CLUB REVIEW : Boardner’s, a Painkiller for What Ails You

As bartender Beverly Hall will tell you, Boardner’s “isn’t a club, it’s a local anesthetic.”

The eight-year veteran of the oddball nightspot couldn’t be more accurate. The employees of the spacious, 53-year-old venue have set down more cocktail napkins in front of the lost souls of Hollywood than most of its neighboring venues combined.

On any given night, women in cowboy boots prop their feet up on tables and play “quarters,” bouncing coins into beer glasses with practiced expertise alongside their jeans-wearing beaus. Although the worn club was upgraded four years ago when the owners added the luscious Casablanca Room--as incongruous as a Frank Gehry structure tacked onto a mobile home--the clientele didn’t switch to Armani.

Boardner’s live music policy is equally loose: Bands are booked, says Hall, “whenever we (expletive) feel like it,” which generally means Wednesdays and Thursdays. The acts range from acoustic music to rock, and the jukebox is equally non-specific in its taste. Featuring the good (Nirvana), the bad (Rush) and the ugly (Phil Collins), it also evokes the late ‘80s (when Boardner’s fashions were in tune with the times) with Guns N’ Roses and the Cult in ample supply.

As painkillers go, this one might become a habit.

* Boardner’s, 1652 Cherokee Ave., Hollywood . 21 and over, no cover . (213) 462-9621.