Thu 19 Jul 2007
Bar Nineteen12: $18 for a Cocktail? No Thanks!
Posted by Caroline on Crack under Los Angeles, Nightlife, Cocktails -
I was supposed to meet Erin and Nancy at Bar Nineteen12 in the Beverly Hills Hotel tonight. We had planned checking it out ever since we got wind of it from UrbanDaddy and Thrillist but it wasn’t until a couple of hours before our drinking date that I decided to actually do some quick research to see what I had to look forward to at the posh, new bar. So I checked out the cocktail menu supplied by Thrillist and… OK, I’m willing to splurge on the occasional $15 cocktail but $18 for a mai tai and, more laughable, $8 for a Budweiser?! Um, NOPE!
So I had to tell the girls that I’d catch them another time.
Listen, I’m all for a night of fancy and indulgence but I’d have to just been given a large raise to justify spending so much on one drink. And I know you’re probably asking, “Well, what did you expect, Caroline? It IS the Pink Palace.” But I honestly was surprised. I wonder if that’s the most a hotel bar in L.A. has ever charged for a cocktail.
Here’s just a sampling of the pricey list of drinks. There’s a nice mix of old school cocktails and intriguing exotic ones:
- Classic Mai Tai, Beverly Hills Manhattan, Brandy Alexander, Mint Julep, Nineteen12 Old Fashioned — $18 each
- Velvet Hammer ($18): Vodka, creme de cacao, cream
- Between the Sheets ($18): Rum, cointreau, brandy, lemon
- Prickly Pear Margarita ($18): Tequila, cointreau, margarita mix (?!), pear cactus puree
There are even sampler cocktails which come in the form of shots, sorbet, sips or popsicles, $25 a grouping. They sound yummy but paying $25 would make them hard to swallow.
And I wouldn’t even consider ordering appetizers there what with $18 for calamari and $26 for ahi tuna sashimi. Maybe when I strike it rich I’ll consider it.
Bar Nineteen12 at Beverly Hills Hotel
9641 Sunset Boulevard
Beverly Hills, California 90210 (map)
(310) 276-2251
July 19th, 2007 at 4:05 pm
You’re not rich?
July 19th, 2007 at 11:01 pm
You did the right thing. That’s insane. Anyone who pays that much for a drink is a sucker–I don’t care how much money you make. Pass the flask…
July 20th, 2007 at 9:33 am
It’s a bar for industry expense accounts and vacationing European and Japanese tourists. Luckily said Nineteen12 patrons don’t know about Seven Grand…
July 20th, 2007 at 11:35 am
Gastly. I stayed at the Hotel Angelno last week and drinks were close to that however, the Bed was worth it-Ha.
July 20th, 2007 at 12:33 pm
Now i get the name!
July 20th, 2007 at 5:30 pm
WOW is gas cheaper???
July 21st, 2007 at 6:22 am
Do you drink gas?
July 23rd, 2007 at 8:23 am
oh, is that why you didn’t go? :D let’s catch up sometime soon. hope the mani’s were good :P
July 23rd, 2007 at 5:05 pm
I was actually there that night! (Long story). It’s a really lovely space — I do love the BHH — and, for what it’s worth, the $18 cocktails were delicious and STRONG and the service WAS excellent. Also, cheesy Jason Davis was there, which was hilarious.
I definitely wouldn’t go there all the time - I’d go broke — but it was fun.