I found a great restaurant for wearing a Fedora or Panama....

[portolan]

Saturday night I took some friends out to eat at a fairly new place here in San Diego at Fashion Valley called Bing Crosby's. The food was ok....nothing fantastic or terrible, and rather expensive, but the ambiance was incredible. Full of huge pictures of Bing and his friends. The piano bar was the biggest I have ever seen and was full of middle aged people in vintage clothes dancing to music of the thirties and forties. Lots of fedoras and Panamas on the men (and a few on the ladies). I would go to the piano bar any time for drinks and snacks and enjoy the wonderful atmosphere and maybe skip the restaurant side. They also played some great jazz.....Wish I had worn my Adam Executive and taken a camera. I wonder if there are other great places like this around the country that are themed towards the Bing era? No, I don't have stock....I was simply very impressed with the piano bar side. Never been in anything like that before.....it was like Monteagle on steroids!

 

[RBH]

Sounds great Phil!!
Next time take a camera!!!

 

[anglophile]

Sounds like my kind of place.

 

[jazzncocktails]

Saturday night I took some friends out to eat at a fairly new place here in San Diego at Fashion Valley called Bing Crosby's. The food was ok....nothing fantastic or terrible, and rather expensive, but the ambiance was incredible. Full of huge pictures of Bing and his friends. The piano bar was the biggest I have ever seen and was full of middle aged people in vintage clothes dancing to music of the thirties and forties. Lots of fedoras and Panamas on the men (and a few on the ladies). I would go to the piano bar any time for drinks and snacks and enjoy the wonderful atmosphere and maybe skip the restaurant side. They also played some great jazz.....Wish I had worn my Adam Executive and taken a camera. I wonder if there are other great places like this around the country that are themed towards the Bing era? No, I don't have stock....I was simply very impressed with the piano bar side. Never been in anything like that before.....it was like Monteagle on steroids!

Portolan, there's also a Bing Crosby's location in Rancho Mirage (next to Palm Springs, for those who may not recognize the city). I visited there last fall and loved it--fantastic food, great service, and the photos of Bing and friends provided great ambiance. Mediocre bar, but otherwise, worth the visit...wore my Stetson Saxon (yeah, a modern Stetson) and felt like I fit right in.

Check out my review on Yelp (Steve C.'s review):

http://www.yelp.com/biz/bing-crosbys-rancho-mirage#hrid:o-h9JIUJd-IYB7MFYu4mKw

And Bing Crosby's website is worth checking out, too:

http://www.bingcrosbysrestaurant.com

Two other fedora-worthy restaurants in the desert to check out are Melvyn's (where Sinatra's fourth and final wedding reception was held) and Copley's (on the old Cary Grant estate).

For those of you in the Missouri area, I had dinner several years ago at The Summit in downtown St. Louis, a Rat Pack-themed restaurant--also fedora-worthy. I don't remember it blowing me away, but fun nonetheless.

Ok, now I'm hungry.

 

[Mike in Seattle]

There was a string out the one in the SF area awhile back. The outlaws...oops, my mistake...the inlaws went and liked the decor and thought it was horribly overpriced for so-so food. But then they think Denny's is overpriced for great food, so their opinions are whacky, IMHO.

 

[Cigarband]

A Vintage Lounge

We have a great place here in Cleveland. The Velvet Tango Room. It was listed as one of the top ten Speakeasys in America by USA Today. Google it and if your ever in Cleveland, don't pass it up. It is authentically Vintage,
not kitsch.

 

[Jaguar]

We have a great place here in Cleveland. The Velvet Tango Room. It was listed as one of the top ten Speakeasys in America by USA Today. Google it and if your ever in Cleveland, don't pass it up. It is authentically Vintage,
not kitsch.

Perhaps America's greatest contribution to the world of spirits is the cocktail, and the finest cocktail bar in America is in fact, the Velvet Tango Room.

But do not, do not, do not, wear a hat inside. The careful visitor will note the inscriptions beside the door: one of which is that hats may not be worn inside. The first time I visited I was wearing a three piece with a 2-3/4" snap-brim, which I (fortunately) doffed as I entered.

Jaguar

 

[feltfan]

the finest cocktail bar in America is in fact, the Velvet Tango Room.
The careful visitor will note the inscriptions beside the door: one of which is that hats may not be worn inside.

Ipso facto not the finest cocktail bar in America.

 

[Jaguar]

Ipso facto not the finest cocktail bar in America.

Where, then?

Milk, PDC, Death, Angel's Share, Pegu, Employees Only, Violet Hour, Clover Club, Apothecary, Flatiron? Which would you suggest? Those are most of the leading cocktail bars in America, they are the pool of experience from which I judge. I have not been to Bourbon & Branch, I admit, and I leave The Brandy Library off the list as it is not a strict 'cocktail bar.'

Most of those have strengths, but from a standpoint of that original contribution to the spirit world, for classic (in the main) cocktails made with the finest of ingredients, and with atmosphere to match, I could not suggest anyone go anywhere else with the easy confidence I feel in sending them to the Tango Room.

 

[metropd]

I've never been to Bing Cosby's but I plan on going next week. I was told by some friends that I (US) would fit right in.