ABBEY - Not your "neighborhood" coffee shop/bar anymore!

Abbey is no longer a "gay" establishment! It is now STRAIGHT owned, and will never be a "gay establishment" again. It is simply a bar in West Hollywood now. BUT the fishing is good if you like 'straight' guys! the different is a few cocktails! I put them out after we have done our bedroom activity before they "sober up". Then they are free to think they are still "straight". BTW why do gay guys feel the need to say they "ACT Straight"? If you have sex with men, you are not straight in any way shape or form! SEX with a man more than one time ever, you are a FAG like the rest of us! "Straight acting" makes me laugh!!!! The muscle freaks walk and talk like 16 year old high school girls! They look good, but please darling guys, do not move, and do not say a word! It ruins the image!

I am glad the Abbey is there and is what it is because it helps keep the pretentious queens, fag hags, and tourists out of the real bars and away from me.

Abbey is very expensive, and I don't regularly go there. I do take friends there when they come from out of town and go there on rare occasions. It can be very crowded, which says something for its popularity. I would recommend anyone who hasn't been there to go at least once and make up your own mind. No, it's not the quaint little coffee shop that it used to be, but it can be fun with its huge fireplace, movie peep-holes in the wall on the right where you first enter (are they still there?). Citysearch rated it best of restaurants for 2007, although the reviews on their site are rather mixed, especially lately.

I've been attending Abbey for many years, way back when it was a coffee shop across the street. Watching the growth of this place over the years is amazing. Overpriced - yes! Fun - at times! Luckily, I'm not a drinker. So I don't have to worry about being price gouged. Generally, on Sunday we hang at Abbey to meet up, but a lot of people I know are venturing over to Fiesta Cantina for 2 for 1 drinks. When one bar can do 2 for 1 and make money, you know the others ones are a major rip-off. Yes, the clientele is a little different, but Fiesta Cantina is pretty fun. Too bad about the fire at Micky's. We usually end our nights there. Oh, Micky's had 2 for 1 drinks throughout the night also.

I recently moved here from tennessee and have been going to the abbey since it was just a little storefront that sold more desserts than drinks...it has always been one of my favorite places to go when i come to l.a. to catch up with friends and spend lots of time and money...it's sad to see it lose it's soul...and it's sad for me to not even want to frequent the one place here i know and loved

Club Eleven is worth a try. Heard that the food and the prices are good but the service is very slow. Expect more traffic since Mickey's burnt down.

I used to go to the Abbey too, however its out-grown itself. I no longer go there. You should try "Club Eleven" on Santa Monica Boulevard; its great, not a huge patio, but has great food, service and prices. I now have my Saturday Brunches there and not the Abbey.

Just a quick response - Me and my friends have begun a boycott of the Abbey after our jaunt described below. We have been going to other bars so there is no "hypocrisy". And what one may call "whining" - I call relating my experience for others who may care to know before they go! Thanks for reading & thanks for responding.

This is what happens with success of ANY bar, anywhere. Ridiculous prices, poor service, because THEY CAN. Currently The Abbey is considered one of the hottest bars in the country. I'm actually surprised they don't charge cover because they could get away with that as well. The only solution is to stop going, but customers are replaceable when a place is hot. That's capitalism, and this thread is nothing but unfortunate whining. If bars were public utilities or publicly traded on the stock market, perhaps we'd see a change:(

While I appreciate your comment, and agree with it entirely, you still patron the Abbey. In spite of all of your qualms, you go there and participate in everything you are complaining about. Cooley is making money off of your hypocrisy and is laughing all the way to the bank. If you don?t want to line his pockets try Fubar, Akbar, or Motherload?better yet, have your friends over for a cocktail at your apt. I?m sure there aren?t any rude waiters there. West Hollywood is peppered with great bars and clubs...try a new spot. :-)

The person who wrote about the Abbey was right on the spot. Please report any health concerns to the the Health Department. You will smell a lot more because of the development taking place and most of the electrical and sewage systems were designed way back then. Once in awhile you can hear or see the transformers blow. Now we have a chocolate river flowing down Robertson.

So here's my latest observations about what was once WAS my favorite coffee shop/bar in West Hollywood: THE ABBEY. Last Friday, after parking my car several blocks away, I began walking up Robertson Blvd. towards the Abbey. I was immediately overwhelmed by the stench of raw sewage. I recognized the stench as that same smell that wafts out of the sewer grate inside the Abbey on those evenings when the restrooms are getting a lot of use. I noticed a steady stream of liquid running down the gutter along the east side of Robertson Blvd. that was emitting the odor. I followed the liquid north to the pipe in front of the Abbey. Many people were overcome and gagging out loud over the stench. Great way to start the evening. Then I went into the Abbey and ordered the usual drink. Since selling out a majority holding in the Abbey in 2006, David Cooley has lost his beautiful business to corporate greed. Drink prices have continued to rise the past few months to the point where a single shot of liquor with ice and a mixer is an average of $11, a martini is $12-14 depending on bartender. I usually like a little more mixer so I don't taste the liquor as much - so I order a taller glass which contains more ice and mixer. The latest greed tactic: $2 up charge for the tall glass. Now my drink is an average of $13. (Don't even ask about the small plastic glasses during Gay Pride which cost more and have less in them!) Customer service levels are well below what you expect to find for a coffee shop/bar/club that touts itself as such a Gay friendly WeHo destination. I sat with a small group of friends and we visited about our work weeks over a few cocktails and later asked for our bill. When we pointed out to the waiter that we had been over-billed for one drink and another was "up charged" twice for the tall glass - we were met with a rude, accusatory and down right mean attitude-filled tirade from the waiter who stated that "people do this all the time, trying to rip us off". Well I hardly think the Abbey is being ripped off by its patrons - Armored cars routinely visit the Abbey now, you figure it out. A manager type came over at my request only to offer an $8 credit rather than remove the $14 worth of overcharges. After much debate and argument he relented and removed a whole $11 from our bill. Everyone in our group was astonished. We have been around long enough to watch the Abbey grow from a small shop to large bar and food business. Perhaps too big, too fast. What once was a wonderful, neighborhood oriented, fun, relaxing coffee shop and bar has finally turned into the trendy, pretentious, snobby Hollywood hotspot that belongs more up on the Sunset Strip than down on a side street in West Hollywood. It truly is not your "neighborhood" bar anymore! My and my friends all long for what used to be with less attitude and reasonable drink/food prices. P.S. for what people pay while there, you would think they could fix that sewage thing too!

I used to go there when it was a smaller establishment with very friendly staff and the prices were not out of hand. I can very well afford to go there when I want, but prefer the neigborhood feeling it had long ago. But, to each their own.