Ham & Eggs Tavern

Skanky place! My date and I were really grossed-​out by the patron vomiting right there in the bar. No one seemed to care…

This place is a simple punk bar — I did a reading in their side room, and it was great.

My friend Chiwan C. is hosting a new reading series at Ham & Eggs Tavern called The Instant, featuring a diverse crew of L.A. writers, as well as a fine selection of instant ramen, available at the bar. I participated in the inaugural event on Monday and had a great time.
I hadn’t heard of Ham & Eggs before and was surprised to find that it was in super central downtown, on a block I’d driven through dozens of times before. The place is just very small and unassuming, tucked away without bright signage, easy to miss even if you’re looking. I have no idea how long it’s been there, but it feels older and grittier than most bars popping up in downtown nowadays – I say this as a woman who spends most of her out-​of-​house drinking time in precious beer and cocktail bars, but it struck me as a legitimate dive bar, which you don’t see on every block in downtown. It was dark and comfortable with a gruff charm – fun and eclectically decorated while still looking like it might smell bad. The space was divided into two main rooms – the bar area, with stools all around, and a wider event/​hang-​out space, with a stage in front. This was where we had the reading, and it was a great venue for this event.
Service was fast and attentive. I only had one drink, but I got it right away. The beer and wine selection was pretty decent for a tiny bar. I had a $ 6 draft of Dale’s Pale Ale, and there were a lot of bottles and cans to choose from, including a list of $ 4 «shit cans.» Unfortunately, the bar doesn’t have a full liquor license. A couple fingers of whiskey would go pretty well with these Ham & Eggs.
I wouldn’t go out of my way to hang out here or anything (particularly given the parking situation, which is very much heart-​of-​downtown terrible), but I’ll come back for The Instant, and would recommend it to anyone in need of some beer or wine in this area. Ham & Eggs is a fun bar with a lot of character, a notable downtown dive.

I like this place. It’s laid-​back, not pretentious. Yeah, you can say it’s a hipster joint but I like it. It’s also a cheap spot to get a drink.

this place has awesome breakfast!
just kidding come here for cool music and hot bartenders

This is the place! Home away from home LOVE LOVE LOVE 4 $ cans and great music.

Perhaps the best of what once WAS downtown, while embracing what she has already become.
One the best little bars in LA. Don’t come with more than 3 people. Don’t be a loud asshole outside either. You can bring Italian from next door inside to eat, but again, don’t be an asshole and take up too much bar space.
All the bartenders seem to get it, which is great, and pretty much have better than average taste in music.
Lots of good canned craft beers. Bottles of win can be bought too to take into dinner next door.
You’re welcome.
#dtla

I think the Blonde Bartender thought we were invisible. I would say terrible service but we never got it. Go over to the Golden Gopher, waaaaaaaaaaayyyyyy better!

I only come here for the funk dance nights. always good

This is the best place in LA hands down for these simple reasons.
1. Ollie the bartender is the sweetest, smartest, most beautiful person I have ever met and I wish she were my wife. Thanks Ollie for always being the best.
2. The bathroom murals and the western mural were painted by famous local LA artist Annie Motel. A national treasure!!! Check them out they are so weird.
3. The movie Tabloid Blvd had it’s screening here. That’s a piece of Hollywood history you shouldn’t forget!
4. The beer and wine selection is off the hook!
5. There are great performances here such as The brilliant Hustle Roses. There are also art shows and comedy shows here too!
6. The owners and everyone else who has a hand in this place are wonderful.
7. There is a great pizza spot next door! So you can have pizza and drink AT THE SAME DAMN TIME!
8. There’s a photo booth.
9. They have a psychic sign.
10. Sometimes Ollie plays Elvis.

Ham and eggs is the best bar I have ever been to. I was having the worst day ever and I came into ham and eggs and the bartenders Ollie and Cipriano made me feel so much better. They gave me delicious chocolate and the awesome ham and eggs special beer. I highly recommend this awesome establishment. Best place to drink in downtown. Hands down!!!

You walk by, and you’re asking yourself «is this a barber? Can’t be. too dark.» You look for a sign and read «Ham and Eggs» so you then conclude that this place is a breakfast diner! But you’re wrong again because you hear a rather loud live band (not always a great one) from the side walk.
You walk in and enter a long narrow room where there is a bar that runs to the back where the restrooms are. There are cases of canned beer behind the bar counter, and a menu of their beer/​wine offerings on the wall. They have about 3 – 4 beers on tap as well. The service is efficient and the bartender gets the job done, and leaves you alone until he sees your glass empty again.
You realize that there is a high chance that you’ll return MANY more times because this place doesn’t try at all. It just is… and this is why locals love Ham & Eggs.

There isn’t a single bartender here that I don’t like. Sierra, Cip, Olivia– they all rock. Great selection of canned beers, a couple of draft beers, and wine/​bitter shots.
If you’re enjoying a good dinner next door at Colori, I recommend grabbing a bottle here to accompany your meal.

My friend and I walked by this place going to Golden Gopher next door, and she was like, «Mmmm, ham and eggs.» I told her I wasn’t hungry and wanted to get drunk and shoot pool already. That was the end of that… Until I was killing time, walked past and heard music that could not be coming from a diner.
There was a sandwich board that read, «World’s Greatest Happy Hour. Everything You Want $ 5.»
I went inside and talked to a bartender who looked like Jackknife from Superjail and asked about the HH special. «You get a shitcan of beer.»
He pointed to a chalkboard that indeed proclaimed a shitcan of beer was reason for cheer, and you could select from Rolling Rock, Tecate, Miller High Life, and I of course chose the Champagne of Shitcans.
I chitchatted with him, which he tolerated. He played awesome music, everything from Jacques Brel’s Né Me Quitte Pas and Linda Scott’s I’ve Told Every Little Star to rockabilly and electronic. An old timer in mirrored aviators and cowboy boots came and in pulled him outside for a long smoke break, and I was digging on the tiki Frankenstein mugs with Budweiser votives jammed into them and the many rows of hipster bar prerequisite photo booth strips. I like chinoiserie, too, so the original jade and cinnabar worked for me, though from a feng shui perspective it works against them. If you’re a bar, you want metal and water. Black, white, blue, purple. Wood and fire will eat your profits.
I think I can safely say these guys don’t really care. It’s a bit exclusive, like if they don’t know you, come on in, but don’t let the door hit you in the ass on the way out. Underscoring that point, the bartender was chatting with The Gambler when they came back in, and he was saying he’d made a whole dollar so far. The guy pointed out that’s a dollar he didn’t have before. I didn’t say it, but that’s 25% of the cost of a shitcan, which seems to be all they serve, and I mean that in a good way.

Did I see «wine bar»? I don’t know. For me it was a comfortable hole in the wall, makes you feel like a mouse among mice. Cheese (beer of many great selections) stacked along the wall and in their coolers, drafts, and yes probably wine and liquor too. Behind the wall of the bar is a small punk rock venue where bands can feel at home, and back there also, the restrooms where the narrative slowly unfurls like a long red tongue. All of this lost in the thick of downtown, amongst the demented hustle. Our bartender was perfect, working to inspire. I lost my jacket, but who cares? I could be a regular here, if I ever was one.

I don’t think I will be going here any more to see shows or even to get a beer as a matter of fact. Here’s why:
Earlier this week, around 9pm I came by Ham and Eggs to check out one of my favorite local acts. I was trying to order a beer and I overheard the SUPER RUDE bartender Olivia seriously talking down to one of the band cats who apparently booked the night and was playing later (for free). She was saying they did not bring enough people and this «wasn’t a rehearsal space.» Who even goes out that early?
The first band played their set and rocked, and as the next band was setting up, the same bartender lady came up to the cat who booked the show and said SHOWS OVER and sent all the rest of the bands home without playing! SHE STRAIGHT UP CANCELLED THE REST OF THE NIGHT because they «didn’t bring people».
I have never seen anything like that before and I go to shows every week! The people in charge of this place did not even let the night unfold to see if people would come for the band. It was already booked. Why not let them play. Your not paying them. Makes zero sense and it was so rude and condescending AND A TURN OFF. Making all these band members drive all the way over and promote the shows all week and not even let them play? There was like 10 band members I watched go home without playing. Craziest thing is, all I was there for was to see live music. So weak.
Ham & Eggs Ownership, don’t bother trying to spin this some other way. After I scrolled down further in these reviews, I noticed other musicians complaining about the way they are treated at this place. It’s an uncool pattern. The local music scene is small and everyone knows each other — musicians and fans like me. Perhaps you have heard of Twitter and Facebook? Bad behavior spreads fast. I don’t know whose gonna wanna play there if this keeps up. I know I am never going there again.

(Drank 01÷25÷14 SA @ 8:00pm): Dr. Seuss would’ve been so proud, he’d jump up and down and be real loud!
The vagabonds I made friends with during an earlier event in the area and myself «stumbled» out of the nearby Golden Gopher and headed for Ham & Eggs Tavern as we continued our impromptu DTLA bar crawl. This place was very unassuming and if it weren’t for my Unilocal app and the street sign that pointed it out, we might’ve missed it
. Suffice it to say, there was no food in this Whoville watering hole, but we were thirsty, and dammit we were going to drink! My libations consisted of choices from the Aloha State of Hawaii:
Maui Brewing Company Bikini Blonde ($ 6.00) — Your typical pilsner with a nice bold taste and smooth finish. The label was killer which out you in an aloha state of mind
.
Maui Brewing Company Mana Wheat ($ 6.00) — Once the bartender mentioned that this had a pineapple taste to it, it was on, because I’m all about the pineapple! A bit on the hoppy side I felt it accentuated more the sweet pineapple flavor. This was a hit with me and left me wanting to play my ukulele and give the «shaka» sign! \mn/​
Service — Since I was the only patron at this time (a group of hipsters came in about an hour later which was my cue to «exit, stage right»!), so I received undivided attention from the cute (and lone) female bartender from Texas. We shot the shit, talked about career goals, music, etc. — it was really pleasant. This will certainly be updated when it’s more than a drinking party for two and I’m not the only one imbibing!
Parking ($ 6.00) — As most business in the area, they didn’t have their own lot. So, I parked at the nearby Joe’s Auto Park where the rates varied depending on day, time, capacity, etc. Otherwise, there were plenty of other parking lots in the area with similar rates. There were also street parking meters, but I had no idea what the rates were.
Atmosphere, décor, ambience — Apparently, this used to be an American & Chinese Food To Go restaurant based on the window sign, but it looked like there may’ve been counter-​seating at one time or other. Well, the seats were gone, and frankly, I didn’t see any seats or tables whatsoever, and this place was slim both in the bar area and where the live bands played
. There were some very cool paintings on all the walls, as well as various other artwork
. But you had to check out the bathroom with the exceptionally lovely artwork which was reason enough to duck in here
. Lighting was extremely dim as there might’ve been only a night-​lite, faux candles, street lights from outside, and the illumination from my cellphone and the iPod player; intimate, baby! There were no TVs, and music played from an iPod or live bands.
Attire — Although I was in a t-​shirt, boardshorts, and flip-​flops because of an earlier event, I’d recommend pants, a shirt with some buttons, and actual shoes. There was no dress code, but come on, it wasn’t a sports bar!
Overall, I was no Sam, no Sam I am, nor any eggs, no green eggs or ham, but Ham & Eggs Tavern was as simple and whimsical as the rhythmic verses of any childhood limerick. They had no beer taps nor liquor; strictly a cans and wine bottles place. Beers averaged around $ 5.00 (I loved that they had a «shit beer» list that consisted of PBR, Olympia, and more), while wine-​by-​the-​glass was around $ 8.00. It was like we raided a buddy’s house while his parents were gone and his older sister was serving us and collected tips (ummm, this scenario actually happened in high school!). I enjoyed the chill vibe, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to return — only if I were in the neighborhood again. I found fairly good value based on the prices, service, and experience noted above (total bill was around $ 12.00 before tip), but I felt the prices were a bit on the high side with minimal selection. And, they accepted my credit card of choice… AMEX! 3.5 STARS

As I was crawling along the gutter with some of my cohorts err friends we kinda climbed out and low and behold was this place. For a bit I thought I had been sucked into a Dr Suess book and then realized it said Tavern. But it was in some old dollar Chinese place that they never changed the décor from.
As soon as you walk into this beer/​wine bar, you realize that you are not in a Dr Suess world, but Hipster Heaven. They serve PBR TallBoy cans, random vino and other beers, have crazy art on the walls, in the bathrooms, and hell i forgot to look at the ceiling but I bet they have some funky chit there too.
Pro Tip: It appears to be a locals haunt
You can tell that they have live bands play here, but maybe for an audience of about 10 as there isnt much room on the band side of the bar. Figure the band and audience must fit into a 15′ by 35′ or 40′ space. Literally there is almost no room here.
Pro Tip #2: The pricing here seems a bit high for what they are selling.
I think its kinda too bad that for whatever reason they didnt have a liquor license as well as the beer/​wine license. I had been all ready to roll with some bourbon scotch or whiskey, till they only had beer/​wine =(
They had some great signs mixed in around here, too bad i was a bit too inebriated to remember what any of them said. I didnt even take pics, I think my phone may have been dead, but I cant remember back through the haze that well. Definitely a fun place to stop in and take a bunch of photos though. The girls in our group were running in the bathrooms (both sexes) to take pics as well as having us do lots of group shots in the band area, but it wasnt band night when we were there.
I bet if the band is in, then you can hear chit there either, that place is so small and confined. So on the frugality scale this place sucks. On the trendy scale they have a decent to good following. However it appears that they save their own azz by just having an environment that induces fun good times for all. I know our group sure as hell loved it here. Just jump in and dont expect to have a barstool or even a table… anticipate crowding in and babbling with your friends… but what is more fun than that at a bar?

Olivia and Sierra ROCK!!!
I love this little dive bar! PBR in a tall can. Beer on tap. Cool people!
They sometimes have live bands and there is a picture booth in the back!

LOVED this tavern. though limited to wine and beer, but such a cozy/​intimate place with great music (live bands on saturdays).
in my state of intoxication the band played michael jackson’s «rock with you» and i was on this natural high and happiness.
great atmosphere, talent, and drinks :) the owner and the bouncer were super nice as well :) they commented that i looked like i’m having a good time, i guess i was wearing happiness on my face!