Lexington Social House

Being the couch potato that I am, I hesitantly agreed to go out on a Friday night with the guys from work. One of them was celebrating his birthday so it was fitting to just go to Hollywood and find a place where we could hang out and eat. I have a non-existent night life so I take advantage of birthdays to try out hip places around L.A. I've celebrated my birthday dinners in restaurants like the paparazzi-infested Mr. Chow, Katsuya (divine lobster rolls by Master Sushi Chef Katsuya Uechi), Dolce Enoteca e Ristorante, which is one of Ashton Kutcher's resto-bars, too bad it's closed now ;( ... and so on. The menu is pricey in most of these places but since I don't really go out a lot, I might as well go out with a bang, right? =) Plus it is L.A. after all, so it's fun to get star-struck once in a while...

Paris Hilton coming out of Mr. Chow. Photo via www.zimbio.com

Emma Roberts leaving Katsuya via www.zimbio.com

So anyways, I suggested to the guys that we try out a place called Lexington Social House. It's located by Hollywood and Vine, where one of the Katsuya branches is at, as well as the W Hotel and the Pantages Theater. We were running late so I was worried that we might lose our reservation, we got there around 8:30 and so we decided to do valet parking. Funny 'coz the valet parking was cheaper ($10) than parking your car on your own at one of those public parking spaces, where they charged one of my friends $20 (!?) just for parking!

Looks like somebody got robbed..just like this guy on the right..

When we got in, I was so shocked to see that the place wasn't as packed as I expected it to be, especially on a Friday night. We were seated right away as there were lots of empty tables available. I noticed how the seats and tables were comfortably arranged, so there was a lot of room to move around. If you've been to some restaurants in L.A. or N.Y., I'm sure you've noticed that there are a lot of resto's crammed in that you can practically drink someone else's water at the other table and feel like you're double-dating with the couple right next to you.

We got the usual appetizers like calamari, ceviche and house fries (which was actually pretty good). The selection of food wasn't really that exciting... it was more of the familiar comfort food, which is suitable for lounging. The boys got the Mission IPA beer and I tried their cocktail called Sweet Lips, a refreshing concoction of sparkling wine and fruit juices.

My other drink called Super Hero that came with Pop Rocks candy..( Yes, I asked permission from the boyfriend to drink that night and two drinks was the limit! HA!)

The House fries that resembled the animal style fries from In 'N Out...

For the main entree, I got the braised boneless beef short ribs. The beef was tender and the portion was ample. The guys got the margarita pizza and the sausage pizza, which were okay but not necessarily to-die-for.

Braised Boneless Beef Short Ribs

Fennel Sausage Pizza

What the food (slightly) lacks, the service and ambiance definitely made up for it. Right when you enter, you can see the dining area that consists of white chairs and tables and a chandelier on the ceiling. The place was quite spacious, having a separate bar area, a lounge area with booths and an outdoor lounge (for bottle service only).

The over-sized chairs that reminded me of Alice in Wonderland..

The dining area...

The cool lounge area..

The garden patio/ outdoor lounge area...

If you're a local or just visiting, Lexington Social House is definitely worth the visit if you just want to lounge, relax and have a good chat with friends and family.

Just a couple of snap shots:

Always one of the boys...