‘A Different Vibe Each Night’

Like television’s “Cheers,” Bourbon Square in Van Nuys is a place where everybody knows your name. With live music seven nights a week, friendly bartenders and ample places to sit and talk, newcomers immediately feel welcome and regulars often call the club their second home.

The Scene: The club has two rooms, each with a bar. One is a lounge area with dartboards and cozy couches that could have come from your great-aunt’s attic. People were sitting in these mini-living rooms in deep conversation. On Monday nights, blues bands push the couches back and set up a stage, providing up-close and personal interaction with the audience. The second room has a stage, tiny round tables and chairs, and a dance floor that makes your broom closet seem roomy. This doesn’t seem like the place to go if your sole purpose is to dance. Patrons here kick back with a drink and a smoke and enjoy the live bands.

The Crowd: Lots of elbow room on this particular Friday night, but the number of people depend on the bands who play. Some bands have larger followings than others, which makes the crowd size vary from night to night. The wardrobe of the 21- to 50-year-old crowd fell somewhere between grunge and honky-tonk. Shorts, torn jeans and leather jackets were in abundance, with occasional cowboy boots and sneakers. A sign on the door read “No hats, T-shirts or tank tops,” yet various people were seen wearing all of the above, and no one seemed to care.

The Music: Rock, straight, no chaser. The featured acts on this Friday were two local rock bands, Smashbox and Guinea Pig.

The Good: “It feels like a hometown bar,” said Lisa Rosenberg of Granada Hills. “It’s the kind of place where I don’t mind coming by myself. Plus there are more men than women, and there’s a different vibe each night.”

The Bad: “I wish I could just pick up the bar and move it out of this area, maybe to the northwest Valley,” said “Doc” of Van Nuys. “Crimewise, Van Nuys is not the best place.”

Bourbon Square, 15322 Victory Blvd., Van Nuys, (818) 997-8562.