The Neighborhood Bar
The Neighborhood Is Where the Happy Hour Is
Where: 235 West Montecito Street, (805) 963-7600, theneighborhoodbar.com.
What: West Beach’s laid-back neighborhood bar and grill, with happy hour every day.
How Much: Happy hour drinks, $4; cheeseburgers, $5-$7.
The Dish: Nestled between West Beach and the downtown train tracks sits the bustling, yet low key Neighborhood. A favorite with twenty-somethings for its chalk-drawn walls, jukebox, pool table, and ping-pong appeal, the bar and restaurant manages to have a packed patio along Montecito Street on an increasingly regular basis. Come for the happy hour specials, stay for the Big Buck Hunter arcade games, ping-pong tournaments, and flat screen TVs. Enjoy happy hour every day (2–8 pm): well drinks for $4, same for draft (PBR to Firestone) or bottled beer, wine, shots. Appetizers are just $3.50, alongside a $5 medium pizza. The grill serves seven kinds of fries ($3), add a buck and customize your fries with one of a dozen different sauces. It’s a bar that would be smoky if they still allowed it.