Hey 19 Public House Is Serving up Some Sass

Get Your Drink on With Cheeky Cocktails at Hey 19 Public House

Written By: Nikki Brown Hey 19 Public House

Hey 19 Public House is that familiar place that reminds you of your teenage years watching VHS tapes of ET on repeat, listening to old records on your parents’ gramophone and eating your grandma’s homemade mac and cheese. Everything from the names of the cocktails to the eclectic décor radiates nostalgia. Taking people back to an era before iPhones and drones, Hey 19 is a place where home cooked food, culture and good times reign supreme.

The pub is a true local joint that doesn’t carry the pretentiousness of typical flash-in-the-pan LA “hot” spots. Customers range from smartly dressed business professionals and surfers in flip-flops to Exxon workers in their flannels and baseball caps. Owner Demi Stevens’ playful sensibility, evident in everything from the 90’s Star Wars paraphernalia to the quirkily-named cocktails, puts people at ease.

“Alcohol is supposed to be fun,” said Stevens. “Have a good drink, and have a good time,” is her motto.

Hey 19’s cocktails, famed for their quirky names and original combinations, are also suffused with secret histories. The Sleeping Dogs Lie is a 1920s-esque invention of gin, absinthe, triple sec, and Lillet Blanc with lemon, lime and a house-made brandy cherries.  It earned its name from a memory that has since become part of the Hey 19 mythology.

One morning a waitress came into Stevens’ office only to find her fast asleep at her desk, still decked out in her usual evening cocktail dress, six-inch heels, and glittering jewelry. The waitress stepped out quietly and left a sign on the door reading, “let the sleeping dog lie.” The moment was memorialized in the lemony, cherry-bomb cocktail that reflects something of Stevens’ own personality; sweet, bold and definitely one of a kind.

Other cheeky cocktails include the house-made ginger ale, vodka, Italian spirit, and fresh lime concoction, Don’t Cry For Me, so called because Madonna was singing on the radio at the time of its conception.

The infused watermelon vodka, agave, lime and mint creation, Denise Denise, was named for Stevens’ friend, a “very proper woman” who teaches etiquette classes and also happens to enjoy this sweet and sneakily potent drink.

It’s rare to come across a pub so steeped in personality and neighborhood lore. Like the lingering scent of vintage perfume, a visit to Hey 19 leaves one with the feeling that there’s always more to be discovered. Stevens is constantly incorporating more of life’s little moments into the character of the place, and, as she would probably say, it’s the little things that make a person, place or cocktail extraordinary.

Hey 19 Public House
4525 Calle Mayor
Torrance, CA 90505
310.378.8119
Hey 19 Public House Cocktails Are in a League of Their Own

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