Friday

If you're in LA & bored, get out and explore the areas oldest bars http://t.co/JcJRk5J8jB #roadtrip

— Drunken History (@DrunkenHistory) September 13, 2015

Many of these kinds of articles suck, but this one is pretty good. Though I looked up the Google street view of number one, The Golden Gopher, and confirmed what I suspected: It's in a bad area, if the wrought iron over the front windows is an indication.

About The Golden Gopher:

This downtown classic is billed at the “first dive bar in Los Angeles” and to be honest, they're probably right. The Golden Gopher reflects the pre-prohibition era with grace, but much of that is due to its complete renovation in 2004. They include an updated cocktail menu with trendy drinks, but most with nods to the period the Gopher hails from.

At the same time though, some are tongue in cheek glances to the reputation of this place. The Golden Gopher martini, for example, is Plymouth gin straight up with a cigarette served on the side, and the Low Life is a can of PBR with a well shot. In all, the ambience is a bit gritty, kind of like a grind joint in Vegas. That's the patina of old age you just can't replicate!

"Gritty." "Patina of old age." Yes, those are two ways of putting it. The word "slum" might also fit.

Then again, maybe not. I actually have a hard time knowing for sure whether certain areas of LA are slums or not. It's so spread out, it's not easy to spot slums there like it is in, say, Chicago or the south Bronx. And the fact that I've never been to LA only compounds my inability to know for sure when I'm looking at a LA slum.

Based on what I was able to piece together from Wikipedia and Google Maps, it appears to be situated about two blocks from the Skid Row District, so I suspect my perspective that The Golden Gopher is no place to visit unless you want to drink beer with a knife in your ribs, is accurate.