A Venue To Avoid: The Barkley Restaurant & Bar in South Pasadena, California

I try to keep this music blog positive. I only write about artists and albums that I think are worth listening to. I'm not out to knock any artists. And I'm not out to knock music venues either. I'm thankful for any place that books bands these days, for live music is the very thing that keeps me going. But I have to make an exception, and warn people about The Barkley Restaurant & Bar, which is located at 1400 Huntington Dr. in South Pasadena, California. This place rips off its patrons and is run by a violent would-be thug who thinks rather highly of himself and his little bar. I went there on Saturday to see Old Californio, one of my favorite bands. I was going to mention this incident in my review of that show, but, again, decided to keep that review positive. After all, the band put on one hell of a phenomenal show, and of course had absolutely nothing to do with the incident at the end of the night. So I decided to keep this separate. Here is what happened.

I got to the show early, as I always do, and ordered a beer. This place has nothing on tap, which is odd, and the bottle selection was not very good. But I decided to try the IPA. It was $6, which seemed not unreasonable to me. The IPA wasn't great, but good enough. I finished it, and then I was focused on the music. When the band decided to do a third set, I went to the bar and ordered another IPA. This time it was a different bartender and when she placed the bottle on the counter she said "Eleven dollars." I thought I misheard her, but she repeated the price. I'm sure I looked confused, and I told her that I had paid six dollars for that same beer earlier. She informed me that the price goes up once the music starts. So I asked, "Oh, does the band get half the bar tab?" Because if that was the case, I was happy to pay the eleven. As I said, this band is great, and they'd already delivered two fantastic sets. But the woman didn't answer me. Instead, she took the bottle away and put it below the counter, and then walked away from me. Odd behavior. But, whatever, that was the end of that. And I put the money I was going to spend on beer in the band's tip jar (or hat, as I recall).

That was at 11:45 p.m. I know, because I sent my friend Jon a text message at 11:48, which read: "I had a beer. Nothing on tap, just bottles. Six dollars. Okay. So I just went to get another one before 3rd set. Eleven dollars. I was like what? I asked if the band got half of it, and instead of answering she just put it away."

The third set was incredible. A whole lot of energy. It ended at 1:11 a.m. Approximately ten minutes after that, I had gathered my stuff and was stepping away from the booth, when a man I had never met before got right in my face and demanded I pay for a bottle of beer that he had in his hand. He also poked my chest with his finger, trying to intimidate me, I suppose. But I was in too good a mood to take that bait. I told him, no, that I was about to leave and was not going to drink another beer. Plus, assuming it was the same beer, it had been sitting out for an hour and a half. So he wanted me to purchase a warm beer for a ridiculous price. I explained what happened, how I had expected the price to be the same it was earlier, and made it clear that there was no way I was ever going to pay eleven dollars for a bottle of beer. He got belligerent and told me I owed him $11. I said, absolutely not. At that point, two people that I had only met that night (other Old Californio fans) offered to pay for the beer (because there are still good people in this country). I said, "Please don't do that." After all, it wouldn't be right. So then the guy told me to get out of his bar, which is what I'd been doing before he started this nonsense. So I started to walk out, and as I paused to say goodbye to the band he pushed me toward the door, which is completely unreasonable and also criminal. Had I been in a worse mood, I might have called the police. But, again, that concert was so good, that not even this piece of shit was going to ruin my mood. His pushing me was witnessed by several people, some of whom followed me outside to check to make sure I was okay. Because, again, there are good people in this world.

By the way, the question that the bartender refused to answer, the one about the band getting half the tab.... Well, the answer is No, the band got nothing of the bar tab. So these people tell customers that the ridiculously high price is because of the music, and then totally stiff the band. I'm sure most people assumed the band was getting a portion of the tab. But this venue just uses the band to rip people off. I highly recommend avoiding this place. And in the days since this happened, I've heard from other people who had similar experiences. So this was not a matter of me catching this prick on a bad night. So, again, I highly recommend avoiding this place. If there is a band performing there that you feel you absolutely must see, just don't order any drinks. Don't give the club any money. Whatever money you'd spend on drinks, give it to the band. The musicians are the ones that deserve it, not this greedy, dishonest, violent prick.