Under 21 nightlife in San Diego and L.A area.
 

We are taking a family vacation to L.A and San Diego in the summer for my dad's 60th (there will be 10 of us travelling). My 20 year old daughter will be with us and is not happy at the prospect of not being able to go to bars/nightclubs. (We're from the U.K so she's been able to visit bars/nightclubs for the last 2 years!) What nightlife is there for the 18-21 crowd in the area?

Most venues card very carefully - they can;t afford to lose their liquor license. I know in New York the choices are concerts, comedy clubs (which typically will allow underage at earlier shows, and restaurants that sometime have music. My daughters used to go to clubs sometimes with fake IDs - with groups of friends - but they were mature, trustworthy and not heavy drinkers.

Other than that there are movies, private parties, beach parties etc.

If she is alone options are very limited. It's not a law I agree with - but was passed to cut down on the huge number of traffic accidents among those that were new to both drinking and driving and not much good at either. And since you cant stop kids from driving at 16 - cutting off their drinking seemed the only choice.

It would help to know where you'll be staying in L.A. and the dates of your time here.

We're arriving on the 23rd July and will be spending the first week in Santa Monica and the second week on Mission Beach. She's happy not to drink but would like somewhere to dance or listen to music.

The basic rule is -- and she may hate this -- is bars and clubs where it's primarily only booze and not much in the way of food or attached restaurant -- she will be allowed in IF she's in the company of a parent. Barney's Beanery is a place like that -- especially the one in Westwood. So places like The Room, The Wellesbourne, and other college age places is essentially 21 and over. On the other hand, live music clubs, like the Key Club, the Whisky A Go Go, the Wiltern, the Music Box, Lingerie Club and so forth have, for the most part, downed the age to 18 and in a number of cases (like the Whisky, Music Box), includes all all ages. Likewise the Rainbow Bar and Grill, which is next door to the all age Roxy.

In Santa Monica, your daughter will get into Rusty's on the SM Pier, Wokcano (which is a restaurant/dance place), Yankee Doodles, Kingston 12 (I think, if its still around). If she goes before 8 p.m., she can get into other places, like the Kings Head and the Britannia -- the bar area, that is, since both have dining areas where there will be no problem even later.

Most of the teen clubs are located in Hollywood, and there are a lot. If under 21, you either get a different colored wrist band or no wrist band to show you can't drink.

Again, almost any place with parents, and there's no problem. I think the only place we found that wouldn't let us bring our son in at age 20 was the Viper Room on the Strip (it seemed so incredibly stupid, and we were there to see a friend perform, but w/e).

Thanks for your replies. That information is really useful surfer girl. She doesn't mind partying with her mum (sure she'd rather be with friends but needs must) I'm only 37 myself and my brother and his girlfriend will be with us and they're in their mid 20's so she won't be partying alone. Are all the places you mentioned in L.A or are some of them in San Diego.

The places I mentioned are all in L.A. Just below is the Yelp review of various under 21 clubs in the L.A. area -- like I said, mostly in Hollywood.

http://www.yelp.com/search?find_desc...+Angeles%2C+CA

I have a niece who lives in S.D. and goes to San Diego State Uni. She turned 21 last year, but the under 21 party scene -- particularly since SD State is known as a "party" school, and UC San Diego (which is actually in La Jolla) have a huge population of under 21 year olds, you can be sure there's plenty of under 21 clubs to go to. Just a quick google search took me to the following link, which seems up to date.

http://www.sandiegoclubs.com/venue-t...nd-venues.html

I've never been much of a clubbing person -- the idea of (even when I was that age) getting all dressed up in some skanky looking outfit freezing my arse off to listen to canned music was never my cuppa. Although I did enjoy going with a group now and then to a dance club with themes -- like '60's night, or disco night where you could have a good laugh, or going to a gay disco to dance with guys where you knew you'd go just to dance and have fun and not get picked up!

I've always preferred going to clubs to listen to live music, particularly new bands on the scene.