
— We patiently waited at the same spot of the bar the entire time. I was leaning in, holding a credit card, and I think pretty obviously waiting to order a drink. Was I expected to «excuse me maam» her?
— We watched as she served men and women standing around us, left and right… every one of them, one by one, as they came to order drinks… obviously after us
— We watched as she served patrons younger and older than us
— We watched as she decided to wipe the counter and wash a glass at a certain point when we were the only people standing at the bar still waiting to order
15 minutes later, a male bartender emerged from the back and almost immediately came to take our order. I ordered one of the special drinks written on the wall that had whiskey in it, and it tasted awesome.
While having my drink, I chatted with my partner about the odd experience… we ruled out that she only wanted to serve girls, because we saw her serve guys too. We ruled out that she was only assigned to serve a specific area of the bar, and that we happened to be standing in the wrong spot, because she was serving people standing right next to us on both sides. We ruled out that we were being age-​discriminated, being in our late 20s, because we saw her serve people who looked both younger and older than us. So we were just left with 2 theories:
— We had just come from watching Avenue Q at the LB Playhouse and I was dressed in jeans, a polo and sports coat. My partner was in jeans and a button-​down shirt. Maybe we stood out as non-​locals? The bartender did look like a friendly person and did chat occasionally with some of the patrons, so maybe she was anti non-​locals.
— The bar seemed to have a very mixed clientele, but I think we were the only Asians there. Racism is the LAST thing I want to even think about, and I dislike when people jump to it as a conclusion. It’s the last thing I’d expect to encounter in LA, which is what made the experience seem doubly odd. My BF and I are from Pasadena, and I prefer to think that she just had a thing against non-​Long Beachers.
Although the drink I had was really good and we were served as soon as the male bartender arrived to join the female bartender, the odd and uncomfortable experience guarantees that I will never be back again.

I had a lot of fun here last night with my girlfriends. The Sweetwater is a sweet, hip saloon located in the eclectic arts district of Long Beach. No matter your sexual orientation, you will feel right at home here (I’m straight — FYI). The drinks are reasonably priced and the bartenders are attentive and on point. I loved the rickshaw wooden double doors at the entrance. The jukebox was fun and had great selections. We jammed out to Green Day, The Doors, Zach Brown Band & many more. The memories and the laughs from my Saturday night at the Sweetwater more than compensate for my foggy brain and the pounding boulder in my forehead this morning.
P. S. CASH ONLY!!! The ATM has a $ 2.50 surcharge.