A Martini and a Manicure at
Hollywood’s Beauty Bar
By Claudia Alves

In need of a manicure, but ready to go out for drinks? No need to choose or hide your hands. Head over to the Beauty Bar in Hollywood and get both. Decorated as a beauty salon, you can head to the bar and get a $10 drink, and a manicure or henna.

It all started in New York City in 1995 on East 14th Street when Paul Devitt and Deb Parker opened the original Beauty Bar in the former Thomas Beauty Salon. Five years later, their third bar in L.A. opened in Hollywood. Paul and his team, Gary Hayes and Chase Marshall, decorated the space with a mid-sixties salon interior salvaged from Bakersfield, California.

According to Graham Northwood of the Hollywood Beauty Bar, the inspiration was to create a fun atmosphere where women could feel more relaxed and not in such a meat market.

The photos to the left  and above capture the unique features of L.A.’s Beauty Bar.

Start early, as it gets packed by 10:30 pm and you won’t be able to dish with your manicurist, Annalee (there on Saturdays). There’s plenty of floor space and some nice chairs with hair dryers attached - yes, the kind your mom sat under. Now, you’re ready to continue your night out with your fabulous manicure.

And don’t miss the “Drop Dead Gorgeous Beauty Pageant” on the last Sunday of every month.

Between 2000 and 2006, they opened three more bars in Las Vegas, Austin and San Diego. They are currently looking at Phoenix, Philadelphia and Houston.

Location: 1638 N. Cahuenga Blvd., Hollywood For more information, click here or call 323-464-7676.