Panic On The Streets Of Woodland Hills

Name: Pickwick Pub
Coordinates: 21010 Ventura Blvd. 91364
Neighborhood: The Valley outside, Dickensian London inside
Happiest Hours : 5-7, M-F


I've never claimed to be a world traveler.

For example, I've never been to England. I don't know what makes a British pub in, say, Santa Monica, more authentic than one in Woodland Hills. I have no way, as yet, to compare either establishment, neither of which are located in England and therefore equally inauthentic in that regard, with the real McCoy.

I just have to take their respective words for it.

And by that, I mean I literally take their words for it. Pleasing English accent on the barman/maid? Authentic. American accent? Charlatans. When I belly up to a bar that flies the Union Jack outside, I want to be called "governor," not "dude." I want to see darts being tossed, football on Sky, and shepherd's pie being devoured. If I walk through the door and I don't get at least two out of three, I'm out of there.

I guess I have high standards like that. I tend to have high standards for places I've never been to. And, in keeping with those standards, I deem Pickwick Pub in Woodland Hills to be the real deal.

The Vitals: Pickwick Pub on Ventura Boulevard is a pleasing enough English transplant here in Los Angeles. It's a lot like, say, Minnie Driver or Kate Beckinsale -- you don't really think about them unless they're right there in front of you, but when they are, things works out pretty well. As far as Happy Hour goes, it's a pretty English one. It goes from 5-7pm, and it's $5 for all draft beers with a few food specials scattered about. Needless to say, I stuck to what England is known to do well and not with what they're known to do badly. In all, though, not a bad place to throw back a pint, talk Lakers, and dream of the days when Britannia ruled the waves.