What the fuck happened to Boardner's?

Not that I went there all the time, but Boardner's was always a dependable Hollywood bar -- not too divey, not too trendy, and more importantly not too pricey. Well, the gentrification of Hollywood has hit this haunt hard, and I am never going back!

I went last Monday with my former roommate from San Francisco, who was in town for one of her rare L.A. visits, and our mutual friend. I suggested Boardner's since she's a big hot dog fan and wanted to try Skooby's, which I had recommended to her and is very close by. After a few trips around the block, I got rock star parking and met them at Skooby's. I sampled some of her cheese fries, chatted for a bit, then we were off to get some drinks.

It wasn't too crowded, so we got into Boardner's with no problem. The decor seemed different. More chi-chi, or as my friend Jeff says, it is Roosevelt-ed (as in Amande Scheer-Demme's former stomping grounds). Really nice booths, no more of that cracked red vinyl crap -- which I actually liked. We managed to snag such a booth, I took my friends' orders, then walked up to the bar.

The bar wasn't crowded. I saw one of the waitresses tell the bartender that she needed a couple glasses of wine. No problem. She had paying customers waiting. I'd be next.

After she poured the wine, some faux-hipster comes strolling up to the bar with an empty Heineken and she proceeds to ask what he needed. I couldn't fucking believe it. It's not like we're at some trendy Sunset Strip bar, where the guy was blingy with some fake-boobed bombshell at his arm. He looked straight outta Hot Topics.

I don't know if the bartender sensed my anger, but as she was pouring fuck-head's drinks she asked for my order.

Okay, I calmed down. Gave her the order.

She poured the drinks.

Three drinks.

Twenty-six fucking dollars!

That's almost 9 dollars a drink!

I guess those renovations must've set the place back a few grand.

I brought the drinks back to my friends and didn't make mention of the price. That's bad decorum and I know better.

When it was time, my visiting friend took care of the next round. She returned to the table, shocked at how much it cost.

I tried to assure her that the place used to be cool and cheap, but now all of Hollywood is getting gentrified, so all the drinks prices are going up. It's no wonder she loves living in San Francisco (and why I sometimes wish I never left). When I went to visit last time we went to a great beer bar Toronado, which puts Father's Office to shame. Up there you can find pints of Stella for three dollars, Jacks and Coke for four. I could write essays on the bars of San Francisco, broken down by neighborhood, jukebox selection, and genre.

We still had a good time catching up, but fuck Boardner's! Fuck them hard!

I came back home still bitter enough to post a nasty Citysearch review.