Neat in Glendale: Sports bar meets craft cocktail lounge

Craft cocktails and sports aren’t often thought of as compatible. Football calls for a frothy Miller High Life and a bag of Doritos, right?

Not necessarily, says Aidan Demarest, the noted mixologist and sports fan who owns Neat in Glendale.

The bar, which is his pet project and specializes in fine liquors served by themselves or as part of carefully crafted cocktails, is long and cozy with low lights and a laid-back neighborhood vibe. Until recently it has notably been without television sets.

That changed when football season came around this year and Demarest got an itch to build a first-class man cave. To wit he bought a few large flat-screen TV sets and declared Monday super sports night.

To sweeten the deal Demarest is offering $2 beers and half-off happy hour all night on Monday while the NFL battles it out toward Super Bowl Sunday.

“In my travels I realized that there aren’t any sports/cocktail lounges. And since by now I would have normally gotten bored and moved on, I had to re-create Neat and make it fun for me,” said Demarest. “A perfectly made Manhattan while watching the World Series is kind of genius. Stay tuned for NBA promos, and as a huge hockey fan I’ll be deep in the couch at Neat throughout the season.”

Neat, 1114 N. Pacific Ave., Glendale; (818) 241-4542; www.neatbarglendale.com.

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