Sunsets and Salsa

OK all you penny-pinching, Dutch-treating, let’s-meet-for-coffee dating types, this one’s for you: There is a place in L.A. where you can fill your stomach, catch a buzz and handsomely tip your server--all for less than $10. And if that info doesn’t make your head swim, all of the above can be had accompanied by spectacular coastal and city views.

Ladies and gentlemen, I present the Toppers happy hour--a haven for those weary of $9 Cuervo shots and noncomplimentary peanuts. Located atop the Huntley Hotel in Santa Monica, Toppers sports a 270-degree view of L.A., the Getty Center and the entire coastline. I delight in taking out-of-town visitors to Toppers, especially those who gripe that Los Angeles is ugly and expensive.

The visit starts with a hair-raising, stomach-dropping ride to the 18th floor in an exterior glass elevator, where the extraordinary view is revealed floor by floor. (I also enjoy telling those out-of-towners that we’re toast if the Big One hits.)

According to Rodney Prechel, general manager of Toppers, some people show up just for the thrill of the ascent. They don’t even come into the restaurant, he says, laughing. “In fact, some of the other hotels in the area send their guests over just for the ride.” The elevator and other parts of the hotel are being renovated after some roadblocks by the city of Santa Monica, but the hotel plans for the changes to be done before the Democratic National Convention in August.

Toppers is divided into two main areas by a bar. The dining area commands views of Catalina, the Palos Verdes Peninsula and points east. Dinner is good, traditional Mexican fare. Nothing nouveau here.

The action is in the other area of Toppers, which overlooks the Santa Monica Mountains and up the coast to Malibu. Here you’ll find an extensive happy hour Mexican buffet: six salads, deviled eggs, chips and salsa, rice, chili, chicken wings, pasta, barbecued wieners . . . all free to anyone who buys any drink. A glass-and-a-half pitcher of margaritas is only (get this) $4.50 and it’s served by a pleasant waitress in extremely short shorts.

A Paradise for Eavesdroppers

Sure, a free buffet and inexpensive drinks attracts a regular, casual crowd, but you won’t find any attitude among the staff at Toppers.

“Eighty percent of our happy hour business is from people who aren’t staying at the Huntley,” Prechel says. He’s well aware that some are coming for the bargain buffet, but that person is accorded the same respect as everyone else--a practice that appeals to my sense of fairness. This also means that the clientele is a wonderful mix of artists, writers, tourists, professionals and ne’er-do-wells.

Toppers is an eavesdroppers paradise. Years ago, when the Huntley had a contract with major airlines, the place was full of pilots and stewardesses, some of whom could be heard planning extramarital trysts at the hotel. I heard scripts pitched to film executives, celebrity gossip, and, in one instance, an undercover cop planning a drug bust.

Perhaps the most obvious conversers are those who use Toppers as a place to meet for the first time. They’re easy to spot. They look at each other when they speak, laugh at each other’s bad jokes and eat their food in tiny mannered bites. OK, I admit it. I’ve met a few cyber dates there myself. It’s a step up from meeting at Starbucks, and the buffet and margarita deal costs about the same as a venti cappuccino.

Again, Toppers knows its clientele. It stages at least two singles events a year and holds special parties for major holidays. They pack the place on Secretary’s Day, which might say something about the wallets of many bosses (but that’s just my opinion).

Some things never change--and, in a good way, that includes Toppers. The price of a margarita has gone up 55 cents in eight years. They added a big-screen TV showing sports at some point, but the scene can be so aggressively conversational that it drowns out the stadium crowds.

Mostly though, Toppers represents the Los Angeles I love. The Mexican food, the diverse and eclectic crowd, the friendliness of the staff all become a microcosm of the best of L.A. And as long as I live, I will remember the exquisite views of peach and tangerine sunsets over an unchanging Pacific Ocean and Santa Monica Mountains. Same as it ever was. Same as it ever was.

BE THERE

Toppers, Radisson Huntley Hotel, 1111 Second St., Santa Monica. (310) 393-8080. Winter happy hour 4-7 p.m. Summer, 4:30-7:30 p.m. No cover.