The Barstool Fund - Maui Sugar Mill Saloon
The Sugar Mill Saloon mixes a neighborhood bar with great live music, resulting in a friendly, cozy, welcoming vibe. Monday nights feature the best live blues performances in Los Angeles followed by an open pro jam.
Reader Email
Hi! We would like to toss our hat into the ring for help from The Barstool Fund.
The Maui Sugar Mill Saloon is a small neighborhood bar in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles. Well.. we used to be a small neighborhood bar. Opened in 1976, over the last 14 years the Sugar Mill has become what folks in Los Angeles thought was impossible - an iconic music venue hosting the best of Southern California and national rock, punk, alternative, blues and country acts 6 nights a week on it's tiny stage. At 1800 square feet and 108 person occupancy, out in the middle of "The Valley", no one thought it could compete with the venerable music clubs on the Sunset Strip, DTLA and the OC. But it has. The Sugar Mill has been named the best dive bar in Los Angeles, featured on Eye On LA, and got a spread in LA Weekly. A who's who of famous musicians and bands have performed there - from Dave Grohl, Slash, Joe Bonamassa, John Doe, The Blasters, to members of Green Day, Adicts, Bad Religion, Quiet Riot, Jane's Addiction. Too many to remember really.
The bar, while a live music mecca at night, maintains it's position as the go-to local watering hole during the day and happy hour. It opens at 11am and closes at 2am.
The Maui Sugar Mill Saloon is owned by a husband and wife team, Tim and Linda Cook, who bought the bar in 2007, and run it themselves. They are raising a 21 year old autistic son. They are not wealthy and the Sugar Mill is both their livelihood and their passion. The Sugar Mill has been closed since March 15th 2020 due to CA and LA County health orders forbidding bars from operating in any capacity. It does not serve food, so it cannot masquerade as a "restaurant" like much of its competition is doing locally. The Cooks have exhausted an EIDL loan from the SBA (putting them in debt for the next 30 years), raised money via a GoFundMe fundraiser, are selling shirts, bar inventory and whatever isn't nailed down. They are now into their savings for day to day expenses.
https://www.laweekly.com/why-has-everyone-from-slash-to-dave-grohl-played-this-tiny-bar-in-tarzana/
https://www.facebook.com/MauiSugarMillSaloon
We're quite sure you are being flooded with requests. What you're doing is a wonderful thing. If there's any way you can help save the Maui Sugar Mill Saloon it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
Tim & Linda Cook