The Craftsman Bar and Kitchen

Mini burger and tots were tasty.

Currently at this amazing bar for Super Bowl 50. For a cool neighborhood bar that doesn’t do many sporting events they rock the hell out of a packed bar. Impeccable service and a great atmosphere.
Don’t sleep on this amazing spot.

Awesome happy hour and delicious tater tots

Great jewel near the beach!
This place has the best sliders on the westside. I’m normally a French fry girl but the tater tots are great!
Drinks are just ok for me. But I continuously go back for the food, location and the cute server with the ponytail is nice to chat with.

Didn’t eat here but did have drinks. They don’t have a ton of micros on tap but its a decent little bar with small shuffle board table and some casual couch seating although sit at your own risk. Only been there 2x but the first time it was a busy happy hour and the couches were pretty wet and beat up.
Their happy hour menu had a decent little selection or cocktails and food.

Thank you Holly (bartender) for hooking us up with whiskey pickle back shots & sidecars during HH & contributing to the ultimate bar romp tonight!!! Had tater tots & mini cheeseburger… was kind of disappointed that you only get 1 for $ 5 until I tasted it. It was the juiciest, most flavorful slider I think I’ve ever had! It’s a «Holly», jolly x-​mas! Thanks Holly!

If there is one thing that I absolutely hate is owners ignoring your real complaint on your review and creating some advertising — posting their website — that was nasty — worst quality as far as customer service, therefore I am reviewing my grade as well to reflect what I think about, and for sure will never return and I will also recommend my friends to do the same.
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I came here for the live music — one day awesome — the other they didn’t have the band neither explanations about it. Kitchen closed at 10? C’mon… how do you keep people just drinking without at least some finger food?

Other than the Misfit, the Craftsman is probably my favorite bar in the Promenade area. I love their happy hour! Their specialty cocktails are $ 5 and they have amazing food. Their sliders are probably my favorite.
I also like coming here on the weekends! This place can get pretty packed but I love the crowd. They have a small outside section for people watching. The Craftsman is a popular bar to go to before or after (or both if you’re a social butterfly) when Santa Monica hosts their summer beach concerts.
Check it out!

Good drinks, great live music on the night we went, and a solid shuffle board set-​up. One of the four spots in Santa Monica that have shuffle board (according to Unilocal), it’s the only one I hadn’t been to yet… but I’ll definitely be back. The seating area was pretty comfortable and they had a sit down arcade game with a bunch of different options. They also have a bunch of board games, but very limited choices for two people… maybe Connect 4?

I came here for the first time because I have heard good things about their spicy fried chicken sandwich — I was not disappointed!
The sandwich is in a league of its own. The bread was nice and soft, fresh. The main thing, though, was the batter on the chicken made it unique. It was the right amount of spicy and crispy. The portion was generous and the remaining ingredients complimented the meal.
Conclusion: the spicy chicken sandwich is highly recommended!

Holly is the best!
I came here on a first date and I think she could tell. Am I that obvious? She was so sweet and friendly and made everything so easy. She was super attentive, but also gave us our space. I was totally impressed. One of the best bartenders I’ve ever had!
The bar is cool and the live music was fun. Delicious moscow mules. I will definitely be back!

Nice lighting and a good location.
Their slider variations during happy hour was the one differentiating thing about this bar, which they have eliminated. Now they just have one type of slider.
Pretty standard cocktails.

Love coming here for happy hour because it ends at 8pm rather than 7pm like most happy hours in the area. The couches are super comfy as well. sometimes it’s hard for me not to just fall asleep after a drink or two: P. Great place to sit down, eat, drink and chill with friends!

Skyler is the shit!
This was my first time here. Happy hour doesn’t end until 8PM! Winning! The buffalo chicken bites were spicy and delicious. We tried a couple burgers (they’re the size of sliders FYI), but my favorite was the western burger and turkey burger. Dee-​lish!
This place is amazing. Come check it out!

For those in the know, we already expect Friday nights in Santa Monica to get expensive; fortunately, happy hours such as the one offered at the Craftsman can help lighten the blow. Granted it only lasts till 8 PM, you can easily get your night started on their $ 5 cocktails and sliders.
I decided to go with the Western and the Fried Chicken slider. Let me just say, you’ll be sorely disappointed if you’re expecting the «traditional» barbecue sauce on the Western. In it’s place are chopped roasted peppers that have a really distinct pickled taste. The fried chicken sandwich also threw me off just a little bit. I don’t know if it was the sauce that resembled a tartar or the actual chicken itself, but it tasted like a less gamy fish sandwich. The texture of the meat is almost too soft to be chicken, but nonetheless, it was enjoyable in it’s own weird way. Whatever you order for the night, be sure to also add a basket of the spicy tater tots. Man, the tots they serve here put the frozen ones to shame. I should also mention that they have a combination of condiments that are all made in-​house.
Both the Southsider and the Sidecar that I had ordered that night were well-​made. The Southsider is like a mix between a Mojito and a Margarita, while the Sidecar is… brandy with citrus.
Overall, we had a very enjoyable experience and our server came by frequently to make sure we we’re doing okay. I was just super glad we were able to get a decent sized table for the time we came in. Actually, this place wasn’t that crowded at all, which is always a plus for me. Definitely would recommend this place for an early Friday night get-​together.

I love Kelly! My girl friends and I walked in with 15 minutes to spare of happy hour (4−8pm everyday) and Kelly immediately gave us her attention and helped us order. I literally asked her what her two favorite sliders ($ 5) were and ordered those-​fried chicken and western. I also got the brown derby cocktail (only $ 5) since it was the only bourbon drink. It’s surprisingly nice to have such limited options for hh cocktails since it’s easy to decide by your choice of alcohol. Lastly, we checked in to collect our pickle back shots!
The pickle back shots were amazing, as were the sliders. My sliders came out sliced in half for easy grubbing but my friends’ weren’t cut so they had to ask separately. Consistency was questionable but regardless, the taste is unmistakable. So much flavor packed into such small sliders and I was left licking my fingers.
My brown derby drink could’ve been stronger but for the price, it is what it is. We loved the vibe here so much that we ended up staying longer even though we were bar hopping-​and I ended up ordering extra tater tots. I thought they had something extra going for them since they had lots of flavor but my friends thought they were normal elementary school-​style taters. Oh well, they were perfect finger food to me and we killed it all within 5 minutes anyways.
I am already dying to come back here to try the rest of the sliders! Definitely recommend and the pricing is unbelievable.

This review is about the bar only. I did not try the food. I was looking over the happy hour drink menu searching for the perfect libation to quench a long day’s thirst. Wait that’s way too epic. I did not see an old fashioned or that type drink on the menu. At that moment I was told to try the old fashioned as it was the best thing in the building, and I would be foolish to not try it. At 12 US dollars my expectations are high. presentation was normal. The delivery was not up to my expectations. When I hear how I «must» of «Have» to try something, my expectations are high as well $ 7 for mini burgers. I might come back, but there are better places for your money in Santa Monica in my opinion.
The bartender was really friendly and attentive. I don’t want this review to reflect him negatively.

I was surprisingly impressed with this place. We were able to reserve a sofa area for a coworker send off party.
The spicy tots are fun and have a subtle kick at the end that I enjoyed. My friend declared to be his favorite tots of all time.
The western slider was SO delicious and flavorful. I was so impressed.
The chicken wing pieces were fun, but I wish it was a bigger portion.
My Sidecar drink tasted perfect.
Happy Hour is until 8PM which is good to remember.
I’d say we have something special here in Santa Monica. Check it out!

Purely from a vegetarian bias, the HH black bean sliders are NOT on point here. They were very dry, and I literally said «meh» when someone asked me how they were. Drinks though? Good strong cocktails, but all of them are extremely sweet and sugary. Give me something with some umph, something savory time to time.
Pretty loud bar, cozy but not too small. Service is friendly, and they will remember regulars. I’d return, but I wouldn’t go out of my way for The Craftsman. Of course though, I also don’t go out of my way to come to Third Street Promenade on a weeknight. Hah!

I adore this place! Came here during dinela’ happy hour week, but apparently their happy hour happens during regular weeks too. I came in around 5:30 and it already had a good amount of people inside, so I’m lucky that my boyfriend and I were able to snag some seats at the bar. During HH, they have amazing deals! Sliders are $ 5 and they have so many different kinds to choose from. I choose the western and the spicy chicken, my boyfriend got the spicy chicken and mushroom one. For $ 5, the size was really decent and they were adorable. Although it doesn’t look like too much, I was pretty full after 2 sliders and sharing some tater tots.
The food was delicious! The spicy chicken was definitely a stand out to me and compares to plan check’s chicken burger which is my absolute favorite chicken burger ever. They gave us some interesting sauces like dill ranch and their housemade hot sauce which was also delicious! I wasn’t able to redeem the free tater tots during happy hour for the Unilocal deal, but the bartender gave my boyfriend and I a free shot to compensate! She was such a sweetheart and I love that they take care of their customers (: do yourself a favor and sit at the bar so you get extra great service like I did!
Their drinks were also simple and strong! I’m not one to drink too much, but I got a nice buzz after having two drinks! Perfectly located in Santa Monica, you can meet up with some friends for happy hour and then walk around 3^rd street after. I’m definitely gonna come here whenever I’m in the area for happy hour and some buzzed shopping.