Thee Elbow Room

Tasty and a great casual space. I definitely want to come back during nighttime ! Ordered the harvest Apple salad and the giant pretzel and they are delish!

como se dice taco tuesday in montrose??? oh yeah. Thee elbow room! I come here on tuesdays and order just two tacos… Geez she hooks it up and I make 6 tacos out of it. You cant beat the deal or how tasty they are. One recommendation easy on the spicy sauce it’s freaken spicy. Other items that are pretty bomb are the goat cheese salad and the pretzel! I love it!!!

Came in for some lunch… it was spectacular, the vibe is just right and happy hour with $ 4 a beer couldnt ask for more

The food here is absolutely amazing! The dining area is very casual. It is tiny inside and they have additional dining on the patio. They are very serious and knowlwdgeable about their beers. Last time I went with my adult daughter I had the pastrami sandwich. It came with a baby greens salad. It was the best I’ve ever had! My daughter had the grilled cheese sandwich and soup. She loved it!
This visit we both wanted the same thing again because it was so good last time. But, I decided to go for the special, a chicken wrap. Holy cow! It was so incredibly tasty. It came with a baby greens salad that was so fresh I swear they were picked fresh that morning. My daughter had the same as last time and was extremely happy.
I chose a hard root beer that was like drinking a dessert. It tasted like the best root beer I’ve ever had!
This is a small Jem hidden from the street.
This is the place to go if you want small, casual, and gourmet!

$ 2 Taco Tuesday is awesome! Huge portions. Craft beer also specially priced during a midweek lunch stop.

Found out about this spot from a friend. We ordered the house soup, tomato basil. It was hearty and the best tomato basil I have ever had. It was loaded with delicious garlic. The barkeep was super sweet and knew the beers well. I was very pleased with her recommendations. We also got the sausage plate… Pretty damn good. I will be back. I highly recommend this hidden gem.

Low key place with a variety of craft beers to choose from. I wish Montrose had more of a nightlife scene and spots like this.

I stopped in for a quick lunch and was greeted by a smiling, friendly bartender named Cristal. I had taken a quick look at the menu before I arrived and pretty well decided what I was going to order, but there was a roast beef special that came highly recommended, so I changed course.
I’m not a big beer drinker, and know next to nothing about it, but Cristal let me try a couple of samples and since beer is a focal point of the pub experience, I settled on a light colored pilsner that I liked; and at $ 4 on happy hour special, I went with two.
The roast beef was full of beefy goodness and the horseradish dipping sauce gave it a nice little kick. It was served panini style, with a nice layer of mozzarella that held it together throughout the several rounds of dipping into the au jos and horseradish. The spring mix salad that came with it was a very nice touch, and a great alternative to the typical french fry side.
I had one of the huge pretzels after my sandwich, not because I was still hungry, but because someone else had one and it looked really good. The pretzel was out of the oven warm and had a nice doughy middle surrounded by a thin crust. I enjoyed the pub cheese more than the mustard, which was a surprise to me. It was a very mild and spreadable mix, done on sight, that was a blend cheeses, beer and spice; quite delicious and complimentary as opposed to overpowering.
I’ll have to make another stop soon so I can try the things I had intended to try on my first stop.

Absolutely love this place. Great selection of obscure beers that you never find anywhere else and the food is phenomenal. We had the deviled eggs (of course) and the drip beef sandwich… Both my wife and I almost fell out of our chairs. Our kids had grilled cheese and the giant Bavarian pretzel. Can’t get enough of this place. Service is great everyone is super chill. Our server was Kiersten and she was fantastic and very attentive. Perfect addition to downtown Montrose. Highly recommended.

It’s a shame that this place did not live up to its four star review. I was looking forward to finally trying the food out since last time I was here I was only for drinks. My gf and I decided to try out the food since it looked promising in the pictures. Here’s what we ordered:
Corn beef sandwich — Pictures looked great but unfortunately it did not deliver. Was almost as thin as a Panini and had barely any mustard in it. Also the pickles were thinly sliced and you could barely taste it. What a disgrace to sandwiches.
Sausage + Pretzel combo: The two sausages that came with it were adequate. Once is savory and the other one is more spicy. The pretzel that came with it however was a joke. It was hard and not very chewy at all. It left like it was left out since it tasted like stale bread. The two mustards that came with it were pretty standard however the combo also stated that it came with sauerkraut that we did not get.
For $ 27 worth of food it was very disappointing and mediocre experience, sadly since this is one of the few places that are open late to get a drink people will come here regardless. I on the other hand will probably pass.

A friendly neighborhood stop for a quick beer or a delicious dinner. Can’t beat their huge pretzel and house made cheese dip! Great place to meet your neighbors!

This place is a hidden gem in the Montrose area!!! Super friendly services, and a home town feel. It has a pretty expansive beer list, so there is something for everyone. The tuna melt was amazing! My bff had the corned beef sandwich, it was also amazing. We chit chatted with the server, and she shared that everything is made on site, the corned beef, in particular, is cooked for 7 days! Wowzer! The deviled eggs were to die for, I loved the pickles in them. The have happy hour specials as well, check the menu for those. Lastly, the sticky toffee bread pudding was perfect, not too sweet. Man, I love this place.
It’s outdoor seating in a cute patio right off the street. There are also a couple of tables inside the bar as well. Street parking as per the usual for the Montrose area.

We love to go hiking in the La Canada/​Flintridge area up the 2. After a long hike though food and a beer always sound good. One day after a nice hike to some local waterfalls with friends we came across Thee Elbow room.
Thee Elbow room is part of main street of Montrose hidden in a sort of strip mall like building. It would very easy to miss this place, but look for their chalkboard sign on the sidewalk.
The space itself is quite small. There is a decent patio outside, and a small indoor dining area. Even though it is off the main street, because it is down some stairs you feel quite tucked away and cozy. It feels sort of like a nice way station.
The service is always friendly and quite attentive. Not sure what to eat or drink? Just ask them. They are happy to recommend something for you.
The food always tastes fresh and delicious here. I’ve had everything from a salad to a sandwich. It was all simple and delicious. They keep their menu small and tight, which ensures that there will be high quality. Really you can’t go wrong with anything here.
More impressive then their food is their beer choices. It isn’t the biggest beer selection I’ve seen, but it does have some of the highest quality beers. Given the size and location of this place you would think they would serve crap beer instead of craft beer. They serve AMAZING beers though. Even the snobbiest beer drinker will find something they will like here.
A nice little hidden gem.
⁶⁶⁄₁₀₀

Okay maybe it’s the Hefeweizen talking but this place totally rocks.
Awesome beers on tap with a focus on the local.
A great take on the corned beef sandwich… they brine their own corned beef… hello!
And Stairway in the air.
The piper is calling you.
THIS is gastropub heaven.

My first visit here was really enjoyable thanks to the awesome bartender who sure knows about beer. I don’t remember her name, but she’s got a very friendly personality and she won’t be afraid to start conversation.
Besides the good selection of beer, the elbow room provides a very cozy atmosphere and delicious sandwiches or salads for a really good price!
Good service, good food, and good beer will keep me elbowing back into this bar :)

Discovered this place after I purchased a Groupon or Living Social. Extremely small menu and we’ve tried almost everything. Everything we’ve tried, we’ve enjoyed.
Love the Roasted Beet & Goat Cheese Salad. Also throughly enjoy the Harvest Apple $ Blue Cheese salad. Deviled eggs were exceptional.

This is a very tiny place smack in the middle of Montrose and surrounded by other cute and quaint shops and eateries.
There is a bar with a few seats and very limited table seating inside and on the patio, but it’s cozy and comfortable. Right away we were greeted by warm smiles and offered beer tastings. In fact, we were generously offered 5 – 6 tastes of different brews. They do offer quite a few beers on tap, but they don’t seem to offer many choices of rich, thick, dark beers. Yes, they have stouts and porters, but most seemed to be thin and lacking richness and complexity. The favorite of the evening was the ‘Tap it S.N.A.F.U DIPA’ — at first I was not a fan, but after a few sips I found it to be a complex, rich double IPA.
The food menu is very limited and they do offer a daily special, which tends to be a departure from what they typically offer. We ordered their daily special, braised lamb shank with peas and mashed potatoes. It was very meaty and tender. There was a hint of mint jelly flavor in the mash, which was interesting. For bar food, it was quite good, especially at a very reasonable $ 10. The giant pretzel with ‘beer cheese’ and mustard was soft and chewy, but not really worth the $ 8 cost. During happy hour, the price is only $ 4.
Their happy hour is Monday — Thursday from 11AM to 11PM. They offer limited brews and snacks for $ 4 each. They also have ‘Taco Tuesdays’, where they sell $ 2 shredded pork tacos.
I hope this relatively new establishment does well. What really makes this place is having such friendly staff. I hope their food menu will expand and that they offer a few more rich, ‘chewy’ drafts in the future — maybe even more DIPA choices and a barleywine or two.
tip — check in with Unilocal and receive 10% off your bill
parking — metered or free lot parking around the corner

The menu is a bit small but what I’ve tried so far, I haven’t been disappointed.
I am a big fan of beets so I had to try their
Roasted Beets & Goat Cheese salad and it was delicious! I don’t like too much goat cheese so I did pick off some of the chunks of goat cheese that came with it.
We also tried the Balsamic Tuna Melt and it was goood too! Make sure you try both of those!
It’s just down the street from my house and I would come back again and try the rest of the menu, along with the beer selection!

Great neighborhood watering hole. Right on Honolulu in Montrose where the Sunday Farmer’s Market is held. Outdoor patio area is great for people watching. Inside is a comfortable, open-​air bar with flat screen TV’s.
Lots of microbrews from which to choose and they change frequently.
Menu is quite varied between salads, sandwiches and some specials. They change every day. The special chicken sandwich today looked too big to eat (a good thing). I chose the deviled eggs and big pretzel with my brews.
When was the last time you saw deviled eggs on a menu? I don’t think I ever have.
The giant pretzel is heated and comes out with a smiley face (see photo).
Definitely recommended if you are hungry, thirsty and looking for an easy going place to stop without the formalities of a restaurant. The staff is attentive and friendly.

(Dined 12÷10÷14 W @ 11:00am): There was enough elbow room in this quaint eatery, but be prepared to have a larger beer selection than food dishes!
Thanks to a Living Social deal ($ 20.00 of food and drinks for $ 10.00), a friend and I decided to catch up with each other at Thee Elbow Room, a restaurant we’d never tried before and close to where we grew up. It’s always great to support the small local businesses in the area around my old ‘hood which was the initial reason I bought this deal. So give me some room or I’m going to start throwing elbows!:
Thee Elbow Room Create-​Your-​Own-​Flight ($ 8.00×2) — A wonderful concept, you selected any available beers on tap in four 4-​oz. taster glasses. Not a heavy hops kind of drinker, I opted for much lighter less foresty options. In order of preference, here were my selections (no comments on my friend’s selection): Golden State of Mind (citrusy and smooth), Ale Camino Amber (caramel taste with a hint of hops), Seafarer Kolsch (too light), Elbow Room House Brew (very light).
House Cured Corned Beef Sandiwch with Side Salad ($ 10.00) — Corned beef, house dill pickles, mayo, mustard, placed between two thick pieces of crisp rye bread served up panini-​style. The corned beef wasn’t as salty as expected and very moist, but I wished there was more of it. The plethora of crunchy dill pickle slices bursted with flavor and zest which I really enjoyed. The mayo and mustard were pedestrian and nothing special
. The side salad was as simple as can be with a small pile of leafy greens and some purple drizzled with a balsamic vinaigrette. It was refreshing but also wished it was a tad bigger
.
Balsamic Tuna Melt with Side Salad ($ 8.00) — I only had a bite of my friend’s sandwich which included chunks of tuna, house dill pickles, and mozzarella cheese between two large pieces of sourdough bread served panini-​style. I’ve always enjoyed a melt of any kind and this was no exception as the balsamic added a nice touch. Other than that, there wasn’t any special about it.
Service — We were the first customers of the day and two friendly young women happily greeted us. We had the pick of where to sit so we chose a small table next to the bar but just inside the outdoor patio. She immediately offered us water (nice move!) while we were given plenty of time to peruse the limited menu. When we finally ordered, our patient server made recommendations and conversations with us. She first careful brought to us our flights, and about ten minutes later our sandwiches and side salads came out. She periodically checked on us and filled our water glasses a couple times. And although she placed the check on the table she was in no way trying to move us along. She did an amazing job!
Parking (Free 3-​Hour Limit) — There were plenty of public parking lots along the main drage of Honolulu Ave. Otherwise, there was a ton of metered parking on all the surrounding streets.
Atmosphere, décor, ambience — Akin to a tiny homey wooden cottage that opened up with a front outdoor patio, it had both a rustic and beach feel. There were several barstools at the bar, a couple dark wooden tables and chairs inside, and several umbrella-​covered tables and chairs out on the garden-​like patio (sans grass) along Honolulu Ave. Empty walls except for a chalk-​written beer menu behind the bar
, plenty of naural lighting came through the open patio and front door. In addition, bright electric lighting hung from the ceiling. There were no TVs but there was background music.
Attire — Totally casual, so I would normally be in a t-​shirt, boardshorts, and flip-​flops.
Overall, Thee Elbow Room was a charming find on the further end of Honolulu Ave. away from Verdugo Blvd. Be warned that the menu was incredibly limited with a handful of salads, sandwiches, soups and desserts but with a decent assortment of craft beers. Not sure if they had a happy hour, but with the slew of brews and lack of food, it might be a good idea. The food was enjoyable but nothing I would clamor for. And for what you got, I felt prices across the board could’ve been slightly less. But I’m also a sucker for great service, small businesses and supporting my old stomping grounds. I found very good value based on the prices, service, and experience noted above (total paid experience was around $ 33.00 before discount and tip). And, they accepted my credit card of choice… AMEX! 4.0 STARS