Ball & Chain

Awesome spot, great happy hour. Good beers on tap and amazing service, especially by Melissa. The bread pudding is delicious. Five stars.

Came in for a beer. Place was packed and busy yet the service was impeccable. Service was fast and on point. Super friendly and courteous staff. Very helpful with the beer selection. Tried the Socal burger and it was delicious. Bread pudding is out of this world! All and all this was a great spot to stop at in Hollywood.

Love this place! The food is amazing the service is amazing! Must stop if your on Hollywood Blvd perfect location walking distance to everything!

Came here again-​another great experience. The bartender is super sweet and always recommends the best beers-​this time, it was stone enjoy by 02.14.16 :) had the SoCal (chicken) burger-​highly recommend it! Can’t believe this place isn’t packed. Definitely a hidden gem.

First time to this place. Had a great experience. Wonderful bartender Melissa. We stopped by during happy hour, had couple of drinks and tried almost all the small plates. Everything was so tasty. The wings and the sliders were so good and freshly made. The bread pudding was the bomb. Definitely going back.

Stopped by this place Sunday (⁰¹⁄₂₄) to grab a beer and some lunch with a friend. Melissa, the bartender was extremely friendly from the moment we walked in; easy to talk to, and just very interested! My friend and I both ordered hard ciders (which happened to be on their happy hour menu) and veggie burgers, MADE WITH QUINOA!!! Believe me when I say… that was unexpectedly one of the best veggie burgers I’ve had in Los Angeles. My friend also ordered the Butterscotch Bread Pudding — despite being full, I indulged and I don’t regret it. I love this place and I can’t wait to go back. And again, thank you Melissa for being so great!

Stopped in for a quick bite before heading over to Sayers Club around the corner. The place totally exceeded our expectations. We both had the Bourbonator burger. Perfectly cooked and amped up with bacon, bacon jam and blue cheese. Our waiitress, Melissa, was extremely helpful as we made our way through the 2 dozen or so beers on tap, offering tastes to help us choose. First tried an IPA she recommended that was not on the menu. Wish I could recall the name since it was (for my palate) the perfect combination of floral, hoppy, and bitter with a hint of pine. I think the alcohol was ~9−10%. She then treated us to the bread pudding. Now I am not a big dessert fan, but this one was worth it. The shot of «caramel whiskey» (never heard of it but took Melissa’s word for it) put it over the top. We will definitely be back.

Great bread pudding; its all about that sauce and ice cream… Ooh and the beer is good too… Service as well is on point. I miss the meatballs though; but still, great atmosphere.

The only reason I came here was the ballz, ok I lied… I also thought the name was just so badass and irresistible. But man, why did they decide to no longer serve meatballs. I was so excited coming here to drink beers and try the famous meatball flight. Instead we just got beers, fries and wings. The wings were alright and came with fries. But their ration of fries to wings is seriously like 3 to 1… not cool man. Beer selection and prices were reasonable. We left after an hour and ended up having much more fun at other nearby bars.

Love this place big food portions great beer selection awesome music selection and great customer service Melissa took great care of my friends and I.

Best place for an assortment of craft brew. Awesome happy hour menu. Get the sliders and wings. Follow up with the bread pudding. No better decadence on the planet. Don’t order coors light main streamers. Staff is the best and engaging. A must when in Hollywood.

Our server was the best. This place is awesome for Happy Hour and they have great beer selection.

This place was our favorite restaurant in our neighborhood. A menu based on meatballs and variations thereof. Meatball flights? I mean, come on. A carnivore’s dream come true. What’s more? It was filled with phallic and ball puns (and fun little books to leave your own mark — with your words not your. Ahem.).
The setup is small, but somehow still feels spacey. Out of this world beers and cider on tap all under the roof of a makeshift dungeon. Never too busy and always feel welcome, comfy and I’m always ready for that second (or third) beer.
So, Ball & Chain, thank you for breaking my heart abandoning everything you themed you’re restaurant on. No more meatballs. NO MORE MEATBALLS. Burgers and basic menu options you could find at 20 other places in a block radius. The balls were your thing… Stop giving the rest of us blue ones.
I left two stars in the hope the openers will wake up from their lucid dream of owning a glorified burger joint and bring me back my (meat) BALLS!

Came here today for the first time purely off the reviews on Unilocal.Unfortunately they no longer are meatball themed and only serve burgers. We didn’t end up eating and was pretty bummed.
Although there was the menu change they do have a pretty good selection of beers on tap if you like trying something new. The inside is pretty cool setup and the servers are nice. would definitely come back here for a beer sometime.

If I could give this place a ⁶⁄₅ I would. I came here on a Friday night and it wasn’t too full. The staff was friendly, down to earth and easy to talk to. They checked up on us from time to time, made sure everything was great. Mathew (I hope I spelled it right) went above and beyond as a waiter to make sure our night went perfect. And it did so thank you!
The food was on another level. The mac n cheese was great! And the cheesy fries with bacon jam… Amazing!!! What stole he show was the smokey burger. It has a nice kick to it which I enjoyed very much. Since I was sharing the burger with my fiancé, I had to get it cooked well done… In all honesty, I wasn’t too thrilled with that decision. I personally think we’ll done meat is over cooked and tasteless… Not the case here. The meat was well done but at the same time it was tender, juicy and full of flavor. I can’t wait to come back and have their burgers medium.
We ordered the bread pudding on Mathew’s recommendation and words just can’t describe how good it was. He said it won a bunch of awards and I can see why.
My only regret is not coming here sooner but me and my fiancé will definitely be regulars!
Came here the next day for take out and the female manager who was there last night was here and she was again very courteous and nice and overall again great experience.

My girlfriend, my friends and I used to make the trek out to Ball & Chain for a unique dining experience of meat balls and various sauces, as well as some beer. For some reason as of this month, the menu has inexplicably changed to run-​of-​the-​mill burgers, forsaking this restaurant’s namesake. It’s safe to say that unless management realizes that the original menu is what made this place unique, it’s not going to last very long in the parking hellscape that is Hollywood.
#BringBackTheBalls #TheOnlyTimeIWillEverSayThat #Balls

**Menu Changed**
I came here without checking Unilocal updates on this place, thinking I was going to enjoy a delicious meat ball entrée with a great beer. I pay $ 10 for parking, which is next door to the place. I asked to take a look at the menu, and to my huge surprise, they have a complete new shitty menu. Their meatballs are no longer on there, or other tasty items like the poutine fries. It’s simply all BS crap I could get at any where else.
If I had known, I could have saved myself the trip from OC, to LA, to Hollywood and $ 10 parking.
I suggest not coming here, if you want to try something that they used to be known for, which is meatballs with special sauces. It’s no longer unique or served here! It’s bunch of boring list of burgers, salads, and fried appetizers (sides), as they try to convince you that ordering any one of those, that will be pleasing but I did not drive all the way from OC for a darn burger! Huge let down, and it is off my list of places to visit when I’m in LA/​Hollywood.
I am guessing owners are cheap, and fired the chef who created that previous awesome meatball and poutine fries menu. I don’t know, but I think that could be it. Seriously, no body wants another damn burger n beer joint. Customers search for unique and authentic businesses to be different from others, not similar.
#bringbackthemeatballs

Matt B. and I watched Phantom of the Opera recently, and decided to make a night of it in Hollywood, as the round trip Über cost less than parking at the Pantages. We have a «passport» (hipster coupon book) of drink deals in L.A., and took the opportunity to knock out a couple spots in this neighborhood, which we usually avoid, especially on weekends. We stopped by Wood & VIne (always reliable) then found ourselves waiting behind a velvet rope at the Redbury, along with a whole mess of people who seemed too excited to be there. We ended up leaving that line like reasonable people, and walking over to Cahuenga, where we found Ball & Chain.
This place was a wonderful haven of calm atmosphere and good beer, right in the middle of central Hollywood. Instead of loud, thumping club music, there was the kind of neutrally hip soundtrack you might hear at a Bed Bath in a yuppie neighborhood – Nirvana, Lumineers, Lady Gaga. The space was attractive, with a lot of wood furniture and a wall of glossy black bricks that extended into the curved ceiling. We sat at the bar, which was at least half empty. Our server was great. Very friendly, even when we busted out our coupon books for $ 4 draft beers.
Ball & Chain is mostly a beer bar – I think there might be wine, but there’s definitely no hard alcohol, and the beer taps are the bar’s most prominent feature. There’s an extensive list of draft beers, with some more options in bottles. The selection offers a nice mix of local beers and gastropub standards. Since our passports were good for any draft on the menu, we were rude and got two of the $ 9 options – the Allagash Curieux and the Bootleggers Knuckle Sandwich IPA. Both were fantastic, and we enjoyed sipping them to cap our long night in Hollywood.
I guess Ball & Chain also has food, and I wouldn’t mind coming back for some more beer and a few bites. The place is pretty lovely, and it stands out in my mind as one of the better bars I’ve been to in the neighborhood. It’s nice to remember that not everything about going out in Hollywood is an utter nightmare.

Stopped in for a quick drink and sat at the bar. Ball & Chain is in the middle of bars galore and it was a cute little place.
We also ordered the meatballs here. I guess it’s their specialty. The beef was good and the sweet/​tangy marinara sauce was delicious. We also had the pork with the bechamel. MEH… It was a little undercooked so we didn’t finish it.
I’d come back if I was in the area. Just for a drink and the beef meatballs.

Disclaimer: I had my food delivered via Postmates so it wasn’t fresh out of the kitchen.
I was really surprised by Ball & Chain, and not in a good way. I was expecting to have some life changing meatballs but instead I got was one kind of disgusting meat ball, one good, but not great meatball, and an awesome side of mac and cheese.
Seems that’s not the way it’s supposed to go at a restaurant known for their meatballs.
I found the beef meatball to be quite good. A bit spicy but one of the better (if not the best) meatball that is all beef that I’ve had. I really appreciated the fact that it was all beef and didn’t have pork since I don’t eat pork so that may have subconsciously made me want to like this. The marinara I had on it wasn’t that great and the bun for the slider was normal, nothing special.
The really surprising meatball, and surprising in a very bad way, was the Turducken meatball. I ordered it as a slider with pesto and the packaging said «Turd Pesto». I should’ve taken that as a hint. But instead I tried it. It was mushy and bland and not that good. In fact I didn’t even go for a second bite. The pesto sauce on it did seem to be quite pungant but I don’t consider that a bad thing since i love basil pesto.
This is the kind of dish you’d have to pay me a good amount to try again — and I still might not give it another go.
The most outstanding dish was the mac and cheese, and considering the calories in that sucker it better be great. The mac and cheese, even after about 25 minutes of sitting in the delivery car was spectacular. The cheeses mixed well and there was a tiny bit of crunch from the crumbs on it and it just knocked my socks off, I finished the entire thing (and I had only ordered this to try it since I’m on a diet).
If I do go back, and that’s a big if, for a couple of reasons, I’ll try some new things but I’ll definitely go back to the Meatball and mac and cheese. Based on the Turducken meatball though you’d be hard pressed to get me to try any other non mainstream meatball flavors, and based on it’s location the chances of my actually visiting again are basically zilch.