Darts Bar Near Me in Studio City: Residuals Tavern

A Studio City guide to Residuals Tavern at 11042 Ventura Boulevard, a Hollywood actors' dive bar offering steel-tip darts, shuffleboard, and residual-check discounts.

Entertainment-industry regulars and Valley locals typing 'darts bar near me' along Ventura Boulevard swear by Residuals Tavern at 11042 Ventura Boulevard in Studio City. Located just west of Vineland Avenue in a classic strip-plaza storefront, this unpretentious neighborhood watering hole has served for decades as the beloved clubhouse for working Hollywood actors, screenwriters, stunt performers, and voice artists. With well-maintained dartboards, a full-length shuffleboard table, a pool table, and some of the friendliest drink prices in the San Fernando Valley, it is pure Los Angeles dive-bar gold.

Visit Residuals Tavern Tonight

How Residuals Tavern earned its famous name is one of the best pieces of Los Angeles bar lore: any union actor, writer, or director who walks in with a television or film residual check written for less than one dollar can sign it over to the bartender in exchange for a free well drink or draft beer. Thousands of those tiny one-cent and twelve-cent studio checks are pinned and framed across the walls behind the bar, turning the room into a living museum of working-class Hollywood. Even when neighboring soundstages wrap late at night, the welcoming bartenders and open dart lanes make this strip-plaza tavern feel like home.

Reaching 11042 Ventura Boulevard is easy whether you are riding Los Angeles Metro or driving over Cahuenga Pass from Hollywood. The Universal City/Studio City Metro B Line subway station sits less than a ten-minute walk south at Lankershim Boulevard, and Metro bus lines 150 and 240 stop right along Ventura Boulevard. Drivers can pull into the free plaza parking lot directly in front of the tavern or find metered curb spaces along Ventura Boulevard.

Pub games anchor the social life of the room from afternoon happy hour until closing time. Residuals Tavern features dedicated dartboards alongside a slick wooden table shuffleboard and a felt pool table, giving groups three classic bar sports within steps of the bar rail. House darts are kept behind the counter at no charge for paying customers, and regulars are always up for a spirited game of Cricket, Around the World, or three hundred and one. Having both regulation dartboards and a full-length wooden shuffleboard table along the side wall means four to eight friends can rotate between games all night without a dull moment.

Doors open daily at twelve noon Monday through Sunday—and as early as nine-thirty or ten o'clock in the morning on autumn weekends during college and professional football season—and stay open until two o'clock in the morning every night. Stopping by between noon and five o'clock on a weekday afternoon gives you free rein of the dartboards and shuffleboard table with zero wait.

Daily Happy Hour runs from opening all the way until seven o'clock in the evening, making Residuals one of the best value hangs on Ventura Boulevard. Domestic beers like Bud Light, Coors, and Pabst Blue Ribbon start around five to six dollars, rotating California craft IPAs, blonde ales, and imported lagers pour for seven to nine dollars a pint, and generous well whiskey, vodka, and tequila pours cost seven to ten dollars.

Because Residuals Tavern is a classic drinking and gaming saloon without an on-site fry kitchen, management warmly encourages guests to bring in outside food or order delivery directly to their bar table. You can grab wood-grilled tacos, gourmet burgers, sushi rolls, or New York-style pizza from neighboring Ventura Boulevard restaurants and enjoy them between frames of darts without ever giving up your spot at the oche. Nearby Ventura Boulevard kitchens deliver everything from spicy tuna rolls and artisan sourdough pizzas to street tacos right to the bar door, giving players endless late-night dinner options.

Select evenings bring raucous neighborhood karaoke nights, trivia competitions, and live acoustic performances that pack the front booths with vocal talent from nearby recording studios and soundstages. Even on lively karaoke nights, the game area maintains a jovial, inclusive atmosphere where everyone cheers a walk-off bullseye.

Respecting the house game rules keeps everything running smoothly. Ask the bartender for the darts or shuffleboard pucks, chalk your name onto the board when another pair is playing, and watch out for patrons walking between the bar stools and the rear restrooms before releasing your throw. When your group wraps up for the night, hand the darts directly back across the bar counter.

Studio City's surrounding Ventura Boulevard corridor makes it easy to turn an afternoon or evening at Residuals into a full neighborhood outing. Spend the morning hiking the scenic canyon trails at Fryman Canyon Park two miles west, tour the tram sets at Universal Studios Hollywood one mile south, or grab artisanal coffee and pastries along Tujunga Village before heading over to 11042 Ventura Boulevard for happy hour darts.

Dog lovers will also appreciate that well-behaved leashed dogs are welcome inside during daytime and early evening hours, often lounging beside their owners' bar stools while darts fly nearby. Friendly neighborhood pups snoozing beside the booths add to the laid-back Studio City living-room vibe during sunny afternoon happy hour sessions.

Between the framed one-cent studio residual checks behind the bar rail and the steady clatter of shuffleboard pucks and steel-tip darts, the room captures the authentic spirit of working-class Studio City.

Practical visitors should note that Residuals Tavern is strictly twenty-one and over at all times with a valid government-issued photo ID required at the door. The bar accepts all major credit cards, debit cards, and cash, and the ground-floor plaza entrance is completely step-free from the parking lot and sidewalk.

For anyone searching 'darts bar near me' in Studio City or Hollywood who wants free dartboards, table shuffleboard, seven-hour daily happy hours, and walls papered in four-cent Hollywood residual checks, Residuals Tavern at 11042 Ventura Boulevard is one of a kind. Open the Karpo APP to plan your Studio City dive-bar and dining route.

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