Just in time for the weekend, Filling Stations is a weekly post that highlights one of Los Angeles’ destinations for craft beer, be it a bottle-shop with a great selection, a restaurant with great food to go with their beer list, or a bar serving excellent beers.

Blue Palms Brewhouse

• Neighborhood: Hollywood View Larger Map
• Type: Gastropub
• Yelp Page
• Selection: 5/5 Price: 4/5 Staff: 5/5

Blue Palms is one of LA’s very best beer-centered restaurants, and after closing briefly at the beginning of the year it has re-opened and is better than ever. Blue Palms boasts an impressive tap-list of more than 20 craft beers and a menu of high quality pub foods, sausages, and the famous truffle burger to go with your brews.

Blue Palms shares a building with the storied Henry Fonda Music Box Theater on Hollywood Blvd. and they were entangled in the ownership issues that recently caused the theater to close. Thankfully, new ownership has stepped in to re-open the theater and The Blue Palms crew have been back in action for a couple of months. Owner/operator Brian Lenzo is a champion of craft beer in Los Angeles, and his passion for beer is clearly evident at Blue Palms.

The tap-list at Blue Palms is always impressive; it’s one of those lists that make ordering the first beer extra difficult because there are just so many options. 24 taps line the wall behind the full bar, and several projection screens display the currently taped beers (the list is also available on their site so you can check it out before heading down).

Brewery, style, glass-type, ABV, and price are all listed so you always know exactly what to get. Tasters and flights are available if you really can’t make up your mind. The brewpub offers a few house-brewed beers as well, and there is usually both a hefeweizen and an IPA on offer.

In addition to the taps, Blue Palms has a major league bottle-list including many cellared bottles of limited release beers from years past. If you need a special bottle of barleywine or imperial stout for an occasion, Blue Palms is the place to go. They also have wine and a full-bar if you’re not in the mood for a brew. The menu covers the gastropub bases and includes sandwiches, salads, burgers, and entrees like house-smoked ribs and a selection of exotic sausages. All the food that we’ve sampled has been fresh and delicious, and they offer a cheese platter with artisanal cheese that makes and excellent pairing with the beer.

In addition to the special events like the ColLAboration beer fests and their seasonal festivals, Blue Palms runs specials nearly every night of the week. $4 pints, half price canned beer, and $0.35 hot-wings, are usually Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday respectively. Several televisions are scattered around the interior of the restaurant, and you can always catch the day’s sporting events while enjoying your beer. One final note about the staff: they are some of the nicest and most knowledgable servers that we’ve run across in Hollywood, and they are always happy to help you with beer selections or food pairings. However, Blue Palms can get crowded, even packed on weekends, and the servers are often spread a little too thin. This doesn’t tarnish our opinion of the establishment at all; it is one of our favorite spots to enjoy a craft beer in our neighborhood!