An addendum to the Hideout review I did last month. I was able to finally check it out last night because I was thinking of throwing a singles mixer there and wanted to make sure the venue met my requirements of space, entertainment and eye candy.

Granted, it was a Tuesday night but I figured I could get a generic feel for the place. After passing by it many times in its gay bar Friendship form, I was glad to finally get inside. When I walked in I was greeted by a long bar and tall ceilings on my right and on my left was a semi-curtained lounge filled with many chairs occupied by people all facing “the front” of the room. The bartender answered to our bewildered looks by saying, “There’s an acting seminar going on but don’t feel that you have to be quiet.”

We quietly ordered our drinks. I asked if the Hideout had any specialty cocktails and the bartender said that they didn’t really but she could make any martini that I wanted or they had a fruit-infused rum that they make themselves. I decided to go with that. But when I took a sip, I wish I hadn’t. It simply tasted like fruit juice with nary a drop of rum. Oh well.

My friend and I found out that there was a pool table upstairs (and the women’s room) and decided to play some pool. Turns out it’s free but I don’t know if that’s all the time or just off nights. There’s only one pool table and you have to get the balls, chalk and triangle rack thing from the bartender but the sticks are upstairs. The pool table is a beautiful old school one. Red instead of green. We quietly played pool while the acting seminar blazed on downstairs.

When the seminar was over, cute actor guys snuck upstairs to use the women’s restroom. Apparently women were using the men’s room downstairs. My curiosity peaked by all the cute guys, I peeked out the upstairs window to survey the outdoor smoking patio below. Yup, lots of cute guys down there, too. My friend asked if I wanted to make the rounds but it was Tuesday night and I thought better of it.

By the time we decided to leave, it was almost nine. We returned to the bar to pay our tabs and saw several big black binders now sitting on the bar. That could only mean one thing. Yep, karaoke night. The binders were filled with songs. I saw “Son of a Preacher Man” (of course) but no Kelly Clarkson’s “Since U Been Gone.” Leaving me to think that their karaoke machine wasn’t up-to-date. But how fun would that be for a singles night?

In any case, I’m still on a quest for a good singles mixer venue. Looking for parking on West Channel Road sucks and I wouldn’t wish that on my singles-mixer guests. But if it didn’t, I’d give the Hideout a chance.

112 W Channel Rd
Santa Monica, CA 90401
(310) 454-6024
Cross Street: Pacific Coast Highway