LAGuide
Where To Watch Sports Outside In LA
photo credit: Jakob Layman
Effective Wednesday 11/25 at 10pm, LA County has ordered restaurants and bars to cease outdoor dining - find more information here.
Usually, finding a place to watch sports is as simple as walking outside, listening for shouting, and then heading in that direction. But times have changed, and restaurants are only open for outdoor dining - which complicates things, because, y’know, TVs aren’t designed to be weatherproof. So we put together this list of 25 places across LA where you can sit outside, drink a beer (or seven), and watch college football, the NFL, soccer from around the globe, or just continue celebrating the Dodgers’ and Lakers’ world championships. We won’t judge; 2020′s been a year.
The Spots
If you’re looking to do things a little differently, then 101 North is a great option. This Westlake Village bar and bistro runs an excellent Sunday brunch, featuring bottomless mimosas and plenty of innovative twists on brunch staples (we love their rosemary Benedict). Plus, there are lots of TVs set up on their patio to catch all the NFL action. That’s a win/win/win.
Silver Lake spot 33 Taps just recently expanded their footprint along the heart of Sunset. And more importantly, they lined up a bunch of TVs in their windows so you watch sports while you’re eating outside. Any beer drinker will find something to drink from the - you guessed it! - 33 taps, and their food menu has all the nachos and burgers you’ll need to survive a full day of football.
40 Love is an upscale sports bar - and yes, we know that sounds like an oxymoron - on La Cienega in Weho with plenty of outdoor space, bar food, beer, wine, and cocktails. They’ve got weekly deals, like Tequila Tuesday, which involves $1 wings and shot specials, along with weekend brunch, and half-off wagyu dogs.
While a lot of places have built patios in parking lots or on sidewalks, Barney’s Beanery in Weho went a step further. They built an entire new deck, complete with tons of new seating and a bunch of outdoor TVs. Their craft beer selection is excellent, and their nachos are appropriately cheesy and basically perfect.
Like their Weho location, Barney’s Beanery in Westwood is open for outdoor sports watching. They’ve got everything we love about the Weho location - craft beer, nachos, and tons of TV screens.
photo credit: Berkshire House
This spot is Permanently Closed.
Berkshire House was a multi-level sports bar that opened shortly before the pandemic hit. They quickly pivoted and opened a biergarten, and became a massive outdoor sports-watching destination. They’ve got daily specials that include Taco Tuesdays and 25-cent wing Wednesdays, and the patio is covered in TVs.
Biergarten is a Koreatown sports bar that’s filled with locals. And while they don’t have outdoor TVs, they do set up a projector for nightly games. As far as food goes, the kimchi fried rice and Chosun burger are two of our favorites - both pair great with one of the 25 beers they have on tap.
photo credit: Jakob Layman
Long before the days of social distancing and outdoor-only dining, Big Dean’s in Santa Monica had a pair of huge patios with picnic tables for beachside sports-watching. And they still do. Their burger is one of the best in LA, and there’s always an ocean breeze to cool you down. Plus, if that doesn’t work, one of the 17 beers on tap should do the trick.
Blue Dog Beer Tavern is a Valley staple, serving tremendous burgers and a wide selection of craft beer on tap. They recently expanded their patio out into the sidewalk, so there’s plenty of outdoor seating - along with a few TVs.
This sports bar in Santa Monica has set up a fenced-in patio in their back parking lot with tables, couches, and plenty of TVs. Their weekly specials include $2 Taco Tuesdays, $1 Wing Wednesdays, and $6 Old Fashioned Fridays. That’s way more winning than the Chargers ever do.
Little Tokyo spot The Escondite is open until 1am every day, with a huge outdoor seating area set up in their parking lot. They’ve brought TVs, picnic tables, and even some booths and couches outside, with plenty of space between them for social distancing. Their drinks are still cheap, and they’re still serving their fantastic menu full of football-sized burgers (get the unfortunately named Double D, a massive double-smash burger loaded with cheese, sauce, and other extras).
This Pico sports bar has always been one of the most packed places in the city on game days. Now, nothing is exactly packed, but it’s still a great place to watch the World Series or NFL action. They have a bunch of two-tops in the new patio out back, plus a big TV.
When your sports bar is called The Game, you better have a good set-up for sports viewing. And that’s exactly what this place has - a massive outdoor seating area in Westchester with a tons of flat-screens, a full bar, and all kinds of bar food like wings, sandwiches, and mozzarella sticks.
This massive brewery in Atwater Village has a few different patios filled with TVs, and is open for you to order a sandwich and a flight of LA-brewed beer while attempting to figure out WTF is happening with the Rams’ offense.
The new parking lot patio at The Holloway is covered in Dodger Blue from the moment you walk in, so you know exactly what you’re getting at this excellent Echo Park sports bar. They’ve got Dodgers, Rams, and Chargers games, and some great micheladas.
Joxer Daly’s is a Culver City Irish pub with a huge back patio for all your sports-watching needs. Their weekday Happy Hour involves $6 margaritas and glasses of wine, and $5 beers. They even open early (like, 7am early) for certain Euro soccer matches, so check their Instagram for weekly schedules.
Not only is Lucky Baldwin’s one of the best places in the city to drink European craft beer, it’s also an incredible place to watch European soccer. This Pasadena spot has got English breakfasts for early morning weekend games, and pub classics like fish & chips and pasties at night.
Another spot that was already set up with a huge patio full of TVs, The Parlor has always been an ideal place to watch sports - though that has as much to do with the aforementioned TVs as it does their surprisingly good cocktail list, a rarity at most sports bars.
One of the original classic Westside beach dives, Prince O’Whales has everything you want in a sports bar - even during quarantine. That means they’ve got a great burger, cheap beer, and three TVs on their back patio (in addition to a functional ping pong table).
photo credit: Jakob Layman
The Red Lion has been a Silver Lake staple since 1959, and their upstairs patio has long been one of the best places to drink on the Eastside. They recently expanded their patio into their two huge parking lots, and have TVs set up to watch the NFL and college ball, along with Liga MX and UEFA matches throughout the fall. Be sure to order the pretzel, which, along with the accompanying beer cheese, is one of our favorite drunk foods on the planet.
Rocco’s locations in Weho, Pasadena, Studio City, and Culver City are all open for outdoor sports-viewing. Each location has wings, pizza, and TVs aplenty, plus tons of Happy Hour deals for beer and cocktails.
This spot is Permanently Closed.
Culver City is well known for its sports bars, and Rush Street might be our favorite in the area. This Chicago-centric spot has five covered patios where you’ll find plenty of TVs to watch the World Series or football. They’ve even got $20 bottomless mimosas on Sundays - so things could get messy pretty quickly.
Sonny McLean’s is a New England sports bar, through and through - they’ve got surly bartenders, extremely heavy pours, and a miniature replica of the Boston Garden inside the bar. It’s also likely the only place in LA where you could start a “Beat LA” chant. Don’t worry, their new patio set-up in the back parking lot has just as many TVs and Massholes as you’d find inside the bar under normal circumstances.
Hollywood’s Wirtshaus had a great biergarten set-up before outdoor dining became a necessity, which automatically makes it a great place to catch a soccer or football game. They’ve got German classics like schnitzel, pretzels, and brats, along with a huge list of German and Belgian craft beers.
The patio at Inglewood BBQ spot The Wood is an ideal place to catch a game. They’ve sectioned off the sidewalk in front of their restaurant, and have a big projector that’ll show all the sports you can handle. And as a bonus, they’ve got enough brisket, spare ribs, and rib tips to get you through an entire Sunday of NFL games.
