Clearly a ceiling full of shamrocks is a very lucky thing to have on one's side.
But Tom Bergin's Tavern, which is about half block south of Wilshire Boulevard on Fairfax Avenue, or 500 or so pint glasses laid end-to-end, has proven to be a pretty lucky place.
It's weathered plenty of ups/downs since its 1936 opening, including the moving of the famous horseshoe bar, down the middle of Wilshire, then Fairfax, from its first location.
The neighborhood hangout also shuttered quite suddenly in early July, much to the consternation of regulars and semi-regulars and people who love historic buildings and people who love beer and ceiling shamrocks and old-style pubs that don't go in for a lot of gloss or pageantry.
But there's a sea change afoot, and the wind is favorable for the much-loved landmark: New owner Derek Schreck is preparing for a December re-debut of the woodsy, nicely-dark-at-3pm watering hole. A Nov. 30 opening had been planned, but Mr. Schreck says health & safety requirements mean a later-in-the-year bow.
Mr. Schreck will keep those beloved overhead shamrocks in place and the taps a-flowin', but a "new menu" and a "whiskey lounge" are in the works. But fear not. You can't have "House of Irish Coffee" all lit up in neon out front and not continue to serve the hot sip the 77-year-old bar is famous for, right? Right.
And we indeed meant "much-loved" before. Everyone from the LA Times to the Larchmont Chronicle to Hidden LA is abuzz. It's the kind of advance excitement that a bar a fraction of Tom Bergin's age wants but only occasionally gets.
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Time has a way of growing a place's stories, though. Tom Bergin's has become known for many things over its nearly eight decades, including possibly inspiring TV's own "Cheers," which makes it even more fitting that Mr. Schreck is an actor. Showbiz and shamrock-luck are an old twosome 'round these parts.
Though there's a newer twosome on the way: Both the Academy Museum, and, years later, the Wilshire/Fairfax Metro stop, are coming down the Miracle Mile area pike. Tom Bergin's is going to get a pair of lively new neighbors, which means that its bustling, raise-a-glass future looks nicely shamrocky indeed.
Cheers to all that.
