Harvelle's — Restaurant in Santa Monica

Some friends and I came here last Saturday to see The Dennis Jones Band. As per usual, they were amazing and kept the place rockin' all night. As much as I love seeing them play-- I don't think I'll ever be back here. The service was enough to make me cringe. We arrived earlier in the evening after having dinner on 3rd Street and claimed our booth. A friend of mine ordered a dirty martini that was sub-par to say at the least. It was disgusting and the olive juice tasted stale. She took two sips of it and didn't touch it again. The waitress that night- or at least I think she was a waitress- was rude and couldn't have been anymore unenthusiastic. After throwing a napkin in front of me and dryly saying "What can I get you?", I decided to order a gin and tonic. Now, I myself am a bartender and I am also a mysophobe, also known as a germ-a-phobe. I was happily talking to my friends and watching the bartender make my drink. Quick Tip-- Every bar, by law, has to have three separate containers to wash, rinse and sanitize any tool you use behind the bar, at a temperature that is to aid in killing bacteria. It's also known that you must have an ice scoop to put ice into your shaker when making chilled drinks. To my horror, I watched the bartender make another customers drink, sit the drink on the bar, and sitting the metal shaker on the spill mat(Which is also highly contaminated with growing bacteria), take money from the customer, put it in his till, pick up his metal shaker and scoop the ice using the shaker, contaminating every ice cube he touched with the metal shaker as well as my entire drink. Not only did he do that-- I also received whatever else was left over in the shaker from the other customers drink. Now-- This isn't Harvelle's complete fault. I do believe they should have stricter rules for the bartender and maybe hire a waitress that wants to be there. I couldn't tell you if the drink was good because I refused to drink it after watching possible E.Coli be thrown so carelessly into my drink. I understand this might seem a little overzealous about a few miniscule mistakes in someone elses eyes, and you might think "Well, it's a dive bar".. Regardless if it's the Ritz or its a Dive Bar, laws are there for a reason and to prevent illness and possible death. Shame on you, Harvelles. If it wasn't for that, I'd be here all the time. I had a great time but the poor service and the fear of drinking anything was enough to put a damper on...

Manager/bar tender/loser is incredibly rude. Scammy vibe. Held card hostage. Unauthorized charges.

My boyfriend left his credit card here a little over a week ago. We were traveling so it took him a few days to come back to retrieve it. The bar opens at 8, he went in around 9pm to get his card. The bartender/manager told him they were too busy to go in the back and grab it, so he would need to come back another night. This was odd, but he lives in the neighborhood so he agreed to come back in a day or so. Tonight he went in and was met with the same “we’re too busy I can’t go get it,” but this time more aggressive and rude. At this point they are refusing to give him back his property. We also checked his card and there were unauthorized charges.

There is nothing cool about this place and the bartender/manager is a real piece of trash. Scum of the earth actually. Don’t go here.

Sound is also garbage. If you’re in a band,...

From the moment we got to the door things were not impressive. A $5 cover fee to get in on a monday?? We have to pay the bartender our cover if we dont carrry cash and show the receipt, despite the fact the bartender was dismissive and only cared about making money. 2 drink minimum on cards so I got 2 old fashioneds for me and my friend. Terrible, using a sugar packet that I would put in my coffee is not what I expected for an old fashioned, not even simple syrup! Tasted like all liquor no flavors of angostura or orange and cherry he muddled and did a single half-hearted shake to "mix". Then when we drank our tasteless old fashioneds, if I wanted to get another drink if I closed out my original tab it's another 2 drink minimum for a new one! So my original transaction meant nothing, just a policy to get you to spend more. The vibes dont balance the rules that want to take your money. Go somewhere else and save yourself the...