It’s got punk and personality

IN the last three years Alex’s Bar in Long Beach has become one of Southern California’s most dependable spots for punk rock, having hosted acts including the Adolescents, Black Flag and scores of up-and-coming bands.

But in many ways, the watering hole remains exactly what owner Alex Hernandez says it was in the years before it started booking live bands -- a “local bar.”

Painted red throughout and featuring booths that would be at home in any bowling alley, the bar’s decor, which runs heavy on velvet -- both the red curtains and the paintings of Elvis, Budweiser and Irv, an ex-doorman who passed away -- could be classified as “vintage Americana.” Other touches include a pool table and air hockey game in the center of the floor, a jukebox against the back wall, a Ms. Pac-Man/Galaga table game and a Pabst sign over the back door. Not surprisingly, Alex’s gets praised for its Jack and Cokes.

On a recent Thursday night, Alex’s hosted its first School of Beer. For $15, customers got a tasting of eight different beers, and the bar brought in four large pizzas and spread them out on a folding table. But for the group congregated around the bar, the pizza and exotic beer is an aside to the free-flowing conversation.

“The people that work here, that are regulars here, it’s all the same, relaxed vibe,” says Faith Lopez, an Alex’s patron for “too long -- no, four or five years.”

“It’s nice. The people at the bar generally are there for the booze and the camaraderie,” she says.

Fred Haro became an Alex’s legend after telling his real estate agent to find him a home near the bar, which she did.

“This is Cheers and I’m Norm,” he says. “Everybody here knows me. I love everyone here. And when they see me walking in the door, by the time I get to the bar, my drink is on the bar. They know what I want. And they take care of you.”

Hernandez bought Alex’s, formerly a gay country & western bar, about 5 1/2 years ago. After dealing with some bureaucracy (“The city was pretty opposed to giving me a license, so it took a while to get through the red tape,” he says), Hernandez got his entertainment license two years later.

He acknowledges that after he established the spot as a local joint, some of the regulars were split on whether Hernandez should bring in live music and charge a cover.

“A lot of people were for it and a lot of people were against it,” he says. “When entertainment came in, people who were locals were kind of bummed they had to pay to come into their local bar, and the other half were stoked they were getting touring acts to come through.”

But Lopez and Haro are among those who’ve been coming to Alex’s since the days before the live music, and they have no problem coming back. Lopez says that’s the case for most people. “It’s funny, because the core people that used to come then still come now,” she says. “There used to be a couch and they used to have cocktail servers. It’s changed from what it was, but it’s totally gone forward from where it was.”

She rarely pays attention to which bands are coming through, but fellow regular Jeremy Whitman -- who says of Alex’s, “This bar kind of embodies Long Beach. It is Long Beach” -- recalls some memorable shows, including the Adolescents. He says he definitely pays attention to the musical acts on the schedule. “If there’s a band that I want to see, I am there and I will be in the pit,” he says.

That’s what Hernandez likes to hear. “Hopefully I can turn them on to a band they haven’t seen before, they can enjoy a nice environment, and listen to good music,” he says.

And as Haro points out: “It’s cheap to drink here.”

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Steve Baltin can be reached at weekend@latimes.com.

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Alex’s Bar

Where: 2913 E. Anaheim St., Long Beach

When: Open 3 p.m. to 2 a.m. Mondays through Thursdays, noon to 2 a.m. Fridays through Sundays.

Price: Cover varies

Info: (562) 434-8292, www.alexsbar.com