Whether you’re visiting for Grand Prix Weekend or you’re a local who loves to mix and mingle with new people, hotel bars in Downtown are awesome places for race fans to hang out! These drinkeries combine the energy of people on the move with the quietness and security of someone’s home. This atmosphere is conducive to great conversation. Add a fine beverage and you have the perfect recipe for a pre or post-race rendezvous! Check out these Downtown hotel bars and think about the possibilities.
Watercraft Market + Lounge @ Hyatt Centric at the Pike / 285 Bay St.
Grab a seat at the bar with your fellow auto racing fanatics and relax in what feels like someone’s classy, cozy, slightly nautical dining room. On a brisk April evening, a round of Irish Coffees will keep you warm. If you share something from the food menu (Tofu Scrambles, Avocado Toast, and Mahi Mahi Tacos are among the favorites), you might want to pair it with a brew from the extensive IPA list.
Watercraft Market + Lounge is open 6 AM to 1PM and 4 to 11 PM every day. TASTY COCKTAIL TIP: Black Berry Sangria
Bar @ Hyatt Regency / 200 S Pine Ave.
The bar with the picture windows overlooking the race course is open every day from 1 to 11 PM, and the bar kitchen is open from 1 to 9:45 PM. Have a pizza or burger with your fellow racing aficionados while sipping a crafted cocktail or a California wine, and watch the sunset over the lagoon!
Learn more about the Hyatt Regency and book one of its 531 rooms here. TASTY COCKTAIL TIP: Bacardi Colada
Navy Proof Food & Spirits @ The Westin Long Beach / 333 E Ocean Blvd.
Spacious, elegant, and nautically themed, this bar definitely delivers that cosmopolitan feeling. Open from 6 AM to MIDNIGHT every day of the week, Navy Proof also serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner, with Happy Hour from 3 to 6 PM. The extensive food menu includes several “share plates” for you and your people, including Kobe Sliders and Baja Shrimp Tacos.
Click here for more Navy Proof details, food and drink menus — and some fantastic food pix! TASTY COCKTAIL TIP: Passion Fruit Margarita
The Bistro @ Courtyard by Marriott Downtown Long Beach / 500 E 1st St.
With its chalkboard menus and big-but-not-obtrusive TV screens, The Bistro feels like an upscale neighborhood pub. Grab dinner and a cocktail at The Bistro with your race-day companions — and if you’re still around in the morning, fuel up with breakfast and some mega-coffee in the same spot!
Click here for hours, menu details, and a sneak preview of this good-looking place. TASTY COCKTAIL TIP: Mionetto Brut Prosecco
Fuego Restaurant & Bar @ Hotel Maya / 700 Queensway Dr.
This establishment is simply one of the greatest on the entire west coast for spectacular views! Add some fine dining and drinking, and you’ll have a fantastic go-to spot just over Queensway Bridge throughout Grand Prix weekend. Click here to check out Fuego’s enticing breakfast, brunch, lunch, and dinner menus, and make your reservations soon, because Fuego has a great reputation among in-the-know race fans! TASTY COCKTAIL TIP: Azteca Old Fashioned
Enclave Lobby Bar & Kitchen @ Hilton Long Beach / 701 W Ocean Blvd.
Enclave gets lots of praise from Hilton guests from all over the world for its excellent cocktails and food. It has lots of that people-on-the-move energy we spoke of earlier, and it’s classy and comfortable. Open from 11 AM to 11 PM, Enclave is a top choice for food and drink on Ocean Blvd.
For all pertinent Hilton intel — including the in-room menus — click here. TASTY COCKTAIL TIP: Dirty Martini
Observation Bar @ The Queen Mary / 1126 Queen’s Hwy.
Your race-loving pals will love YOU when you take them to this magnificent bar — one of the finest art deco establishments on the entire globe, and definitely the one with the best views. Engage in witty banter with your companions, just like Clark Gable and Greta Garbo did in the ’30s when the Observation Bar was the Queen Mary’s first-class lounge!
If you’re checking into Long Beach early before race weekend (or lingering for a few days after the race), consider Meet Me at the Mary Happy Hour at the Queen Mary on Tuesday from 4 to 8 PM. Register here for this awesome Happy Hour and get FREE admission to the ship, along with $10 parking!
For bar hours, the Small Bites menu, and more Observation Bar info, click here. TASTY COCKTAIL TIP: Salty Dog
HOTELS WITH GREAT BARS NEARBY
In addition to the hotel bars listed above, we’d like to mention these Downtown hotels, which don’t have their own bars but are located near lots of great ones!
Hotel Metropolitan / 505 E Broadway
This East Village streamline moderne gem, built in 1922, was recently restored, looks amazing outside and very comfy inside, and is designated as a historical landmark! It’s also a stone’s throw from classic East Village watering holes The Blind Donkey (149 Linden Ave.) and The House Of Hayden (421 E 1st St.).
Broadlind Hotel / 149 Linden Ave.
The Broadlind is actually an “ApartHotel” — learn more about that here. The Italian Revival-style building is one of the best-looking in town! If you and your friends are staying overnight here, know that you’ll be near the same East Village bars mentioned above — and literally RIGHT ABOVE Water’s Edge Winery. Dedicate a song to your Grand Prix-loving pals and Paul Munoz The Singing Winetender will croon it while you all toast each other with sparkling rose!
Hotel Mai / 107 Long Beach Blvd.
Hotel Mai, which opened last year, is as centrally located in Downtown as you can get. It’s an easy walking distance to the Convention Center, Pine Avenue, the East Village, and the Promenade. With all the drinkeries, eateries, and entertainments so readily available, why don’t you and your buddies check in on Wednesday, April 17 and make a long weekend out of it?