The Surly Goat

Started and ended the night at Surly Goat.
9−10pm: No line. Great craft beer selection. Didn’t have much trouble finding seats. There’s a good amount of people but not crowded. Casual, loungey, laid back vibe.
*went bar hopping and came back to Surly*
12 – 1:30am: Again, no line. But once I got inside there was a lot more people than I expected (but not to the point where you’re drowning-​in-​your-​sweat crowded). Bartenders are fast, which is great. Thrillist did mention this is a bar for «chicks to pick up d. udes,» but they forget to mention the gay guys who come up and ask you to buy them drinks. lol. Surly Goat keeps it chill, and definitely a fun place to hang out.

Most of the reviews are about how slow the service is and how long you need to wait in the line to get a drink. These are all true, and yet they apply to most of the good/​popular bars out there. But this didn’t affect my experience, as their beer selection is on-​point! They have 60 minute IPA (by Dogfish) and Pliny the Elder on tap, what else could I ask for. If you are into trying different craft beers, then you are gonna like this place.
Although it gets too crowded some times, but the vibe is still chill. They have games that you can play (e.g. darts and shuffle). They have a nice and cozy patio which I absolutely love.
If you want to avoid all the craziness of the weekend and wanna do some beer tasting and chill with your friends, maybe you shouldn’t come during the weekend (that’s what we have been doing for the past few times), and the experience has been completely different.

Good beer and good location
But
There was some obnoxious trivia game going on. Every 10 minutes, some dude would halt the background music and scream some inaudible crap into a microphone.
Only 4 out of the 49 people seemed enthused. I feverishly pounded my beer and got the &$”/​out of there.

To be honest, a place is only as great as the company you go with. I came on a Friday night with some friends and we had a blast. Does that mean we had fun BC of the surly goat. Perhaps.
The surly goat has great bear, full bar, some room for dancing. basically all the ingredients you need for a good time. Drinks are cheap but get ready to swim through a crwod!

Was recommended to come here by a very hipster friend. Slight wait so high hopes but it was over crowded and people were sloppy drunk. However, nice outdoor area with plenty of seating and standing room. Drinks were decent although a bit watered down. Overall, wouldn’t recommend as the vibe was very stale but super nice bartenders and bouncer!

Love everything about this place, and by far the best craft beer selection in the area (not to mention reasonably priced!). For Happy Hour, they offer a few great, and generally expensive, brews for only $ 5.
Chill environment; great for smaller groups/​couples/​singles. Definitely fun with friends and great bartenders! I’ve even come alone to read and enjoy a beer, and was completely un-​bothered, which is a novelty.
Ultimately, excellent place to go if you’re into beer!

This place sucks. Menu is limited, food isn’t great, music is terrible.
The nail in the coffin was the fact that they were playing the news instead of sports. We were wondering why we were sort of depressed and then someone asked them to change the depressing news to a basketball game.

Busy beer bar with an excellent selection of beers on tap. They’re usually playing a movie on their tv’s such as Barbarella. Shuffle board and darts in back.

I came here with my boyfriend on a Saturday night for a birthday party. Even though our friends have reserved seating inside we still had to wait in line outside. Granted the wait was only about 20 mins but it was retarded that we had to wait.
Once we got inside, the bar was packed with no room to move. It took us a while to get to our designated area. Our friend had blocked off a large area towards the back with seats and tables. That made me even more mad that we had to wait outside when there were plenty of room in the reserved area.
I did not even want to bother ordering a drink as it looks to be at least 30 mins, getting to the bar, order a drink and back. Luckily there was a waitress who came around to take orders. However by the time she came back it was already 45 mins after.
The general crowd is great, good vibe and fun environment. You can either thrive in the crowd or hate every moment of it. For me I was fine either way… as long as I had a drink anyhow.
Parking was a horrible mess as one would expect. It took us 30 mins or so driving around the residential areas when we finally found a valet right next door to the bar, DOH!

The Surly Goat has a strong beer selection for a reasonable price considering the neighborhood. This bar is unassuming and pleasant. Not an ideal place for a large group, but taxidermied goat head and all, this place offers a chill environment for a pit stop on the way to other venues or a chill way to start your evening.

I love the Surly Goat. I don’t go out much, but when I want to, I go here. They have delicious revolving beers on tap. I recommend all of them. The staff is very friendly and accommodating. On Wednesdays they have karaōke and it’s a great time. Though the bar is small, everyone packs in. I also love the decorations of all the surly goats around the bar. It a great chill place to go for a beer any day of the week.

Two words: hipster pub. I was looking for a dive bar and a friend told me this was one so I showed up and that friend was so, so wrong. This place was very hip and really busy on Saturday. I liked the layout though, a lot of space to stand, music not too loud, and a great selection of craft beers. Definitely a hipster kinda place. Bartenders were attentive, didn’t play favorites, and were very nice too.

It sure is a surly place to get a surly drink! LOL? Sorry. They have a pretty big selection of craft beers, which is cool! I only got to try the white rascal, which is a Belgium white. Was’t planning on drinking anything else, since I was sick that day lol, since I was there for a bday celebration.
IT WAS VERY DIFFICULT TO GET A DRINK! The lines were up the ass lol… I was like HUH? It was just a big hot mess. I can see why some Unilocalers say theres alot of D-​bags there lol or people are just rude/​mean. I think it just gets too crowded and I don’t know if it was just me, but everyone was trying to get hammered there or somthing?
Personally I don’t think the set up of this bar was any good. It just seemed MESSY. I think overall they make a decent mix drinks from what my friends were saying, nothing spetacular though.

My only complaint is my awesome bartender turned me down when I asked her out to dinner. Great selection of beers and I went on 4^th of July and they had ‘Merica themed movies in which was cool. Got pretty busy later in the night.
I’ll probably go back when I don’t feel so embarrassed about getting shot down.

Great beer selection! Great décor! nice, and open and an outdoor area. They allow smoking in the outdoor area. (Eh) It’s West Hollywood, so parking… You know…

I found this place while searching for Pliny the Elder a few weeks ago and decided to stop by before our dinner reservations for a pint. When we walked in, we were pleasantly surprised. Inside, you have a fairly large space with indoor seating, shuffleboard, some video games, and 2 dartboards but the best (in my opinion) feature are the outdoor tables.
So far, since first discovering the olé surly goat, I’ve been here three times. All 3 times, on a weekend, around 2−3pm.
They were out of Pliny the Elder this past weekend but had my favorite, 60 minute IPA on tap, until we drank it all.
I have yet to come here at night, and probably won’t attempt to as it seems it gets pretty packed but I love this place for a good beer while the suns still out.

The outside is very deceiving. There’s so much space at Surly Goat. You can dance, throw darts, shuffle, play a couple of arcade games, or just chill at one of many seats available.
This place is faaaaar from a dive bar. Wall signs and pictures add to the bar’s unique vibe which will be hard to forget after visiting. If you want a good beer come here (Bars!)
And yes, I had my first taste of Pliny The Younger at Surly Goat!!!
Note: Say hi to Gus when you get there.

This is place is great if you’re willing to put up with a line, dim lighting, urine smell, spilled drinks, elbows at the bar, standing room only, and no parking. Your reward will be cheap drinks and beautiful people. My group of thirty-​something friends felt so out of place. Like we hot tub time machined back 5 years in time when this would’ve been THE spot to go to on a Saturday night. Instead, we felt old and tired, finally throwing in the towel at 11 pm.
When we walked outside, there was a line of people and über after über spewing people out onto the sidewalk to go inside. But you know what? We convinced ourselves that we’re still young and cool and beautiful even at the ripe old age of 30. Fuck you, young people! Get jobs! Go to sleep! Get off my lawn!

Lots of taps.
Lots of beers.
A bonafide beer bar.
Has Pliny the Elder on tap (among a great many other great beers)

I visited to taste the super rare Goose Island Bourbon County beers. This is definitely a place for beer geeks to enjoy a well curated selection of craft beers in West Hollywood.
Parking might be an issue as I could only find metered street parking, unless you see a paid lot nearby.
They have a patio outside with picnic benches where you can bring in food to eat with you beer. I picked up dinner at nearby Ink Sack and pastries from Alfred Coffee /​Farmshop /​Compartes Chocolatier.
Highly recommended if you love craft beer!