The Commons Ale House

5 stars for what this place was. CLOSED. OUT OF BUSINESS. Sadness permeates throughout my body. This was my favorite place to have a beer in the world.

Great little pub. I liked the atmosphere, except for when I had to have a beer next to someones dog. Whats up with that?
They have a decent selection of local brews and while I did not have the popcorn, it smelled great.
Worth stopping in for a beer!

Great location — less than a block away from one of the Santa Monica parking garages and a block away from the beach.
Not a huge bar but pretty chill inside. The Jenga and Connect Four is a nice touch. Make sure to get a free bowl of popcorn!
Only downside is that drinks are kind of expensive. Four beers came out to $ 31 before tip. So almost $ 8/​beer on average.

We went here for a beer this past weekend. The bartender plugged my phone in behind the bar as it was almost dead, and I was really grateful for that. While we sat there playing connect 4 and having a beer I totally spaced out and forgot about my sunglasses that I sat on the table in their case. I was so focused on not forgetting my phone that I walked out and left them right there on the table. I remembered about midnight and called the place. They answered on the second call and took the time to go and look for them. No luck. Was told to call back in the morning. We just swung by at noon after they opened. I asked the girl behind the bar if they had found any sunglasses in a case. And sure enough they had them behind the bar. I was so relieved that someone didn’t just walk out the door with them, and the employees here were honest enough to hold on to them. Their integrity has restored some of my faith in humanity.

Walked in on lunch time, 12:30 pm for lunch. Asked if they are open.
Lady at the bar said they are open but not really organized. No people inside. We crashed at the bar, sample few beers, asked for food menu. Lady at the bar informed us they do not serve food. We started to walk away. Lady at the bar in very rude form said-​” So you came here just to sample beer?“
Owner should see now why they not organized and why place is empty!

Walked in to have lunch. Tried some beer to figure out what beer to order only to learn they don’t serve food!!! Bartender was extremely rude saying: oh you just came here to try beer and leave! NO WE CAME HERE TO EAT LUNCH THAT YOU DONT SERVE AND ARE NEVER COMING BACK!!!

While the Ale House looked like a fun place to hang out, I did not appreciate the female bartender’s judgemental bait and switch with me this evening.
A local friend had recommended this spot as a place to get drinks, so I arrived a few minutes ahead of him. The bartender offered me three small samples of their on-​draft beers to see what I liked, which was kind of her. I stepped away from the bar for a minute to use the restroom, and when I returned, the bartender claimed that I «looked like I’d had too much to drink» and refused to serve me any further.
For the record, the only drinks I’d had were the three samples she had offered me. And when I mentioned a personal issue that has occasionally caused people to think what she was thinking in that particular setting, she claimed «it was the same thing» and still refused to serve me further, even after I offered to show ID as accompaniment. It is NOT the same thing.
Her service caused her establishment to lose business tonight, as my friend and I ended up enjoying drinks at another venue nearby.

Kind of shabby place, easy to miss if you don’t know it exists. It’s near a lot of other bars off Broadway, so you can include it on a pub crawl, if need be.
It was pretty dead when we walked in, no bouncer at the door. Bartenders were friendly, easy to order a drink and get it in a timely manner. They had games all over the bar– like connect four and jenga– which are fun to play if you came in with a group. Decent beer selection, friends approved who ordered beer so I guess I’ll extend the hand of approval.
They had a jello shot special on Thursday nights that we missed apparently because they ran out. So that was unfortunate, would come by again to try that out.
Cool place to come with friends if you like to have the entire bar to yourself.

This place is right by Third Street Promenade, so it’s super convenient to stop by after doing some shopping. Lots of beer here! No liquor, keep that in mind. The vibe is pretty chill — crowd is mixed, but I also came during a happy hour time rather than at night. The bartender who helped me was super knowledgable about the beers on tap, which was nice. I got this really great coffee stout on tap — wish I remembered the name. They also have board games here, it’s great!

Cool place to enjoy a beer with friends. I’m a huge fan of craft beer but also a huge critic when it comes to dirty places. As soon as I sat down I noticed more than 5 dirty tables. When the bartender took my order I thought he would come back to clean it. Nope. Just put my beers right on top of it. Besides sanitary criticism they have a great selection of beers and the games are a plus.

Craft beer-​centric bar in Santa Monica. Great opening hours, friendly staff, and a solid craft beer and craft cider list. Had a Ninkasi tap takeover when I was there. All beers are served in mason jars which is fun, but could be annoying to some hardcore purists. Prices were low, $ 5 – 7 it seemed for even high abv stuff. They had Deschutes XXV Black Butte Anniversary on tap as just Black Butte. One is 11.5% and the other is 5.5%. It was still $ 5 per mason jar. Great deal, but someone in the group that was watching calories was not happy about that. They have board games and host cool events like stand-​up comedy and scavenger hunts. Trendy, hip place. Small interior with only a few tables and a small bar to sit at. But fun, cheap, and one of the better beer bars if not the best that is in the SaMo shopping district/​Promenade area.

Bartender is nice to look at and he’s friendly too. And the campfire stout was scrumptious. Niece got enjoy by and that was yummy too. They played beach boys and that was cute. Awesome little establishment :)

Unfortunately, my friends don’t really like beer so my suggestion to have some drinks here after the Thursday concert at the pier was met with a lot of ambiguity. On the fortunate side, someone in our group was too underdressed to get into Ma’Kai so we ended up at Commons.
Only beer and wine available. No hard liquor. The Nitro Black House coffee stout on tap is amazingly rich and creamy. Free popcorn baskets if you ask for it and pretty decent service from the Scruff McGruff beer-​tenders.
We eventually got into Ma’Kai which could not have been any more crowded. Come to Commons if you like beer and a place to sit.

Beers are a little pricey compared to places nearby but totally worth it because of the free games (Connect 4 and Jenga) and popcorn! Also, not crowded for a Friday night which is actually a good thing if you want to sit down and play games with friends.

My bf and I were visiting the Santa Monica pier and were on our way to the Third Street Promenade, when we decided to check out the pub on the way. The sign read «Craft Beer won’t solve your problems, but neither will milk». So we decided to check out The Commons Ale House.
Two hours later, after a few flights and tasty beers, we got to know the owner, Beth a bit. She knew all of the beers (and was writing the tap labels). We had a great time and had a lot of good conversations. We even stopped by on our way to Venice, to thank her for running such an awesome establishment, and for being all– around cool.
My point is, check out The Commons, and have a beer, or three. By the time we left, we got to meet one of the other beer-​tenders, who was cool as well. So many beers, and the experience was awesome! Next time I’m in Santa Monica, I’ll definitely be back to The Commons Ale House! Go.

I’m not a huge beer person and they don’t have hard alcohol here but they have wine so my girlfriends and I walked in on a Friday night ready to drink quickly and move on for our bar crawl.
However, we started to play Connect 4 and Jenga and ended up staying here for quite a bit.
The games, especially when drunk, become fun x 4.
The crowd ranges from larger groups to romantic dates but nonetheless the vibes are chill and cool.
Bathroom sucks, though, and it’s pretty dirty.
Also-​the entire place is like a box-it’s pretty small and what you see when you pass by is what you get!
Your can park at the public garage for 90 minutes free.

Great spot if you are around 3^rd street, easy walk from other bars if you are doing a bar crawl. A really laid back atmosphere, which I like.
There is a good number of beers on tap.
A lot of board games to entertain the group.
The one draw back, only one stall for the ladies.

Great neighborhood pub to grab a drink or two before dinner/​after work/​as a break from the beach!
I became a regular at The Commons while taking a class at the nearby General Assembly and love the vibe here. Casual but fun, the bar has games and a constantly rotating tap list, as well as some of the most knowledgeable staff I’ve found. Tell them what you like/​usually drink and they’re sure to have something to please your palette.
As an avid Jenga player and self-​described beer aficionado, I always enjoyed our post-​class meet ups here and would definitely add this to my regular haunts list if I lived closer to the area.

A pretty standard beer bar near the beach in Santa Monica. The selection is pretty standard, though there is a decent choice of California craft brews. The ambience is woody and dark, kind of like a small version of a college bar.
There is an interesting mix of tourists and locals — in fact, very eccentric «only in California» locals. Nearly all men when I went there (the girls were up the street at Copa d’Oro all staring into their cell phones with their eyes glazed over so I couldn’t get a seat).

Wanted to grab a beer off the promenade and we noticed the games they had on each table from the street. (we noticed trivial pursuit, jenga, brain teasers and connect four) We were instantly lured in. We were here later in the evening so I don’t know if they had been hit hard or if it is always this way but.. . the place seemed dirty. You sign and tip for your order on an ipad that was crusted with other people’s. .. I’m not sure and don’t want to know? It was a bit (EXTREMELY) gross so I mentioned something and the bartender kind of rudely said, «yeah, we’ll clean it at the end of the night». .. well alright then. We grabbed our beers and sat down at a table to play connect four. I was quite excited as I don’t think I’ve played since the fourth grade. Disappointment soon stormed in as we realized we were missing about ²⁄₃ of the game pieces.
The beer selection wasn’t overly impressive, crowd was loud and drunk, not sure if I would go back.