The Edison

dont know what these pro reviewers have been smoking but they couldnt have been at the same club. Rudest punks at the door I have ever seen. Food poor, drinks poor- overpriced with abysmally slow service. Better to sit at home and pour yourself drinks while listening to Xm radio than to waste time and money here Pros: none mentionable Cons: top to bottom, the worst more

Shameful! Went last night to try and enjoy the festivities. We were with a very large group of people..one of which was told at the door that he couldn't come in because his arms weren't covered. (mind you, he was wearing a badassed outfit resplendent in "edison-esque attire" a very nice vest and shirt underneath that happened to be cut at the shoulders. He looked better than most of the men patronizing this joint. I had to lend him my sweater (leaving me bare-armed, spaghetti-strapped and braless, but, hey I'm a girl and they had no problem with me) Wow. I should have looked for a sexual discrimination lawyer while i was in there.... So, this set our party of 20 or so in a disdainful mood right off the bat. At a $10 cover, there went 200 bux.....and, unfortunately, my friend was so hot inside wearing that mandatory sweater i had lent him and chose to leave instead sweat to death. Funny enough, as he was leaving ANOTHER EMPLOYEE stopped him to chastise him for his "sleavelessness". My advice to the bad apple employees that run rampant in this club is to take the attitude down a few notches. So, after 17 of our party left, fairly immediately (and will never return), i stayed with my two girlfriends, ate some WAY overpriced mac and cheese and downed some absyinthe...not the best. We must have lucked out, because our bartender , Aidan D was terrific, as were the barbacks and busboy. Nice guys. The waitress, on the other hand (don't know what dr-g she was on) literally tripped across my feet FOUR different times...no exaggeration. No apology, just a glassy-eyed freakish demeanor wrapped up in a black flapper dress. Also, let me point out that the DJ was pretty awesome, except, once again, FOR HER ATTITUDE! No smile, never, just a vacant, vapid expression of "I'm too good for this place" "worship me". Boring. Go for the decor once, but never go back. Unless they cut out 9/10's of their bitchy insouciant employees. Pros: Decor Cons: Staff, Overpriced food/ drinks more

I just came back from this place and I am certainly not going there ever again. My friend had a birthday reservation for a large group of people at 9.30 pm; however guests arrived (me included) at 10pm simply because parking there is a nightmare. We were told that since we were not there on time at 9.30 all guests have to wait in the regular line. The security treated us like we were criminals. Needless to say, we didn't want to wait 1 1/2 to get in and just left without even seeing the birthday girl. I don't know how 'happening' or cool is this place inside but just from the service outside, I was pretty sure that I am not going there again. Pros: none Cons: long wait and rude people; difficult parking more

This is a cool venue with a steampunk theme. However, the staff is rude rude rude. It doesn't matter how often you come here or how much money you spend, the staff will pretend like they do not recognize you and will even possibly school you. Service is slow for drinks and food. Worth visiting once for the decor and the venue itself, but I doubt I'll be back ever again. Pros: decor, size, venue Cons: staff, service more

I love going to the edison in downtown. Finding street parking is a problem around there BUT the place is great if you want to get a few drinks at night. I like the music there and its a nice place to be after a long day at work! Pros: great decor Cons: difficult to get a table for dinner more

The Edison needs all new personnel, including the on site managers. This type of business needs excellent customer service...right you go to hang out with friends to have a good time. I mean you want to enjoy your self and spend your hard working money at this place but not when security is breathing down your neck and calling more security to our table to watch our every move. The Edison`s personnel were VERY NASTY, not once did I see the security harass any other party while I was there. They did not want to give my husband his credit card back so that we can pay...so they decided to kick my husband out on my birthday party because they thought he was getting out of hand. That is so unacceptable for just a prestige place in down town LA. I will NEVER come back to this place...I`m very disappointed they way that they conducted them self's and how poorly the management handled the situation. Pros: The Edison was beautiful Cons: Worst service EVER!! more

Perfect example of how a truly awesome bar can be ruined by management. A text of mine to a friend at the beginning of the night reads "Edison is great - we have to come here." 30 minutes later I changed my mind and really don't ever want to spend my money there again. To start, before I ever had to deal with management I watched the GM (a very very bitter and mean blonde woman) yell at an employee because they asked her "what?" As in "what, I couldn't hear you." More than anything, I hate places like these that talk down to their servers/bartenders. They're not dumb - you don't have to take out the fact that you manage a bar and hate it on them. We came here for a 30th bday with about 40 people. The bday boy lost his ID on the way there. Okay, I get it. We all get it - you can't get into the bar without an ID. Every single person in our group has worked in a bar. None of us were drunk when we got there. The bouncer started off the conversation by implying we were wasted and causing a scene. He did this without looking at us. I guess he's so important that he can't turn his head to speak to you. When my boyfriend asked him to answer my question, he turned, leaned into me and sneered through his moustache "see, I'm looking at you." I just find this behavior totally odd - there's really no need to speak to other adults like they're 15 . We were nothing but nice to them - we were just trying to solve a problem. if you can't communicate with people, you really shouldn't be a door guy or a manager. When we finally left I overheard the same rude as hell door guy being just as rude to another customer at the door. I think they weren't dressed right. Hmmmm. Bottom line - I feel horrible for the staff that works here. Nights must be hell with that lady speaking down to you. (side note - bartenders were actually super cool) Pros: The bar is actually cool Cons: management/door guys more

The worst door mans on earth!!! They make people with reservations and hot girls wait in line. The music horrible, unless you like regular radio music. Funny thing, I went to this place the night before and it was not spectacular. Pros: Decor Cons: Everything else more

The Edison is one of my favotire bars downtown. It's old Hollywood meets downtown LA with a very diverse crowd and not too crowded. Love this place! more

Great Bar and Night Club. It feels like you have walked back in time to the 20's. The drinks are great and so is the food. I love the burlesque show and jazz band. The green ferry is also a great touch!! more

Still, toast with cheese is the best combo, don't ya think? On 2nd Street in downtown LA, in the heart of the classic movie theater district Pros: how cool is this? Cons: fatty more

Yo I always try and go to The Edison when i am in LA... Its a classy place with a great atmosphere. This is a great place to party more

I live above this bar. When i moved in I had dreams of client meetings, parties, and even just grabbing a drink after work in such a cool interesting place, which was now my basement. The bouncer knows me and knows Im a resident, but still turns away my clients/friends over the shoe thing. Not only is it embarrassing, but just plain retarded. I usually dress up to go down there myself, but i could care less what anyone else is wearing, nor am i gonna tell people what to wear if they are coming over. Since when does a bouncer know fashion anyway. I saw them turn a stylish guy away that was wearing solid black prada shoes that were a little sporty but not tennis shoes at all, but some goon with super lame payless loafers roll on in. It only makes people mad, no one thinks its cool that they have this rule. You will never hear someone say, "lets go to edison, they have this awesome dress code". It seems cool to get a table and maybe even bottle service once you see the layout, especially for a party. After 2 failed attempts, I will never do it again. The waitress brought all of the mixers first and not the 300 dollar bottle of vodka. It took her 45 minutes to get it to us. Members of my party were getting restless and started ordering drinks from the bar and drinking the 5 redbulls she brought with the mixers. Once the vodka arrived we asked for more redbull, and she charged me for all the additional ones. I understand you can over charge me 300 for a 5th of greygoose since thats what clubs do, but its pretty lame to charge me for xtra mixers, especially due to the situation. The second time they were out of the first 3 things i wanted, that they originally listed to me, then overcharged me hundreds on accident. The waitress was very nice but a terrible server. Another time a friend of mine was over from Venice CA and had sandals on since it is more beachy in his neighborhood, and it was the hottest day of the year. We had no intention of going down but i remembered during happy hour on Wednesday and Thursday there is no dress code. He was very eager to see the place and it was happy hr so I figured they might let him in. The bouncer said the sandals were not good enough but not because of how casual they were, but he claimed they are a safety hazard with the stairs. I guess girls in high hells and guys in flat sole shoes on polished concrete are safer alternatives. Like others have said before me, the bouncers and bottle/party service ruin this place, otherwise its so cool! I will still go to this bar, but only when i have to, it is fun to show people that haven't been, and its in my basement, but I give them a big fat "1" for not meeting my expectations as a resident and patron... Pros: beautiful place, serves absinthe, good bar staff Cons: doormen attitude, dress code more

You will enjoy yourself. Cons: LONG LINES more

I had my boyfriends birthday here in a private room. The GM was BEYOND rude and the special events cord was clueless. I already was paying a good amount for the room and they managed to charge me an extra $530 for nothing except that one of their girls "accidently" charged it to my account and didn't apologize for this massive amount. I had a drink tab and while the charge went through over the weekend but then disappeared in the middle of the week. I should have kept my mouth shut and let them give me the extra cash, but when I called to let them know the charge for the drinks disappeared from my account they were quick to fix the mistake by then charging me an extra $100. When I called to complain, since they had confirmed it was a lower amount, they only sent me in circles. It's a beautiful bar but NOT worth how unorganized and rude they are. They seem to think charging a total of $630 isn't a big deal. It's really not worth checking out after the staff is so unhelpful. Pros: great scene, interior decor Cons: not organized staff, rude, rude, and RUDE more

By itself, the Edison makes you step back into time, almost like walking into the movie worlds of The... more

By itself, the Edison makes you step back into time, almost like walking into the movie worlds of The Prestige and The Illusionist. Then you add i... more

The Edison is a great place to meet your co-workers, take off your tie, and have a few drinks. I highly recommend it when they have live music playing too. It is spacious and has a great mix of people. It's typical yuppy crowd and the service is very sweet. Food is phenomenal! The sliders are great. The sweet potato fries are delicious and go by quickly. When you've had a rough day at the office, it's just a nice place to relax. No big Hollywood crowd and No LA attitudes. Weekends have a really big crowd too. Around the corner is a great pizza place (sorry I don't know the name) but they close early. Pros: Atmosphere, Service, Price Cons: Seating more

This place has a good energy about itself, Dim, dark, and just fly. I was actually there to get some of that new absinthe. Anyone know where i can get some? more

The Edison is a wonderful lounge for off-beat & artist types who dislike dance clubs, and just want to go sit on a couch and drink martinis with minimal 'hype'. The music is relatively easy-listening and not too loud (though we went on a Thursday night-not sure if the musical genres change for the weekends). They screen silent nior films on one of the walls, which worked out great for my film-buff boyfriend. There was no long wait at the door (perhaps 2 parties ahead of us), and the hostess/bouncer at the door were both very friendly and accommodating. There is also a smoking area with chairs and tables:) The dress code is great, too (If you prefer places with some sort of dress code) and we had no problems 'getting in' wearing our typical garb-We did not have to 'dress up' in any outlandish fashion-(My boyfriend wore a collared shirt, slacks and a blazer and I wore a simple old dress and hat), but if you're partial to athletic, lounge, or 'club wear' you'll have to fix yourself up a bit for this place. The drinks were above average for Los Angeles (Most places in LA make very bad, weak drinks, even the so-called 'best drink' places)- We drank extra dry vodka martinis and beer. The prices were average for everything; $8-$13 for the drinks and $10 to $15 range for the snacks. We ordered calamari to pick at, and it was pretty good (though it's hard to screw up calamari). The decor is most interesting, a converted generator/boiler room place, which has some historical significance as well-a rare treat in LA. It is also part of a string of new places put up in the attempt to 're-make' downtown LA, which is a much needed and admirable endeavor. Contributing your patronage here can help 'clean up' our downtown. A wonderful place to hang out with friends, and bring visitors. Highly recommended. Pros: Decor, Accommodations, Music/Entertainment, Dress Code, Drinks Cons: Difficult to park anywhere in downtown more