WeHo Delights: Obar and Hamburger Mary’s

Last Saturday started out low-key. I had lunch at Litz and then was planning to meet up with some people for Happy Hour at Obar.

However, I ended up going down to Huntington Beach for a little afternoon delight (not what you’re thinking) and then hustled my way up to WeHo (again, not what you’re thinking). I didn’t make it to Happy Hour so we decided to have dinner. Obar isn’t part of dineLA but they had a 3-course meal for $34. I opted for the beet salad, short ribs and brownie sundae.

We were seated on the patio so it’s a little dark. However, I loved my salad. It was gigantic with large slices of yellow beets.

My friend had the tomato soup with a grilled cheese sandwich garnish along with the roasted chicken. He liked his food but felt the portions were small. I liked my short ribs though they could have been more tender. I was puzzled by the asparagus sliced in half lengthwise. I essentially got 1 and half stalks of asparagus along with a little bit of frisee lettuce. What was the most delightful thing about my short ribs were the horseradish-y mashed potatoes.

Then there was a long wait for our brownie sundaes. Obar was shortstaffed but it felt like 30 minutes went by before we got these supposedly fresh out of the oven brownies. They weren’t that warm when we got them. The brownie was okay.

It’s not a secret I love Hedwig and the Angry Inch. I recently attended another Rainbow Carnage Midnight Movie show. But Hedwig started out as a live musical. I’ve been lucky enough to see it live twice before and was looking forward to a show at Hamburger Mary’s, just across the street from Obar.

The first thing the server says to me is, “Can I get you drunk.” The double, aka the “OMG” size is the preferred size around Mary’s. I had ordered the Cool Cucumber but they gave me the Farmer’s Shortcake which wasn’t bad. It’s made with organic cucumber vodka and has muddled strawberries in it.

The show, sadly, was not the best I’ve seen. In fact, I rather have preferred the Hedwig to just sing. He seemed to be following his own script. Still, it was quite fun. I do recommend if you ever go to Mary’s for a show, try to sit near the front so you can see the tiny stage. I’ve been before for drag queen bingo and it doesn’t matter as much. But whenever Hedwig wandered off the stage, it was hard to see her.

Mary’s is known for sending the check out in a heel. This one reminded me of the platform mary janes the girls in Clueless wore.