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Circle….Poor, poor Circle Bar---what has happened to you??....For years & years & years, you were nothing but a dumpy little hole-in-the-wall with a pool table and straw on the floor like a frickin’ saloon….Yet at the beginning of the new millennium, you ditched the pool table & the straw, and somehow miraculously morphed into the HOTTEST L.A. club, this side of Hollywood. THE go-to place for hot chicks, International Male-style Zoolander models, and the weekending celebrity rollin’ hard on the Westside….
….So now, it’s like….What?
Don’t get me wrong. Circle Bar (located at 2926 Main Street in Santa Monica, just on the border of Venice) is still Circle Bar. But it’s definitely cruising on its past reputation as the Westside “It” bar, rather than just being “It”. Instead of God-like “Adonis” Markus Schenkenberg as a Circle Bar fixture---now we get “24”s chubby intelligence analyst “Edgar Stiles” (played by former “Sopranos” actor Louis Lombardi) just hanging outside the front door, chatting away with various people.
And yet, some things about Circle will never change. The long line by the front door continues to be a sausage-fest. The doorguys still let the chicks in first, because the management still hasn’t figured out yet after all these years--that when you let all the women inside first and leave all the men standing outside in line---Circle looks like a friggin’ gay bar when you’re cruising by on the street. (Not that there’s anything wrong with that of course---if you’re a gay bar.) On the plus side however, there’s still no cover charge to get in, which is always a good thing. One of Circle’s best attributes.
Also, based on reputation, Circle Bar happens to be very well-known across Europe. It still attracts a very internationale clientele. This Saturday night in particular, standing in line just behind me & a friend of mine are a small group of French guys, all “parlez-vousing Francais”. And standing just behind them are three not-so-very-attractive Italian girls---who manage to step out of line & make it inside before any of us do. Of course.
One thing I have noticed about the line though is, only just a few years ago--right around this time after midnight--the line would stretch all the way up the block. And perhaps even disappear around the corner, populated with eager Westside scenesters….Not anymorrre. This time it only stretches halfway up the block.
….A good 40 minutes have gone by now, and “Edgar Stiles” is still hanging outside by the front door….I don’t know if he’s trying to be noticed, or trying to be cool, or what---but he’s out there just yakkin’ away like, “Hey, look at meee! I’m Edgar Stiles!” (Now just imagine “Chloe O’Brien” rolling her eyes & saying, “Yes, Edgar. We know that. Now get a grip.”) Anyway, “Edgar”s a guy. Maybe he’s just trying to get laid like everybody else!....If only he were actually talking to somebody worth getting laid with---like a girl perhaps?
Another good thing I’ve noticed as we’re reaching the front of the line is that the bouncer/doorguys are still the same. Given their 6-foot-plus menacing frames, these guys are probably some of the nicest you’ll ever meet….L.A. being L.A. of course, at least three of them are wannabe actors. (One made a suspense-laden guest appearance on “Alias” a few years back, while another semi-regularly helped Ashton punk-out celebrities on MTV’s “Punk’d”)….Despite all this, you absolutely definitely don’t wanna “eff” with these guys or take their nice-ities for granted---especially the “Alias” guy, who has the ability to drop you with just one punch….But then he’s almost always wracked with extreme guilt afterwards. (Sighhh. So good to know some bouncers still have souls.)
