Gold Line — Restaurant in Los Angeles

My wife and I had our first date at Goldline!

So 2 years ago, while being off and on dating apps, I was pretty burned out with the LA dating scene. I matched with someone and we chatted for a bit, but dealing with other stuff, I ended up deleting the app. About a week later, I felt terrible about leaving that sweet lady hanging, so I redownloaded the app. It turns out, at the same time, she had also deleted her app because she was dealing with a lot at that time, and a week later, feeling bad about leaving me hanging, decided to download the app again. We followed up with each other at the same time!

When looking for a date spot, I like to keep it cool/casual. I live in HLP and I was familiar with a bunch of the bars here, but I was looking for a better experience. I suggested Goldline and we had met there that night. It was pretty instant connection. But we really appreciated the ambiance and all the excellent music that was playing. That really added to the experience! I'm a simple beer man and my date doesn't drink, so we ordered a mocktail for her. The bartender did such a fantastic job in creating this amazing drink, took the time and made sure to make it all cute and fancy looking. All of this made me look better for choosing a nice place, and for that I am very grateful.

The setting there, with the delicious drinks, great tunes, the type of crowd and lighting, it was quite perfect for our first date. We later moved to the couches in the back to talk some more. I swear I never do this, but the chemistry was there and so we made out. Yes we were the PDA couple making out in a bar.

I did have to leave the date early, because my mom called... I know i know. BUT I was waiting for an important call because my sister just went into labor! So I had the awkward transition of making out with someone really special on our first date, to "oh sorry, it's my mom calling, I gotta take this." I got the excellent news but I had to run home to provide family support. So I gave us 10 more minutes of making out before I ran. I even set my timer. My date (now wife) and I laughed a lot.

Anyway, today is our 2 year anniversary from when we first met and we are celebrating. We now have a baby girl who is 7 months and she's the best. It's crazy to think that from our first date at the Goldline, from the beers, mocktails, music, making out and then running out... to now having a family, it's quite amazing.

Anyway, I'm really grateful for the Goldline and for all the service, quality, music, drinks and ambiance that made that night so perfect. Just had to share...

S/o to Peanut Butter Wolf! If you're unfamiliar with the moniker, this is Chris Manak's bar. The founding father of the independent record label "Stones Throw Records" based out of Los Angeles, California. Fun fact: stones throw headquarters used to be right up stairs. Love all the signed photographs PB from the cure, to gary wilson, biz markie, digable planets, the residents, and everything in between. It is a unique bar offering highballs and simple three-ingredient cocktail classics, plus rare whiskey, mezcal, and natural wine, much like a Japanese hifi bar but given a California lens.

Some great drinks to try would be any of their "highballs", "the Charizma" (named after his best friend and late rapper Charizma. rest in beats) the "OOO WE YEAH" and the "orbit". There's a couple cool spots next door. To the right is the artform studio owned by Adrian Younge. To the left is the concert venue "the lodge room". When in Highland Park, check out these 3 spots. But make sure you bring your dancing shows as the music being played is all vinyl. They have an awesome Marantz sound system. Random acts have DJ sets there weekly. The bar features 8000 of Peanut butter wolfs personal record collection. There's a nice elegant lounge area...

Huge fan of PBW and Stones Throw so maybe expectations were too high.. The bar itself is pretty narrow and on a Friday night it's pretty tight. The sound system is very mid heavy and lacks any bass or highs making lyrics really hard to hear thus you can't really enjoy the music. There are also many "dead spots" in the bar itself where it's just hard to hear the music in general. As a vinyl dj myself, I expected better selection and at least some basic mixing. It really seemed DJs were picking random records from the collection and no real curation. Not sure if it was just an off night but there were times where there was silence in between records for several seconds and not purposely, but rather the DJ not realizing the song was ending and rushing to throw the next record on. Seemed very amateur to me and expected more considering the roots of the bar itself. Overall, it's a cool spot if you have never been to a HiFi listening bar but having been to London and Japan, this place definitely felt like an imitation to me. At least there...