Critic's Review
The Tipsy Boar opened after much of the interest about so-called "Gastropubs" became boring to me, so I didn't try the place when it opened. I'm not a huge fan of Hollywood, but today I thought I'd try it.
Driving down Harrison, there were no spots in the street, which seemed surprising considering the lack of people around. I had no idea there was a parking lot in the back; I turned down this narrow alleyway totally by mistake. There's only room for 1 car, but no sign indicating which is the correct way to go.
I found myself in the parking lot for the place; the only way to get to it is via the alley. Must be fun on a Saturday night.
There's a long patio on the side and also in the front; lots of tables end to end with no privacy. It was kind of dreary out so I thought I'd sit inside.
Inside is one big room; a big rectangular room dominated by a bar that runs along the east wall. All of the customers were at the bar, for the happy hour that starts at 2pm daily, no doubt.
There are a lot of tables stuffed into the room; half of them are high tops, but I wanted a regular sized table. I usually don't like sitting at a table in the middle of a room, but I had no choice.
There's no hostess; or servers, at least not at 2:30pm. An older dude who looked like an owner seated me and brought me a menu. He also brought out my iced tea, but oddly didn't ask what I wanted to order.
After a while, I got up to take the wide picture of the bar, and the bartender bounced out. I think maybe he thought I was leaving or something. I was thinking I wanted to try the lunch wings, but I didn't want to spend $20 on wings and a salad. So I just ordered a wedge salad.
Music was kind of jazzy; it didn't really fit the crowd. They have a big blackboard and a lot of taps; this place is designed for the new-fangled craft beer crowd.
The salad came out fairly quickly. It's a pretty good haul for $10; probably a whole head of iceberg lettuce.
The salad was plenty of food, with welcomed beefsteak tomatoes and lots of chunks of blue cheese. The only thing missing was red onions. The bacon was crisp as well. One of the better wedge salads I've had. $10 is no bargain for a wedge, but this is twice as much as you get at YOLO for $9.
Conclusion
The place has an industrial feel, which has never really appealed to me. It almost seems like the tried to avoid comfort; no backs on the stools, metal furniture. Maybe the idea is to not have people stay too long. For Hollywood, it's one of the better venues, with a low price point menu when you're in the mood to eat appetizers or pizza for dinner. I have a feeling it would be very loud when crowded.