Happy hours in Culver City for the underaged

Last Thursday was my roommate’s 21st birthday. While she went bar-hopping with older friends, my other underage roommate and I watched old episodes of “Skins” while I thought of places we could all go, where she could drink and we could drink Sprite and eat cheap food.

My goal was to find a restaurant with good food and service, a full bar, a seating area for underage guests and their friends and a happy hour that includes drinks as well as food. In search of all of this, I took the Big Blue Bus line 12 down to Culver City.

The heart of downtown Culver City is located a block away from Venice Boulevard and Bagley Avenue, where the 12 stops in front of the Museum of Jurassic Technology. Bagley turns into Main Street and leads into a long street filled with specialty shops and restaurants. You can get 40-cent paperbacks from Timeless Treasures thrift shop, or $1 cookies from the Grand Casino Bakery. Next to the historic Culver Hotel is Pacific Theatres 12 and a giant lion statue surrounded by jets that shoot water out of the ground.

With the exception of the hotel and far-off skyscrapers, downtown Culver City feels like the downtown of any town. For people who don’t like the big city vibe most parts of Los Angeles give off, this is a nice alternative.

It was refreshing to feel like I was back in the suburbs for a while, but the phrase of the day was “happy hour.” Luckily, most of the restaurants in downtown Culver City advertise their happy hours and daily specials just outside the door. The challenge then became finding places that met all of my requirements.

Many promising places eliminated themselves almost immediately. Kay ‘n Dave’s (happy hour 4-7 p.m.) is a Mexican cantina with great deals like $1 mini tacos, $3 chicken taquitos and $3 well drinks and margaritas. The deals, however, only apply at the bar.

Rush Street (happy hour Mondays through Fridays, 3-7 p.m.) is a two-level brick loft with a large bar and seven TVs, but $5 for a glass of domestic beer and $7-8 for appetizers is not significantly cheaper than what you’d pay in most places before and after happy hour. On top of that, happy hour only applies to food on the upper level (the bar is on the lower level) and is only from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

The Culver Hotel Lobby Bar & Lounge (happy hour 4-7 p.m. daily) has all of the atmosphere of other places, but without the added cost and restrictions.

The hotel was completed in 1924, and has maintained the elegant design and style of the era ““ high ceilings, marble floors, dark polished wood and high windows with flowing curtains ““ though the lobby and bar have only existed in their current form since 2007, according to Milena Alunni, 44, director of group sales and private events.

Every night brings a new live band, usually jazz or lounge-style background music, according to Alunni. Their draft and bottled beers are $3, a glass of their house wine is $4 and all of their appetizers, such as the micro corndogs with jalapeno ketchup, are $5.

By far, the happy hour in downtown Culver City that came closest to fitting my needs is at the Santa Maria BBQ (happy hour Mondays through Fridays 4-7 p.m.). Santa Maria BBQ is cheaper, more casual and more upbeat than any of the other restaurants. There’s nothing special about the inside. The decor resembles a nice fast food restaurant and there’s no bar ““ just a sampling of the different beers and wines you can order sitting on the counter. The restaurant specializes in Santa Maria-style barbecue, in which meat is roasted on oakwood and covered in seasoning, said server Rosie Rodriguez, 26.

Of course, there are several other restaurants I didn’t make my way to, some that didn’t make my personal cut and some that are great for the 21-and-over crowd only. There are literally dozens of restaurants in downtown Culver City, all trying to lure people in with slashed prices. The good news is that every place I visited was friendly, clean and busy and, second to good food, that’s what I look for in any restaurant.

If you can’t wait for $1 mini tacos, e-mail John at [email protected].”¨”¨

“Bus Stops” runs every Tuesday.