7 days ago
Classic Redondo Beach Steakhouse the Bull Pen Is a ‘Cheers'-Style Hangout in South Bay
Friday at 4 p.m. marks the hour when the work day ends and socializing begins, at least in Redondo Beach. The Bull Pen has a handful of regulars dotted throughout the bar side of the restaurant as servers ready tables, line cooks ferry produce to the kitchen, and servers field calls and check handwritten reservations in a timeworn book. Rudy, one of several bartenders who has been with the restaurant for over 30 years, pours a fresh cup of coffee for a customer, David, who has occupied a corner bar stool every week at this time for 28 years. Regulars Renee and Bob take a high top towards the back; Rudy brings them their usual order (a Manhattan for him, a French 75 for her). The esplanade may be a couple of blocks away, but inside the Bull Pen, it's dark, cool, and utterly welcoming.
The interior feels firmly rooted in the early 1980s, with cushioned, pintucked black vinyl booths, Tiffany-style lamps with etchings of caravel ships, a mix of wood-paneled and red brick walls, and bull-themed decor. The low ceilings, mirrored back bar, and rows of glasses hanging overhead look like Cheers incarnate but with dimmer lighting. There's a patina on everything, which makes the Bull Pen feel lived in and comfortable.
Cliff Miner, a long-time Redondo Beach resident, first opened 24-hour coffee shop King Cole's Bull Pen in 1948 on the corner of Diamond Avenue and Pacific Coast Highway. (Rumor has it that Miner and Nat King Cole were friends.) Food and taking care of people were his love languages, says grandson Joshua Norris, who now manages the restaurant. Miner was a self-taught chef, baker, and bartender, and operated the restaurant with his wife Mona. It relocated twice to slightly larger locations before settling into its current spot at the southern edge of Redondo Beach in 1978. After Cliff passed away, Mona ran the Bull Pen until she died in 2010; Cliff and Mona's sons Rodney and Donald then took over the restaurant and kept it humming along. Rodney and his wife Shelly managed the operations side of the business, and with the help and support of Mona's five grandchildren, plus a handful of loyal employees, they maintained the original menu, look, and feel of the early days. 'The only thing we change around here is the lightbulbs,' says Norris.
In a city where beloved culinary landmarks are dwindling year after year, there's something rare and wonderful about keeping what works. As the oldest family-owned and operated restaurant and bar in Redondo Beach, the Bull Pen thrives on consistency and continuity. 'It's an old-school place,' say Bob and Renee. Old-school could denote old-fashioned or dated, but at the Bull Pen, it's a term of endearment.
Live music has been a steady draw for the restaurant: the second location and iteration of the restaurant emerged as a candlelit supper club, complete with a piano bar and jazz singer. When Rodney took over the business and the restaurant relocated for the third and final time, he wanted to shift to a more rock-and-roll venue. 'It became a huge hit,' Norris says, and the Bull Pen hasn't looked back. Mike Forbes and the Explosion Band, the original group hired in the 1970s, still plays '70s and '80's rock-and-roll hits most Saturday nights, the tiny dance floor packed with generations of patrons.
'This place checks a box that doesn't exist anywhere else. This is a dying breed.'
The Bull Pen's small menu hasn't changed much since the late 1960s: charbroiled steaks and seafood; classic steakhouse sides like baked potato, garlic mashed potatoes, and sauteed vegetables; a tableside salad preparation; a rotating array of soups; and a handful of crowd-pleasing appetizers, like shrimp cocktail and spinach artichoke dip. Every meal comes with soup or salad and a side. The cocktail menu includes all the highlights, like martinis and Manhattans, and Norris notes that the bartenders tend to pour heavy. There's a beef prime rib with creamy horseradish and au jus served Thursday to Sunday; any leftovers get turned into a weekend-only, off-menu prime rib melt. The onion rings and clam chowder are Miner's original recipes: the onion rings are hot and crisp; the soup packed with fresh clams and potatoes. The Bull Pen burger helped put the restaurant on the map; it was such a hit when it was first rolled out in the early 1970s that it sold in limited quantities of just 30 a day and only after 10 p.m. The setup is pretty classic: lettuce and tomato, onions grilled or raw, a handful of pickles and a big swipe of mayo. It now has a permanent place on the menu, alongside other new dishes that Norris has introduced through quarterly specials, such as the chicken piccata. The restaurant has adapted over the years to dietary preferences and restrictions, but the focus on quality and fair prices has always dictated its direction.
Yet the real charm of the Bull Pen is found in the ways its legion of regulars have customized those dishes to their liking, and how servers remember those individual orders. Anyone who has returned here a few times gets a warm welcome back.
By now it's 5 p.m., and Bob and Renee's friends Kara and Dean — better known as KaraDean — have joined them. They've been coming here for 20 years, since their second date. Kara has had everything on and off the menu at least twice, including the infrequently ordered beef liver and onions. Bob has been a patron since 1971, back at the previous location, when he was fresh out of the military and in search of a bar to call home. When Bob walked in that night, Rudy already knew his order: a Bull Pen burger with mashed potatoes and gravy.
The Bull Pen's regulars like to customize dishes to their liking, and servers always remember.
KaraDean, Bob, and Renee launch into a series of recollections, from stories of 'Mona the Owna at table 11,' to the elaborate happy hour spreads in the 1970s, to the old-timey popcorn machine that used to be in the back ('Oh, I forgot about the popcorn machine!' Renee chimes in.) 'When we first started coming here, everyone was older, but now everyone is younger,' Kara says with a laugh. The energy of the foursome goes beyond enjoyment and fond memories to something more like pride. 'There's something just very special about this place,' says Dean. He and Kara bring gifts to every Bull Pen employee over the holidays, and they recall fondly how the restaurant gets filled with twinkling lights and stockings for employees past and present.
A fresh round of drinks shows up for the group. 'Remember how they used to have phone jacks in between the booths?' Dean recalls, which prompts peals of laughter from Renee and Kara. 'If you got a phone call, they'd bring the phone over to you and plug it in.'
Few restaurants can boast the kind of kinship at the Bull Pen. Norris could point to a regular who spent their entire stimulus check in 2021 on a restaurant gift card, coming by or ordering out every few days to keep employees in business. 'It shows the support that people are willing to offer us because they find us so special,' Norris said.
Cissy, a favorite Bull Pen server, passes by Jeff and Lindsay DeLarme's table; they prefer the high top toward the back right side of the bar. They've been coming most Fridays for nearly 10 years; it's where they decided to celebrate when they found out they were pregnant. Cissy knows to bring their now six-year-old daughter Addison a Shirley Temple with six cherries. She also knows that Lindsay gets the burger plain except for honey mustard for the fries, and that Jeff will probably get the coulotte steak with the Cajun sauce.
'It's the best people watching because it's a very eclectic mix,' says Jeff. 'This place checks a box that doesn't exist anywhere else. This is a dying breed.'
'We started coming because it's kitschy, but we stay because it's family,' adds Lindsay.
By 6 p.m., the restaurant and bar are packed. Cissy greets everyone by name, as does Norris. A group of four comes in with a reservation for three, but Norris just knows to pack another chair into the already small space. KaraDean move to their favorite booth; Bob and Renee have split off to join a different group of friends. A pair of 40-something couples walk in, a little dressed up, and Lindsay waves to the crew from her barstool as they're getting seated. Behind them, a much older couple wanders in looking for their friends. There isn't a single seat available; the restaurant buzzes.
Leaving feels a little like walking out of a reunion — you are full of conversation and stories. The Bull Pen will be the same upon the next visit, and the visit after that — the same quality, conviviality, and care. That's the point. Regulars will recount the same stories, and they'll order the same dishes and drinks from the same servers whom they've come to love. Everybody does know your name at the Bull Pen, and that's what makes this place a Redondo classic.
The Bull Pen is open from 4 p.m. to 11 p.m. from Monday to Wednesday, until 12:30 a.m. on Thursday, until 1:30 a.m. on Friday and Saturday, and until 10 p.m. on Sunday. It's located at 314 Avenue I, Redondo Beach, CA, 90277.
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