The Daily Pint

When I moved to Santa Monica from NYC I told my wife that I only had one non-​negotiable; we needed to live within walking distance to a bar. Though Daily Pint isn’t the closest bar, I still walk to it on the reg.
This place has earned all the scratches and worn in bar stools. I could live there.
They have an ever-​rotating beer tap, with occasional tap take-​overs. Whenever I’m there, I walk over to the cask-​ale chalk board and decide what kind of night it’s going to be. Do I go heavy or try to extend the evening. Depending on what they have on their main board, it can go either way. The barkeeps are knowledgeable and easy to talk to.
Don’t have anyone to go to the bar with? That’s okay. It’s a great place to sit at the bar and people watch.
Not only does this place cater to the beer-​iest of the beer snobs, but whiskey fans can call this place home as well. They have selections from all around the world that facilitate all manner of wallet sizes.
It’s a great place to watch sports and play pool or shuffle board. On football sundays, one of the bar keeps will make a big crockpot of hotdogs and you can just throw a few bucks in for tip and hot-​dog out.
This place rivals some of the best bars in NYC. Check it out if you’re looking for a neighborhood home. I’ll tip my hat to you.

I was really disappointed by my experience here, because it has a ton of potential and stands out in a market that is saturated with venues catering to a different crowd.
My group of 8 attended here Saturday evening around, and as a bar, I thoroughly enjoyed the ambiance, beverage selection, layout, and crowd. As the other reviews have stated, this is a gem amongst the Santa Monica bar scene.
That being said, we had a pretty terrible experience. When attempting to order a round of drinks, a member of our party stood close to the bar and held up his credit card, which, in my opinion, is pretty standard for a busy bar on a Saturday night. As a past server, and with 4 of our other members currently working as servers/​managers at an upscale Italian restaurant, this is something that we are not only used to, but expect for the sake of efficiency on such evenings. However, upon seeing this, the female bartender proceeded to make a highly aggressive and dramatic scene that she would not stand for such behavior. She flippantly cursed at the member of our party and, for lack of a better phrase, threw a temper tantrum behind the bar.
Miscommunications happen, I get it. But they are easily rectified. However, this woman refused to allow our member to apologize and refused to serve any member of our group. Those who are currently service professionals attempted to make it known that we meant no offense, and the man with the card attempted to tell her that he had tipped her handsomely previously, and would continue to. I attempted to sincerely apologize for the miscommunication, but she continued to act erratically and unprofessionally by cursing and making flippant remarks.
After some time, the male bartender came over and informed us that they were done for the night, to which I inquired why other members at the bar were still being served. He responded that the bar would refuse to serve any member of our party for the remainder of the night, to which we obliged and left.
I know that one employee is not indicative of a venue, but it was disappointing that what started as such a positive experience was allowed to turn so sour, without any interjection from management or ownership. I go to these venues and pay for the ambiance and service. When either of those are compromised, it is a highly unsatisfactory experience.

Amazing selection. Wish the girl behind the bar paid attention to everyone there. Only place I’ve found Hibiki 21. Never got a chance to order it. Oh well.

The beer and spirit selection is excellent for a connoisseur, don’t recommend it if you’re just into the typical Bud Light, Miller, Coors Light, type of person. I enjoy those myself, but this place has some high quality beers on tap. Cheap? Not really, but think of it this way $ 1 per each percent of alcohol per volume. I.e. Coors Light 4.2% abv — $ 4 … Bastard’s Chocolate Chili Porter 8.5% abv — $ 8.50.
The service leaves a lot to be desired, but at the same time, it’s what you’d expect at a dive bar. I’m not going to knock off a star because the service isn’t what you’d get at chain of bars where the bartender goes, «What can I get for you ‘boss’?»
So if you want some great beer, a place to play pool, shuffleboard and wind down with friends; a bar where the bartender isn’t going to kiss your azz this is the spot for you.

So my husband and I are «beer people» when you order a beer and take a sip and its obviously bad– you politely let the bar tender know that the beer has «Gone bad»
This guy– catering to a bar of 5! People told us to ask for tasters first. Um this is a bar not a brewery. So basically $ 34 dollars later we left. What a bummer.

This place is freaking awesome! Whiskey connoisseur galore! I go to school nearby and this is the perfect pub to go to after a tough exam.
They have multiple TVs playing current sporting events which makes it great for playoffs.
Their beer selection is unbelievable!

Really divey bar with one of the most comprehensive selections of alcohol I have ever seen.
Diverse crowd. Decent service for as crowded as it was after work.
Not really a place that impresses a date but could impress people looking for a bottle you can’t find at a restaurant bar.

Tons o’ whisky — delightfully mediocre environment sans aggrandizement or urgency. Is what it is.

Love this place. Live across the street and I’m lucky to have this place to get some pints before bed. Only down side is the Friday night door guy. This guy really hates his job. Been here plenty of times and he is the only bad part, he is alright but don’t hate what you do and voluntarily do it every week. Plenty of college kids that could do that job without being such a douche. I’ll stick to the weekdays.

This place is a gem in LA. Great crowd, unbelievable beer and scotch selection, über friendly bartenders (ask for Jana, Pam or Kathleen). We need more of these amazing neighborhood places in SM. Can’t say enough good things.

Just discovered this place and I love it! I love the vibe and the bartenders are super attentive. I’ve never waited for a drink, even on a busy night. I went there primarily to drink beer and play pool, which we did. It was fun, but everyone needs to be prepared that the pool tables are pretty beaten up, and the balls are mismatched, so you don’t have a full set. The WORST thing is there is no running water in the girls bathroom, so I thought that was the nastiest thing EVER. Thank goodness I have antibacterial wipes in my bag.
Other than that, it’s a great place to hang out.

My date and I went there last night. It was a packed bar and had a fun rambunctious atmosphere, but was DEFINITELY NOT a dive bar! I don’t know how a bar that charges 8 dollars for a beer can be considered a dive. To make matters worse, we ordered a couple shots of Jameson and one beer, and after charging us 27 dollars, they gave us what appeared to be less than full-​sized shots. If I’m wrong, it must have been an optical illusion, because they looked like half-​sized shots to me. I complained, and instead of just being nice guys and adding a little more, they said they were full-​sized shots and nothing could be done about it. I certainly don’t plan to go back, and if you’re on a budget or want an authentic dive bar, I would advise you not to go there either.

Lots and lots of beer to choose from, though they seem to run out of draft options fairly quickly. (3 erased from the board in the hour and a half we were there)
This place is a dive with a couple of pool tables. There did not appear to be any food options. It was a bit crowded, went on Friday evening around 5:30. When we got there, there was only 1 bar tender working. This made ordering a drink a bit of a chore, but we didn’t have to wait too long. I would go back if I find myself in the area again.

This is lower than a dive bar. Dirty. Drinks that taste like gasoline. Bartenders with awful attitudes and «regulars» that are for sure bottom of the barrel. This is the kind of place you see your friends mom wasted. Not for me.

I didn’t get the memo to show up in a black leather jacket.
Sort of a hard ass whiskey themed joint. mehh
My main complaint is the karaōke selection. I picked a song from 2015 and was rudely and sarcastically told by the karaōke guy that «i don’t have any of that shit that got popular a week ago» and proceeded to say that he only had songs from 2008 and before. he then proceeded to boast about how he «wasn’t going to spend money on any newer shit» that it was «too expensive» I guess the reason he does karaōke secretary work at a bar is because he never took an economics class and never learned the basic principle that investment generates revenue.
Never the less, i picked another song after thinking on it for a while and asked if he had it and without even searching his data base said «nope». At this point I asked if he had a song book with which I was met with the same sarcastic, demeaning, rude reply. I still didn’t give up. Finally I got to sing a song. It was ok.
My friend and I then ran into a woman who said she had waited an hour and a half to do karaōke and that the karaōke guy was deliberately a jerk to her.
I had a good time because my friends were there but I’m not eager to return. not my seen. The lack of respect in this institution ruined it for me.

Terrible service, I won’t come back. The owner is not a reasonable person

Are you tired of the hipster infected pub scene? Then this place is for you! I’ve been coming here since the 90’s and while it’s changed cosmetically here and there it’s still the same warm, friendly & unassuming place. The beer selection can’t be beat and if whiskey is your drink of choice then welcome to Heaven! I really appreciate the revolving taps and the opportunity to participate in all the tastings they offer. Clearly Phil the owner is passionate about his bar and what they serve their loyal clientele.

This is an extremely interesting bar and hidden gem of sorts.
The bar itself appears to be really popular, but I’m not so certain that everyone drinking here is aware that this bar is extremely unique. The beer offerings and specifically the scotch offerings are totally off the charts. They have won tons of awards for their spirits selection and what’s crazy is that the place is a total dive! And I mean that in the nicest way, of course. It’s just that when I read up on a bar that had 400 scotches on the back bar, I thought I’d be traveling to a swanky, upscale, quiet bar with big cozy dark booths and pub food. But the Daily Pint is more of a billiard bar with mismatched stools and sticky floors and no food. They do have awesome food trucks that park outside however, so you’re not totally out of luck there.
So while the atmosphere surprised me a teeny bit, I still really loved it. I loved that a bar with such a serious, world class spirits selection didn’t take itself seriously at all. There’s a massive whisky list to look over and many of the prices are crazy reasonable. There’s even a single malt I spotted on the menu selling for less than $ 200 an oz when I’ve seen it at other bars for a whopping $ 1400 an oz. No joke! So if you know a thing or two about mothballed distilleries and rare spirits, this is definitely worth your time.
The staff was busy but friendly and the greater spirit selection even included a really nice Mezcal lineup. They’ve really got it all here.

Spent thanksgiving eve here based off the incredible press online. The daily pint has been rated a top la and national bar! The single reason has to be the selection. Their whiskey list is absurd! It’s 8 pages of every whiskey, bourbon, and scotch your heart dreams to try. It’s very reasonably priced too which for Santa Monica, is a rare find. The bar itself is a straight dive, so come in jeans and t shirt. Good Pico spot!

One word: SHUFFLEBOARD. I’ve only been here once but I love this bar! Shuffleboard, 2 pool tables and a foosball table (you have to pay quarters for pool and foosball). What an awesome dive bar to hang out with friends and it’s open every day until 2am. Honestly, I’ll come back just to play shuffleboard and pool which actually becomes easier to play after a beer or two for some reason haha. The bar and game room are separate which I like so I can concentrate on my game of pool without all the really loud noise. My friends and I are definitely coming back here to hang out! My only request is that the foosball should be free :)

The Daily Pint happens to be my go-​to neighborhood bar, and it certainly is a good one.
Most know that it offers plentiful beer and whiskey offerings. However, if that’s not your cup of tea, don’t worry — they have other spirits to please your palette as well.
They offer a Mon-​Thurs happy hour from 2−6pm, though the exact happy hour specials escape me. They also do occasional tasting events, which you can get advance notice about by joining their mailing list on their website. The last one I went to was $ 10 for four (+) tastings and a whiskey cocktail! A great deal, and the guy running it was super.
Mostly, though, this is just a cool place to be. Come early to relax with some awesome bartenders and staff, or come later if you prefer a louder crowd (especially on weekends). Saturday offers some late night karaōke goodness, and Sunday offers some NFL games on the projector screen as well as the smaller TVs located around the bar area. There’s also pool and dirty jenga (jenga pieces with dares written on them), both of which I recommend.
My only complaints: on warm days, it gets HOT in here (especially late night when it’s crowded), and there is no food. However, you can order food to be delivered here, which might be a good idea to keep your crew going as you taste some amazing whiskeys.
There’s a small lot in the back, but I recommend taking a taxi/​über/​lyft/​walking so you can enjoy the Daily Pint properly.
Last note — this is not a dive bar. Anyone calling it one probably hasn’t actually been in a dive bar before.

This really is a great dive bar. One of my favorite places to go when in LA; if you’re from Chicago or Boston or somewhere that has great dive bars but yet you struggle to find your go to in LA, this is the place for you. It’s on the fringe-​ish area of santa monica and it’s easily accessible via über or lyft or whatever because you shouldn’t be driving after you visit this place.
I love cask beers. This place always has some great Stone beers on cask. If you love beer and you love whiskey, you’ll love this place. Plenty of games to play with your homies in there. They have TV’s but not the big mega flat screens so be advised if you’re going here to watch «the game» and you’re picky about your pixel counts or whatever. but trust me. after all the fine booze you’ll enjoy here everything is going to start looking fuzzy at some point.
This is a place you go to relax, have some drinks, meet some weird people, and have a good time.

Relaxed, fun atmosphere with great whiskey selection.
There is 1 shuffle board table and a couple of pool tables. This is a small, full bar on a Friday night. My group did not have to wait long to play, though.
You can order pizza into the bar, which was delicious!

This place is so divey I don’t even know how to describe this place. It’s pretty small and filled with divey type of people. There are various games such as shuffleboard and foosball. The wall is filled with different types of whiskey. There is one screen projector for football games. Apparently they serve free appetizers on NFL Sundays. Not bad.

Came here for two coworkers going away parties since it’s conveniently close to the office. Very divey, and there’s games to play in the main room. I think this place is more for the whiskey drinkers, I’m not technically any type of drinker (as vodka makes me sick after 2 drinks now, so I just shy away from liquor). So when I ordered a coke to just sip on, I didn’t realize it’d be $ 4 for a fountain drink… left a bad taste in my mouth.
You can also BYOFood or order pizza or something, they have numbers around the walls for delivery — they do not have a kitchen/​serve food.
Parking… can be bad. I think most people park across the street at the park anyways — I don’t think it’s allowed but I don’t know anyone that’s gotten a ticket yet. :)
Quick Update: just learned that this place is known for having the biggest whiskey collection on the west coast! Not useful for me, but good to know in case I have any big whiskey drinking friends!

Does not clean their tap lines.
Dive bar ambiance, tap list is on a large chalkboard. Saw some good stuff like Port Anniversary IPA, a vanilla bean cask of a local porter, some New Belgium, Sierra Nevada, Deschutes Black Butte XXIV, Ballast Point Maibock. Pretty impressive. However, the beers all had some similar off character leading me to believe their tap lines are dirty.
They also boast a massive Scotch and Bourbon selection which is priced accordingly for drams of their rare bottles. $ 10 for Glenmorangie Nectar d’Or was okay as well as $ 10 dram for Ardbeg Uigeadal. $ 35 for Ardbeg Galileo was a bit pricey. They had some very rare bottles like all of the Pappy Van Winkles, Ardbeg Supernova, Lagavulin 21, getting up to some 30-​year-​old Port Ellen and 40+ year Highland Parks. Pretty insane. Will be back for some Scotch tastings. Servers were a tad overwhelmed, and they were a tad inexperienced with obscure Scotch and beer. One person messed up my Scotch order which was a $ 10 mistake. Also of note, the bathroom here was gross, like someone helicoptered all over the place.

Beer & Whiskey!
Not that I’m an alcoholic, but I’m a fan of venues where people can come together, and just have a good time. Whether it’s a bar, or not — it’s one of the reasons for living. Or it should be. To just be with others, with not a care in the world, except, maybe, what to drink.
For me, I didn’t see food, but I heard someone mention that you have to order takeout from nearby establishments. There are two pool tables, a shuffle board, a foosball table and a big screen TV. Not much else needed. Well, except beer and Whiskey.
And this place has a lot of that on hand. The whiskey collection is insane. It’s like the afterworld for alcoholics. There’s one wall, from floor to ceiling, of nothing but bottles and bottles. Bourbon, Scotch, Beer, Casked Beer — name it — I believe they had it.
As for the service, my interaction with one of the bartenders was fine. There was a female bartender, who we didn’t interact with, but she was friendly enough from what I could see.
It’s a fun place. Loud though so don’t go expecting to have nice intimate conversations. Lots of parking across the street at the park as well as on the street. Read the signs though.

Came here to watch the Super Bowl and enjoyed the place a lot. Lots of beer on tap and a haven for beer lovers. A number of cask ales from Stone and MacLeod. And umm, Russian River Damnation anybody?
Definitely a locals’ dive bar. Bartenders were nice and easy to flag down. Pool tables, foosball table, and other forms of entertainment.
Highlight was definitely that the owner and his crew cooked up huge batches of food for the Super Bowl and it was free to anybody and everybody in the bar.
The only con I found was that the chairs and bar stools were a little outdated, but functional nonetheless.
They do a number of tapovers and I would definitely frequent here if it was closer. Kind of out of the way and not near anything.

The Daily Pint… going up, on a TUESDAY (in my best Makonnen voice)
It was packed this past Tuesday night! I sat at the bar, waiting for my friend and observed the variety of people hanging out… group of 5 – 6 friends (guys & girls) Tindering behind me, an older gentleman left after having a drink at the bar alone, several couples there having a drink, games going on at the pool tables… it was going up at The Daily Pint… on a Tuesday!
Quite the impressive selection of whiskey here, but I ordered Tito’s and soda… Bartender was nice, he asked and made sure to know my preference of fruitage to accompany my beverage –I appreciated that. I acknowledge the little things. That’s what makes places GREAT in my eyes.
I’d go back here again for a divey, dark, and casual spot to hang for a drank, after work.

Met up with a group of friends at the Daily Pint. If you like somewhere with a little old school atmosphere, a place that has a dark and seedy undercurrent, then this place will do. There’s about a 40+ beers behind the bar from all over the world, with almost as many different types of whiskey. The crowd is fairly young, mostly just out of college working class when I was there. Average amount of TVs playing the Lakers game throughout. SM College is just across the street, so it’s a little surprising that the prices aren’t cheaper to draw them in. A Stella Artois will cost $ 8, though if you arrive before 7pm you get $ 1 off for their happy hour. The room inside is pretty small, there’s 2 main areas: one has the big bar and a small area behind it; and the other section has 2 pool tables, a big screen tv that everyone gathers around, and a shuffleboard table off to the side.
Service is just ok, there’s only 1 bartender at the bar so it can take a while to get his attention. He’s very efficient and quick to pour, but we never saw a waitress come by, it’s somewhat self serve here. Another thing to keep in mind is that they do not sell food here, though they welcome you to either BYOF or call for delivery. There’s a lot of pizza delivery signage, we called Grey Block pizza and they delivered within 45 minutes. We hung out by the pool tables, and there aren’t many tables to sit so that’s another minor logistical difficulty. They have stools off to the side which fit us and used the small counter that looks into the bar as the pizza holder. Brilliant!
All in all, the bar does have character, mainly from the vast selection so it’s a good local bar. I think it was on a list of Best Bars in the USA, but honestly it wasn’t anything that special. It looked like more of a dive with LA bar prices. Parking can be difficult, I parked next door at the Smog Check place (closed at night) as did a bunch of others, so I wasn’t concerned about tickets. If you’re looking to drink with some friends at a friendly local bar, this place will do. If you’re looking to drink and eat, not so much.

I was excited to go here because my husband had talked positively about his first experience here. At first, it was cool… But I am not so pleased by the entire experience.
AMBIANCE: It is definitely a dive bar. Cool, at first. There is a HUGE list of whiskeys and a good selection of beers on tap, with plenty of kegs hanging around for when the tap goes dry. There are games including foosball (pay 50 cents/​game), shuffleboard table (not in good shape though), and 2 pool tables (can’t speak to the shape or cost bc we didn’t play pool). It could have been a great set up. Seemed to have a lot of regulars and they pay more attention to them, IMO. (See below for more on that.) It also gets a bit more crowded as it gets later and it makes it frustrating to stand in the bar area.
FOOD/​DRINKS: They have the whiskey and beers. They don’t make good mixed drinks, probably why there are less females coming in? They don’t have food available and have 2 signs with pizza place numbers. One of the numbers didn’t even work, so they need to update that. (We did eventually get a pizza though.)
SERVICE: Sure, it’s a bar and I don’t expect fine dining customer service. But the bartenders weren’t very pleasant, had a little bit of attitudes, and just didn’t seem to connect with non-​regulars. Additionally, they don’t have a legitimate paying system. What I mean by this is they used a post it (see picture) to write out our numbers of drinks and I still can’t figure it out… And know that it was seriously inaccurate. (I had ordered 3 of my drinks and there was no indication of 3 of one drink and the large numbers also don’t make any sense.) They didn’t bother to try to make sense of it and began to get rude with us. I believe they charged others’ drinks on our tab bc we did not drink $ 172 worth of drinks… With just 3 of us. I call B.S. and am obviously not pleased with the end of our experience.
Bottom Line– my husband and I could have become regulars, but there is no way in hell we ever plan to return!

When I think of a «Dive Bar», I think of the Daily Pint!
Maaaaaaannnnn, I love this place… beer, whiskey, and a bunch of solid bar games on the other side with plenty of places to put your pint down. This is the perfect place to go to after work during the so called happy hour. You ain’t trying to stay out late and miss out on dinner with the wifey and fam, but you’re trying to hang out with colleagues and random people so you feel like you have some sort of outside life to keep up with current events in the society of your local town. Yup! The Daily Pint… doesn’t matter if you work at Taco Bell or
, you all can still enjoy a drink or five at The Daily Pint!
What’s even better about this place is that you can bet against your colleagues or some random playing a game on one side and then hop onto the other side to collect your winnings of a new brew or whiskey… win or lose, you’re going to learn about new brews or scotches that you’ve never tried before and soon you’ll be schooling some chump on these libations in the future when you’ve beat them on a game from the other side of the bar. So fucking rad! Parking blows chunks here though… better get on Google and start searching like a mo’ fo’ for a spot…
Yeah, the type of spot with no dress code and no cover…
HOLLA!
P. S. A food truck might appear in front of this spot too… when I walked out one time, it was the Philly Cheese Truck — wit whiz!