Pool Hall Racks Up Dingy Reputation

You can’t get a cappuccino, or even a diet soda, at Santa Paula Billiards, an authentic dark-and-dingy pool hall sandwiched between La Playita Seafood and Bertha’s Hairstyling on Main Street.

It’s a place that doesn’t even pretend to be upscale or politically correct. A place where men feel obligated to smoke cigarettes and spit on the linoleum floor. And where women and children are noticeably absent.

Aside from new ownership now and then and an occasional paint job, Santa Paula Billiards, with a bar in front and the pool room in back, hasn’t changed since its Old West saloon doors first swung open in 1927. The tables--five pool, three snooker, two billiards--are original. So is the long, hand-carved wood bar. Fallout from chalk dust--settling over the room like volcanic ash--is probably original too.

When Anheuser-Busch was looking for a musty pool hall with flickering fluorescents, cracked vinyl chairs, cigarette smog and lots of character, it chose Santa Paula Billiards as the setting for a recent Bud Light commercial.

Mark Morales, whose father Oscar bought the place 12 years ago, wouldn’t trade his no-frills establishment for any modern pool hall.

“The new places have no character,” he says.

Celebrities have been attracted to Santa Paula Billiards for its gritty, nostalgic look. “Nick Nolte came in for a beer and to watch pool,” Mark says. “Debra Winger was here. Willie Mosconi (the late world billiards champion) played here.”

The oldest continuous pool hall in the county, Santa Paula Billiards is not about to change.

“The atmosphere of this place,” Mark says, “will always stay the same.”