The Barkley Restaurant & Bar

Great dive bar, great food! Good jazz! They just need a little TLC. At the very least, replace the front awning and powerwash the exterior to remove the black dust off the split block façade. I’m just saying.

I drove past this place a thousand times and never been. A friend invited me to dinner and to listen to a couple of bands. I must say it was pretty fun and the food and service was great!

For years, I drove past Fremont and Huntington and always wonder what the Barkley is. It was my parent’s 40^th anniversary and I was looking for a restaurant to celebrate their big day. Mom said she wanted anything but «Chinese Food» and my brother wanted «Meat», so my search for the keyword «Prime Rib» gave me the suggestion to The Barkley Restaurant & Bar.
Gave the restaurant a ring to inquire about their Prime Rib, but they only have it on Friday & Saturday evenings, but I still decide to proceed with my reservation because their website advertisement of live music caught my attention. Walked into the restaurant and 645p Sunday evening and realize that a reservation wasn’t really necessary. The restaurant was dark and quiet and had few locals and regulars sitting in the corner, but our sweet waitress Carina made us felt just right at home.
Our waitress informed us the live band sets up at 7p and would play several sets throughout the evening, and offered us a table in the back if we don’t like loud music. I declined because I wanted to see the Quartet in action. The entire family opted for their Pork Chop Specials which came with either Soup or Salad, Potato and Vegetables. It was a big plate! We were given two generous serving of pork chop along with a choice of soup or salad and potato with vegetables. Mom loved the pork chops but I personally think it was just slightly overcooked, but no worries, it was still good.
Waitress surprised my parents with a giant slice of cake. A small gesture but it brought a big smile to their face. Really want to thank The Barkley for making them feel special. Loved the food and atmosphere, and would definitely be revisiting again soon!

Very dark and old interior.
The meal was at best average and not worth the visit unless you just want a bar

Terrible food, no draft beer, and awful bartenders. Save your money and time and go down Mission Street for better bar spots.

For a lack of a better word, this place SUCKS.
Been here a couple times and its always unpleasant. The regulars here are older rough looking people who are very rude and look at you weird when outsiders (new customers come in).
I came here a few times for a game and they didn’t have any draft beer. On top of that, my $ 10 cocktail was served to me in a plastic cup full with ice. When i complained to the bartender, she just poured more coke.
I would never come here again. There are way better places in south Pasadena. This place reminds me of that creepy old Italian chain restaurant smelling of cigarettes that your grandparents used to go to.

Love this hidden gem. Heard about a sandwich that is good. My first Monte Cristo sandwich experience was to die for. Sweet and savory heaven rolled into one sandwich.

Unilocalers guided me here for dinner after a LONG drive across So California traffic. I walked in and it is black inside. No lights, and it looks like a bar. Just steer clear if you’re looking for a family friendly place, like I was.
Thanks anyways Unilocalers, but we won’t be trying that any time soon.

I love this place for many reasons. That being said, I have not been here for dinner or music but I’m sure I would love it even more. I have only been here for lunch a few times but I really like the feel in this place, its dark, the music is always good, and the service is always always great. I am a burger/​sandwich kind of girl and usually order some form of one of those when I come in. Their onion rings are the absolute best onion rings I have ever had. Ever.
I think this place generally attracts an older crowd as whenever I’m in here, there are older men at the bar. Likely regulars. I don’t mind, I like that this place is not pretentious and running around with a bunch of annoying hipsters. I like that a bunch of young people don’t like this place because it means there are still some spots that can just be enjoyable the way they are without trying to hard to be young or cool or hip. The food is good, reasonably priced, the servers are always quick and friendly and the music is good. That is all that matters for me to have a good time.
My only critique of this place is that the seats in the booth are somewhat tight… I’m overweight and pregnant and feel kinda squished. But hey, maybe thats my fault and maybe I shouldn’t eat so much.
Order the onion rings, you will not regret it…

Great music, great drinks and the food is yummy!
The laid back atmosphere is amazing, live music and dancing, if your lucky you get to see dancing with the Stars type dancing! Time flys when your having fun and here you’ll definitely have a blast, oh and there is no cover charge!!!

I ate lunch at The Barkley Restaurant & Bar in South Pasadena, CA on 2÷22÷2016. It was my 1^st time there in many years. I had their beefeater while my Aunt had a tostada salad. We also had a mushroom appetizer. The total bill was under $ 35.00 not counting tip. We had good food and good service. Plus, I took photos.

Went to Barkley’s for our Valentine’s Day dinner at which we were genuinely greeted with a warm and friendly smile by their host Jennifer. Our table was waiting as we were told it would be. The outstanding jazz music started within 15 minutes after our arrival. Our server Matt quickly came by to take our drink order while we looked over the menu.
That was the declining-​point of our 5-​star rating for Barkley’s. We weren’t even done with our appetizers, salad or soup but our main entrée dishes were left at our table. The prime rib and salmon dishes were disappointingly bland. Matt’s attention to our table became non-​existent. We had to flag him down after 15 minutes of sitting with meals we were done with. Then, we had to flag him down for the bill after waiting another 10 minutes after turning down his dessert offer.
Matt’s SERVICE was disgraceful, the FOOD was disappointing but… hostess JENNIFER’s genuine personality and the jazz band’s outstanding music warranted a 3-​star rating instead of a 1-​star rating.
This was our second visit to Barkley’s and would return in hopes we don’t get Matt as our server. And if we happen to have him again, experience the same kind if service from him. …that could probably be our LAST time we leave cheated of a great experience at Barkley’s.

Don’t expect to be greeted, seated or acknowledged by the staff when u arrive. Grab a drink at the bar and pick a table– there’s loads of empty booths. Sit at the table unattended for 40+ mins and watch the staff wait on the tables around u. Flag a waitress down and she’ll tell u dinner service stopped an hour ago (which will seem odd after u watch folks ordering and receiving food). Icahn tell this place used to be cool. The band was good, when they finished their dinner and actually played (10 to midnight). Lived here for many years and I’ve never checked this place out. Not sure I was ever missing out

Went here with my friend Adam the other night. We were looking for a place to eat and talk on Monday, a night when every other Pasadena establishment seems closed by… 7 (!!!)
Fortunately, the Barkley was open (until 2). There were a few people watching the college football championship, but other than that, nobody. Somewhat loud music going on in the back, but as «vet» of the LA/​Chicago/​NYC dining scene, I’ve been in way worse acoustically.
Food is a giant upscale dining menu. Sandwiches are huge and great. Appetizers are standard fare — we had chicken tenders and cheese sticks. Décor has that great «Sopranos set» feel, if you want to eat calimari and act like you got a body in your Cadillac car!

This place is sooooooo cool!
I’ve been passing by it since as long as I can remember.
They only have bottled beers but I swear I would pick this place over a club any day.
The crowd is kind of older (I’m 22) but it still love it. They play really really old school music, kind of reminds me of like old school disneyland lol.

2 stars
We drove by this place for years and never thought of stopping in. We looked at Unilocal reviews and took a risk…
We started out with the appetizer platter which was very large. Our favorites were the armadillo eggs (jalapeño poppers) and fried zucchini and mozzarella sticks. We did not like the chicken wings (baked with flabby skin) and the potato skins were lacking potato and overdone.
We split the patty melt and chose fries for our side. The burger was slightly overdone but we found it was not properly seasoned. The onions were not fully cooked either, so I was not impressed.
Ambiance is «past its prime supper club» and prices were in line with expectations. Our table was dirty, dirty silverware, and sticky bathroom floors reducing the rating further.
This joint does not make the list.

I really wanted to like this place because I live close by and they had all the Dodger games on in the bar. But sadly, it was terrible. All these reviews that say the food is good – well, just makes me wonder what the hell these people have been eating.
I get it. The Barkley is dark and dank and reminiscent of days gone by. And that would be cool if the place had been thoroughly scrubbed of the 50 year old cigarette smoke and dust. We changed booths 3 times until we found one with the least amount of duct tape holding the seats together. I’m not even exaggerating. Every single booth needs to be reupholstered.
The prime rib was just okay. It wasn’t served medium-​rare, as requested. The horseradish was so diluted with sour cream, it had no punch. The baked potato was the best thing on the plate. The pork chops were huge (!) but had no flavor whatsoever. The vegetables seemed canned.
Turns out the «Seafood Bisque» is actually clam chowder. And by «clam» chowder, I mean mostly potato chunks. The «free» appetizer (because we ordered cocktails) was fried zucchini chips. However, the drinks were small and even though it was Happy Hour, they were still expensive. The Dirty Martini was way too clean, had to ask for more olive juice. The Bloody Mary was tiny, mostly ice and the mix was just meh.
I will say our server was very sweet. She was doing the best she could with what she had.
We didn’t get to hear any music, but other friends have said they enjoyed the jazz nights. If we go back, it’ll be for baseball and beer – but not to eat. That’s $ 70 I’ll never get back.

Close to home.
Free parking.
Plenty of parking BUT DON’T PARK IN TLC’s (emergency animal hospital) LOT OR YOU’LL GET TOWED!
Great service.
Ok food.
Comparable prices.
No cover.
Great music!!! Great bands!!!
Unique atmosphere.
Unique layout.
Fun getting dolled up to step back in time!
Main complaint:
Cigarette smoke seeps in since ventilation is thru the open back door. However it’s not continuous so it’s tolerable. And long hair gets stuck in tears on a few seats which hurts. Messes up hairdo!

Whiskey and wine is one of God’s greatest combos.
Honestly didn’t even remember the name of this place it was such a quick visit, but it was so perfectly divey and good for watching a football game without it being crowded. Didn’t try the food though. Loved the bartender!

Oh my, this was like stepping into a time machine back to my childhood in the ’70’s. My husband had been wanting to try this place for a while because it features live music. Saw an ad that they have live classic jazz on Sunday nights and we decided to give it a try.
Called ahead to make reservations for a party of 5 for 7pm (I don’t think that was necessary).
There is a parking lot next to the building but its difficult to maneuver to because its only accessible when heading west on Huntington (Barkley located on the corner of Freemont & Huntington).
When we walked in, the jazz band was already playing. Nice. It was very dark inside with big, dark red, leather booths for seating. The clientele was made up of older patrons and mostly men.
We were greeted quickly and ordered a round of drinks beer & wine (no draft beer, only bottled). I had a glass of Pinot Noir. Not very good.
The menu was 5 pages. There were so many items, it took a good 10 minutes to peruse all the options. This made me nervous. Its hard to have fresh ingredients with a menu that large.
We started with an appetizer platter. (armadillo eggs, fried zucchini, mozzarella sticks, wings (totally avoid those) & potato skins). Everything came out either overcooked or or underdone.
As for my entrée?
Asked for a meat recommendation from server and was told the Filet Mignon was good ($ 29). It came with soup or salad (I got the french onion) and potato (they were out of baked potatoes, so I ordered the garlic mashed). I normally order my Filet Mignon Medium Rare, but judging by the appetizer, I ordered Medium to be safe. No worries, it came out medium rare-​rare. The french onion soup, was VERY SALTY, Too Salty. The garlic mashed tasted out of the box. And the meat, well, they brought A1. Good quality meat shouldn’t need steak sauce and certainly not a Filet Mignon. Husband ordered the NY & shrimp scampi. He didn’t like it and didn’t finish it.
So why 3 stars? Because the service & band was very good. Our server was very friendly and attentive AND the band was very good. Plus, as we were leaving an older couple started dancing to the music.
Great old school feel, but maybe give Kitchen Nightmares a call to fix the menu?