Just over the freeway from the hustle and bustle of the famed Universal Citywalk lies the Universal Bar and Grill, the best place to catch live local bands in just about all of Los Angeles. The range of bands is wide and varied - on any given night, you can catch punk, reggae, country, bluegrass, rock, and everything in between. The bartenders aren't overly friendly but they're fair, there's a pool table in the back, and almost every night they're playing the game - whether that game be football, soccer, the Lakers, or the Dodgers, they've always got a game on TV. The best thing about the Universal Bar and Grill is discovering the local bands. The sound system is amazing and every band I've heard there sounds great, and the bands that play there don't have an ounce of pretension in their bones. You don't get the "you should know who I am by now..." snobbery that many of the more Hollywood-oriented bands have. Something about the Universal Bar and Grill helps break down the barrier between spectacle and spectator - the bands are friendly with the patrons and vice versa. For a regular bar with regular people playing really, really good music, Universal Bar and Grill is your best bet. Its heart and soul is about as far away from Hollywood as you can get - and it's just a short drive over the hill!