New Nightlife Zagat Drops, L.A. Adjusts Plans Accordingly

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Charles EamesHow many times has this conversation happened to you upon venturing out for an evening of merriment in the Greater Los Angeles Area:

You: “Oh shit.”
Your passenger: “What?”
You: “I forgot my Zagat.”
Your passenger: “You fucking idiot. Let’s go back and get it.”
You: “I’m sorry.”
Your passenger: [FUMING SILENCE]

Rest easy, Angeleno nightlife enthusiast, for the new 2005-06 Zagat on L.A. nightlife dropped this week to direct your aimless nocturnal prowlings.

Who buys these things? Have you ever whipped one out and said, ’Ooh, let’s go here!’? Seriously, we want to know. Logic would say that the fleeting nature of the hot nightspot defies publishing timelines. The better question may be, who exactly are the people that fill out surveys? You have to go out of your way to fill these out. I bet many of these same people cast votes on American Idol. I know if I did the survey, I’d put the bars at T.G.I.Fridays, B.J.’s and Chili’s (Woodland Hills) as my #1, 2 and 3 picks, but that’s just me.

So when there is a good new spot, aren’t you more inclined to share it with a few friends and leave it at that? You probably don’t want every last weekend warrior from the suburbs crowding the scene. It is revealing that they note 84% of survey respondents are in favor of the ban on indoor smoking. People out for a good time don’t let smoking bother them or find a way to work with it. This is how it was for years and years up until just a while ago. So keep in mind this is who’s doing your rating.

We had a quick flip through this new “Nightlife” edition. A lot of it is the usual list filler: Standard Downtown, Father’s Office, etc. A lot of it is just way off. Skybar is still at the top of the hot spot list? (#2). And why is the House of Blues on any list of any kind? Is Sonny MacLean’s really that great? And McCabe’s is L.A.’s #1 live music club? And a lot of it is just baffling. At the Burgundy Room “eyeliner is suggested”? Huh? In fact, a lot of the quotes read like they are written by writer types: At Musso & Franks you can “feel Raymond Chandler thinking about his next novel.” Can you really feel that, you hack?

Head over to Zagat.com and for $4.95 you can print all that shit out if you must and save on the $13.95 cover price. Or better yet, watch this space and we’ll give you our picks.