Backstage Bar & Grill

Great place for Karaōke! It does get a little crowded the later it gets, but if you get there early enough to get a seat you’ll have a great time.

If you like dive bars and karaōke this is your place. I am not really into either but still had a lot of fun coming here. There are some SERIOUS karaōke people here and it is incredibly entertaining to watch. They have some good drinks too; it is mostly beer and wine but they have a cocktail menu with some good selections.

I can’t believe Cary Grant and the munchkins used to go here!
Parked across from Sony Studios (formerly MGM where The Wizard of Oz was filmed), this historic hangout is such a great casual bar to have in my neighborhood.
The happy hour specials are stupidly cheap, with food for like $ 5 – 8 dollars until 8PM. On Tuesdays, their $ 5 taco tuesday special goes all night and you get 3 chicken or steak tacos. Not the best you’ll ever eat but you can’t beat that price and they are decent for sure! I want to come back for the macaroni and cheese as the menu boasts it’s one of the best things here.
They have karaōke 3 nights a week (Thurs, Fri, Sat) and it’s great I don’t have to go all the way to Santa Monica’s Gaslite (my favorite karaōke spot) but I have yet to sing here and can’t wait… to entertain my next victims…
This is located on a somewhat desolate street off the main drag of Venice Boulevard and downtown Culver, so it feels somewhat special.

Cheap drinks and a dive bar feel with Karaōke. Hard to dislike it if you are looking to get… well, plastered.
I didn’t get to try their food, so I can only say that if you want a loud atmosphere, lively crowd, and alcohol to «boost» your Karaōke skills, this is your spot!

Came in for happy hour on a Tuesday evening. The atmosphere was pretty chill, nice dark lighting and quirky décor with a slight loungey feel, TVs playing sports and news (SOTUS). There’s a nice circular seating area for lounging and waiting for friends (which reminded me that I should get more friends).
Food: I got the $ 5 taco tuesday — 3 tacos with choice of chicken/​steak. I got steak. Pretty good — nothing too special but thought was tasty while chatting with friends.
Drink: Cumcumber Gimlet, very refreshing and citrusy but kind of small. Regular $ 8, HH $ 7.
Staff was friendly enough — although our server kept interrupting conversations, not sure if it was just some off-​thing that night.
Overall — pretty good experience, would come back again and maybe check out the weekend karaōke scene.

New fried-​chicken sandwich here is UH-​MAAAAAAZE! Seriously puts Plan Check Kitchen + Bar’s famous plate to shame.
Huge slab o’chicken — that is anything but dry — coupled with sharp cheddar and homemade coleslaw between a bun or sourdough that’s as fresh as you like. Would love to see them ax the onions from the slaw, however. Or maybe switch to pickled red onions for a pop of color mixed with a hint of Roy Choi fusion fab.
Spectacularly kick-​ass employees and fabulous booze deals all remain.
#GoHawks!

Perfect Bar for a Wheel of Fortune Boss:
I love this bar! I walked right out of Sony Studios after being on Wheel of Fortune and instead of calling a cab I walked into Backstage. I happened to sit right by the dance floor and order my delectable food that included crispy brussels sprouts and chicken fingers with pleasantly piquant garlic fries. Although, I had just won a mother load and was prepared to irresponsibly spend a good chunk of my new fortune in celebration, IT WAS HAPPY HOUR AND ALL THAT FOOD ONLY COST $ 10!!!
* it is officially unconfirmed on how much was spent on drinks.
The karaōke was slammin’! A few of these people could really blow. I was into it, and I was chair dancing like I was out of town and nobody knew who I was… Because, I was out of town and nobody knew who I was. Speaking of that, I thought LA was supposed to be expensive. These prices were as good as the prices in Kansas, if not even better. Is the cost of living in a big city really astronomically higher than it is in small-​town America, or is this a huge ruse being pulled on us country bumpkins?
Are we really saving money by exercising our prerogative to live in small towns? Or, instead would we flow like a harpoon daily and nightly in the big city? I think if I made the move and turned out the lights, I’d probably glow. Although, there is the chance that everybody would be talking all that stuff about me and I’d want them to just let me live. Uh… Agent Luke… you lost me. Back to the celebration…
To top it off, the DJ was playing music videos on the TV screens from way back in the 90’s. I saw the iconic videos for Ice Ice Baby, My Prerogative, and Come On Over… In case you don’t know that is Vanilla Ice, Bobby Brown, and Christina Aguilera! Yeeaheeeeeyay!!! (Pronounced: yeh-​eeeeeeeee-​yeh-​ay in OG intonation)
I then ubered (first time ever and so so easy) my way back to the telly for a predetermined $ 8.26. I wonder if I could have requested a ragtop so my hair could blow.
Lukey T, outta here
Word to Yo Motha
Ice Ice Baby
Too cold, too cold.

Even when the bar is packed to the gills, you don’t have to wait more than 5 minutes to get a drink. The bartenders are nice and don’t get flustered. The drinks are cheap. They also have sports playing so it has something for everyone. The karaōke here is good and the crowd is fun. There’s always parking around, and the farthest you’ll have to walk is two blocks since there’s nothing else around here at night. However, I understand there could be a line if you get there past 9:30. It’s directly across from the Sony Studios entrance. Not bad at all!

SEAHAWKS BAR OF SOCAL
FYI, there are times Sherman’s mom comes to watch the games here. Not often but I’ve heard she’s there sometimes.
Growing up in Seattle, my 206 network is very large. And apparently, everybody thinks I should be a Seahawks fan because that is «home». Unfortunately, Seattle is not my first home and SF is my first home and my birth city… which makes me a 49ers fan over a Seahawks fan. My Seattle friends that live in SoCal always try to drag me to this bar and I refuse even though it is down the street from my apartment. Well, I went to meet up with some Seattle-​to-​LA friends to watch the November 2015 match up between Seahawks and 49ers. AND they know better to not ask me to go there again. LOL
1) Odd bar. Definitely a dive bar and definitely attacks the weirdest people besides the Seahawks fans. Like old dude who carries a picture of the pope and says the pope is talking to him. LOL i can’t knock on the dude too much because he’s holding a picture of the pope but are you serious!!!
2) Food is bar food and that bar food isn’t all that great.
3) For a Seahawks fan this is probably a great hangout. They give free shots during half-​time, the crowd is fun and mature. I was the only 49er fan up in there and nobody gave me a hard time.
4) SO DARK. literally, it is a cave up in there.
Will I be back? Not my kind of scene.

Actually not sure how I’ve never reviewed the wonderful little almost divvy, almost trendy bar. Food’s ok for bar food. Taco nights are pretty solid. Karaōke is great, although it gets crowded very quickly. If you’re local, GREAT. Wouldn’t drive across town for it though.

I experienced cocktails from this bar at a catered Unilocal event. The margaritas were refreshing. Looking at other Unilocaler’s reviews and pictures, I’d love to enjoy a Sunday watching football and drinking mixed cocktails. Looks like tons of fun. I may even leave with a «Backstage» tattoo band around my arm. Lol

Out of Culver City things to do with friends, this bar is pretty great to go and have a great time. First time I went there to celebrate a friend’s birthday and sadly we got there too late to have her perform a karaōke song, but we still performed out loud while others sang and so does the whole bar. So great place to let loose and have a great time.
There’s a «working» photo booth in the back that my friends also decided to use. if you end up using it, make sure to be patient for the delivery of your oics. they do come out and it does work. but it takes about a song or two before the pictures pop out for you.
Second time I went, we got there a little earlier and managed to get on the karaōke list but the wait time is crazy even at 8 pm. but we tried the garlic fries and chicken sandwich/​burger and wow! Never expected for food to taste as amazing as it did! Must get for sure! Pretty great prices on their drinks as well. really great place.
MUCH BETTER THAN BLIND BARBER, they denied me for wearing shorts and sandals. this place didnt, so MUCH MUCH BETTER!

You had me at karaōke. This place was lit on a Saturday night. Got prime parking on the street right out front. Walked in with music blaring (singer was actually good), the crowd was hyped. Didn’t take extremely long to get a drink at the bar. Prices were decent. Sad I didn’t get my song in though.
Great place for groups. Even if you don’t sing well just sing along with the crowd.

Depending on your personal perspective, one can walk into this joint thinking that they stepped on the set of the American Idol Rejects or perhaps real life auditions of The Voice at the Backstage Bar. One’s perspective can be best understood as the sum of one’s experiences. With that said, I can barely sing Happy Birthday in tune, so in a comparison of myself to other singers, heck I thought there were some damn good singers, potential American Idols, at this karaōke bar.
Very casual, old (décor nothing impressive), dark, loud, dive bar filled with a variety of friendly people –varying in ethnicity and age. One group, had to be 20-​something-​year-​old women who were having a bachelorette party there, one older woman with salt-​and-​pepper colored hair rolled up with her walker to the mic, and –so do you get a clearer picture of the crowd at the Backstage Bar?
Regardless of the crowd, I had a great time here –My group danced, drank and cheered on the karaōke performances. The emcee of karaōke is this Filipino-​looking guy who had great energy to keep the crowd entertained and gave our group a round of free shots (for being my friend’s «birthday”-lol). Heck, management gave away free slices of a cheese quesadilla that night too-that’s awesome! I didn’t try the food here, but the adult drinks are pretty weak –so bring a roadie or flask if you need a little liquid courage to get you up to that mic!

This was our first time at a karaōke bar, I was so excited to sing because I always wanted to do it; however, when we arrived, they closed the list at 10:45pm because it got too full and wouldn’t reopen until 12:15am.
I was disappointed because that was the whole purpose of going, but next time I know to arrive early.
I gave it a 4 because we bought drinks and they seemed watered down too much ice/​juice!
It’s definitely a great place to mingle and meet up with friends! So I recommend this place.
PS. It’s free street parking on Culver Blvd after 6pm, don’t park in the residential area because you MUST HAVE A PERMIT or you will get a ticket

This place is amazing. Drinks are fairly priced and there’s karaōke! This place is definitely on the dive-​y side but the crowd is so diverse and always really fun.
Food here is good too. Nachos and garlic fries are a must. If you’re there late, they also have free quesadillas at midnight for midnight snacks!
Definitely should check this place out if you’re with friends and want to kick back. Love this place!

**FUN KARAOKE AND HAPPY HOUR IN CULVER CITY**
Been here prior for a Unilocal Elite party and
then back again with my co-​workers.
PARKING
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Free street parking after 6PM or pay meter.
AMBIANCE
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No cover!
Dive-​y but lovely.
Dim, woodsy, and casual.
Lots of Sony employees.
That can be a good thing or a bad thing.
DRINKS
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Happy Hour specials are reasonably-​priced.
Tip your bartenders well for good hook-​ups.
Order their Moscow Mule version. It is tasty.
KARAOKE
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Was able to sing twice and had so much fun with a crowd.
No one will compete with my «PUSH IT GOOD» by Salt n Pepa.
RECOMMEND if you want to get your co-​workers together
and play sing-​along with the crowd.
Good spot to mingle in Culver City.

Been here twice, although it should be more since we leave just down the street. The first time was for karaōke, which was fun! Not too crowded, but enough to get your singing on. The wait list for singing wasn’t too bad and the had a good song list. Will be back for that.
The second time was just for food. Service was kind of slow, but what do we expect? It’s a bar and we were seated on the sofa things. Nice place to lounge, drink, eat, and catch-​up without any pressure to leave. We came on Taco Tuesday. Those were pretty good, but be ready to order a lot because they weren’t filling. The wings and jalapeño poppers were good as well. Not like typical «bar food».
Plenty of street parking and it’s free after 6.

Super diveyyyy, not really my scene. But I didn’t want to pay cover for live music so I figured this would be a good place to come for free entertainment. The drinks are really cheap and the crowd is really friendly and fun. This is actually my first time hanging out in culver city and thought that the people are really nice and different from your typical d-​bags. We came around 9 and had a hard time finding tables. When we left, there was a line to get in.
If you want to sing, you have to come early to get your song requests in because there were 26 people in line. This one guy sang like 5 times during the 1.5 hours we were there. The waitresses are all really tall.
Highly recommend for a fun, laid back night.

For Lent, on a whim, since I couldn’t think of what to give up, I chose alcohol and candy. Alcohol isn’t much of a challenge but candy, well, that’s a different story.
One would think it’s alcohol with all the dart taverns I’m at for dart league — but it’s not the case. Even when I visited the Backstage Bar & Grill, it’s wasn’t for drinks. I came to eat.
$ 5 ½ pound burger with fries.
It’s not a gourmet burger but it beats the hell out of fast food, any day and every day. Throw in TV’s music, a pool table and a cute and friendly server, and I’m a fan.
Inside, it’s dark. Not so dark you can’t see anything but definitely very dimly lit which I actually don’t mind. Lots of parking — street and a small lot though it was later in the evening when I showed up.
I don’t know if the make up of the clientele changes from night to night but on the night I showed up, there were people from all walks of life; a pretty good mix. I saw at least once bouncer to help keep everyone in line which wasn’t necessary that night because it looked to be and felt that everyone was just there to have a good time.
I know I did.