The type of classic L.A. dive bar that fueled the pens of Fante and Bukowski are sadly going the way of the dodo, with Downtown’s splendidly sketchy King Eddy Saloon, a staple of Skid Row’s flophouse dwellers, just the latest to hit the endangered list. The bar, “where nobody gives a shit about your name,” has reportedly been purchased by owners of Downtown’s Library Bar and Spring Street Bar, who promise to respect its past (the bar has a subterranean speakeasy and possibly the oldest liquor license on record), but will still probably have to pay for the rehab with drinks that cost more than a jangle of spare change.
Owner Dustin Croick laments, “When I have to walk out of this place, turn out the lights and shut the door, it will be the hardest thing I’ve ever done.” There’s a booze for that, Dustin. In any case, the bar will remain open at least through summer. [LAT]
