I haven’t gone to Westwood in ages so I jumped at the chance to drop by the Westwood Brewing Company when invited. All right, it was more like, “Really? There? OK.” My friends knew one of the bartenders so we were set for drinks, meaning we drank hard liquor and not any of the beers. But apparently a lot has changed at “Brewco.” They filled up the place with more neon beer signs so it’s brighter now and they got rid of their house beers, but from what I read this is just as well since their house brews were reviewed to be unimpressive and watery.

There are still many beers like Fat Tire Beer as well as other not-so-well-known ones on tap for your round-the-world, beer-drinking pleasure. However, I hear they are overpriced and that you can get drinks for the same price at the W down the street. I’m just sayin’.

The place was “kinda dead” for a Friday night because of finals/Christmas vacation but there were still lots of college dudes in the main area watching some sport games on the many TVs. Outside I could see an empty patio behind the bar but it slowly filled up through the course of the evening. Apparently there’s also a spiral staircase that leads to another patio. So it’s a huge venue that I had to imagine filled with co-eds.

My favorite things about this place? The buffalo popcorn chicken ($7.50) and French fries ($3.95). The former came with spicy bell pepper buffalo sauce as well as ranch. Dip, swish, pop. Yummy! And the thick French fries weren’t greasy. I think they were baked. Perfectly seasoned and the right balance of crispy and tender.

Overall, I still would shy away from this bar simply because of the intimidating parking situation–finding street parking is a bitch and the public parking garages seem a trek away–and there aren’t enough good bars in the area for a pub crawl.

1097 Glendon Avenue
Los Angeles, California 90024
(310) 209-2739
Cross Street: Kinross Avenue