The intersection of National and Barrington in West LA is always a headache during my morning and evening commutes, with drivers crossing four lanes of traffic to get into Whole Foods at the last second, people jumping out of their car for Starbucks, people leaving their car running as they run to the Blockbuster Video drop slot.. I’ve spent enough time at the stop light on Barrington going south, that I always wondered about the place right next to Blockbuster. The sign reads: Lost & Found – Cocktails and Dancing. I looked all over the web for information on it, and couldn’t find much, so I’d have to brave this one sans pre-bar research.
I packed up the girl and we headed on down to Lost & Found to see what mysteries lay behind the front door. We had gone to a similar sounding place in South Pasadena called The Barkley, and that was great.
My first impression was this: There’s no room to dance here.
Granted, I did not go there with the intention of dancing at all, but it says it on the friggin’ sign, I wanted to see old blue hairs dancing to Dean Martin or something. What I did find was an actual dive bar. Those blue hairs were draped over the bar alongside younger folks with non-ironic trucker hats. I could tell this was the kind of place that has a breakfast booze rush. With no trace of light entering this place at all, you could definitely convince yourself that it was always 10pm.
Now maybe I would enjoy this place more with the guys. I’ve always been a dive bar fan, but maybe the fact that I brought a “date” here made it all the more eerie. One would think a bar located on the other side of the wall from where people are renting Ratatouille would be a bit more, I don’t know, accessible to the public.
I will go back to this bar though, but with the guys like I said. The interior was kinda cool with the red leather half moon booths and the white christmas light interior. I may need to re-snark this place at a later date. Bonuses here: Free popcorn, and apparently the pool table attracts a lot of talent. Feel free to share your opinions of Lost & Found.
11700 National Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90064-3600
Phone: (310) 397-7772
Open daily 11am – 2am
2/6/08 edit: I did go back to this place with the guys, and it was just as creepy as the first time. Think, professional alcoholics. Similar to The Joker.
