A classic Irish pub and one of the oldest bars or restaurants in Los Angeles, Tom Bergin's on Fairfax has recently been overhauled with a new menu and new copper top on its famous horseshoe-shaped bar. Attracting a diverse crowd in their 20s to 50s from all walks of life, Tom Bergin's is a community living room where the whiskey flows, the conversation is lively and the cuisine is better than ever.
You'll know it by the shamrock sign that says, "Home of the Irish Coffee" as you drive up Fairfax, up from Little Ethiopia. Tom Bergin's is both bar and restaurant, and they feature your typical bar food alongside authentic Irish cuisine. You can sample Fish and Chips, Corned Beef and Cabbage, Sheppard's Pie, Chicken or Shrimp Erin, Gaelic Beef (Irish stew simmered in Guinness Stout, with onions, steamed potatoes, and carrots), and Irish Gravlax (chilled salmon cured in Irish vodka - who knew? - with hot potato pancakes or cold slices of cucumber and mustard dill sauce) for dinner, or just stick with the Guinness and Jameson. In my experience, this place has always been packed, and it's a true Dublin pub, with lots of little nooks and crannies in which to cozy up with your beer and a handful of drinking buddies. But no matter how packed it gets, you can always find a place to enjoy the good-time atmosphere. Just like a Dublin pub, the people tend to be a little friendlier here, maybe it's the spirit of the Irish seeping in. Tom Bergin's is open at 6am on St. Patty's Day, so if you'd like to get your drinking started early, here's the place!