Barneys Limited

Bar, Eatery

93 W. Colorado Blvd.
Pasadena, California, 91105
United States

(626) 577-2739 | map
barneysltd.com
PLACE STATS
Average:
3.75
Reviews:
7
Ratings:
8
pDev:
10.13%
View: Place Reviews
Recent ratings and reviews.
Ratings by Boilermaker88:
Photo of Boilermaker88
Reviewed by Boilermaker88 from California

3.28/5  rDev -12.5%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 3 | service: 4 | selection: 2.5 | food: 4
Pre-flight stop for the earlybirds attending the SoCal BA gathering on 11 October. Barney's Limited is a long, narrow beer bar with a smallish, L-shaped bar in the front third and a larger room in the rear third. It's clean and neat with a variety of banners and beer signs throughout.

The selection and quality were rather limited, befitting the name of the place. The beer list had a decent amount of beers but nothing that really stands out.

The food was pretty good and there was a lot of it. The prices were decent when you consider the amount of food you get. Our waitress was polite and friendly and stopped by often to check on us.

Barney's Limited is a good place to go with you're with friends you're weaning off macros. But for the more experienced or adventurous beer lover, you'll probably have had everything on the list.
Oct 13, 2003
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 4.25 by BeerBeast from Florida

Jun 08, 2014
Photo of ArrogantHopHead
Reviewed by ArrogantHopHead from California

3.4/5  rDev -9.3%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3.5 | service: 3 | selection: 3 | food: 4.5
Barney's is a great local hang out for drinks and friendly merriment on any day of the week.

The plusses...decent number of taps and which are craft brews, the Food is inexpensive overall and the portions are quite generous, there is a pool hall upstairs called Qs which rents tables by the hour, darts, foozeball, and multiple areas to hang out in.

Minusses...the service isn't impressive. The servers are helpful and knowledgeable about the menu and can assist you with making decisions when you are not sure what to order (ie drink pairing), but they are hard to get to your table at first, and can be devoid of personality.

The atmosphere is pretty unique, but I can't remember which came first the T.G.I.F.s or the Beanery. The uniqueness comes from the supposed history of many famous rockstars and famous folk that would partake of Barney's in the 70's when it first came around.

Overall great place to have a beer and the food is perfect to match. Just don't come looking to be impressed with a grand overall dinning out experience. Just bring your friends, a significant other and belly up to the bar for some fun.
Dec 09, 2009
Photo of brokensail
Reviewed by brokensail from California

3.66/5  rDev -2.4%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 3
I'd heard about this place from a few friends and was in the area with the girlfriend and a couple other people. We popped in here because they know I like beer and to most non-beer people, this is an amazing beer bar.

I was figuring it would be pretty much just like Yard House, or something along those lines, but the decor was much more interesting, and there seemed to be just a more laid back atmosphere in general.

The bar area downstairs is fairly long and narrow, and there is more of a "lounge" area upstairs with pool tables and a second small bar that serves mostly BMC and cocktails.

The bar downstairs features a few good offerings, but nothing special. I stuck with Stone IPA as I didn't notice anything that really caught my eye.

The service was good as far as the bar goes. We didn't order any food as we had eaten before stopping in, but I was told the food is pretty good.

Overall, it was an interesting spot, but certainly nothing amazing or worth writing home about.
Nov 26, 2009
Photo of davexisxrabid
Reviewed by davexisxrabid from California

4/5  rDev +6.7%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 4
Been here quite a few times, it's a cool place to come by and visit, has a pretty busy atmosphere. Finding a table can be difficult at times, especially if you're here late on a weekend. There's usually some cute girls here so I gotta give it points for that. I saw Al Naipo doing a live news broadcast here one time too.

Cool looking newspaper menu's, funky colored tables, lotsa crap and motorcycle parts on the walls, and some game tables downstairs (air hockey) as well as a pool table upstairs. I remember when this place use to be Q's a dance club my drunken cha-cha friends brought me to.

Service is pretty decent, don't usually have to wait long to get your food or brew and the staff usually lets you know if anything is tapped out or unavailable.

I've had the burger, chicken strips, wings, fries, and calamari here. Everything is pretty decent and not too greasy. If it doesn't give me the runs and tastes good, I like it.

Their beer selection is pretty good. Nothing rare really, but a damn good broad selection with some reasonable prices. This place and Lucky Baldwin's are some of my go-to places in Pasadena.
Feb 26, 2009
Photo of Greenfloyd
Reviewed by Greenfloyd from California

4.38/5  rDev +16.8%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4.5
What a great place to catch a game while enjoying some tasty treats....

This place, though very busy, had a comfortable vibe to it. There was a nice bar as you enter, with a giant screen TV behind it. The cool thing, though, was that each booth had a separate flat screen, and you could choose your game! Very handy, as I got to see the 4th quarter of the NFL Pro-Bowl after the Belgian beer fest at Lucky Baldwin’s down the road. The food is very good, as I paired my ale filled gullet with an individual basil/cheese/tomato pizza. The potato skins were pretty good as well. The menu was as large as it was diverse. They had a pretty big (and fairly macro) draft selection, but they also had a whole sheet of craft bottles (import and domestic) to choose from. Lots of countries, & lots of choices....more than I'm used to in the 951 area (they were however out of the hemp ale my friend ordered- hope it's not the usual). Prices weren’t bad for what you got, and I would definitely go back, especially if I know there is a sporting event I'll want to catch while out & about...
Feb 20, 2007
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Reviewed by TheLongBeachBum from California

3.55/5  rDev -5.3%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 3.5 | service: 4 | selection: 3 | food: 4
I have to admit that the first time I came here, well, I was completely and utterly smashed. It was the last establishment at the end of the first BA Pasadena Social Pub-Crawl, we had visited the Crown City Brewery and drunk Lucky Baldwin’s ‘dry’ almost (not to mention Mickeymacs attempt to puncture every part of the walls in LB's with the Darts) and memories are fuzzy to say the least. That was held on the 25th January 2003, nearly a year ago now. I have been here a couple of times since, but whilst checking out the 2nd hand CD Store this Sunday, also on Colorado and almost opposite Barneys, I decided to pop in to grab a bite to eat and a quick beer, I just fancied a change from my all-time fave Lucky Baldwin’s, as well as resisting the great (and strong) beers at Baldwin’s as I was driving.

Inside, you enter a single room that is basically two rooms. The bar is at the front with some Tables, which incidentally is where I sat, as I was a singleton on the Sunday visit. The TV is in the back and some large groups were rather vociferous but not rowdy, whilst watching the Sports that were on and they were eating and drinking whilst supporting their teams. Well presented and the Tables were clean and spick and span, even though they were lightly busy.

I don’t mind Barneys, it’s a nice enough place, and sometimes you have to reset your standards and realize that not all places that serve a reasonable beer range are not necessarily going to be “geeky Beer Bars”. We get spoilt way too much in So.Cal. As such, if you take this place for what it is – then you will not be disappointed.

The food is the key though I think, it is very good here, and my Sierra Nevada Pale Ale accompanied my Fish and Chips extremely well, in fact I had two SNPA’s. I was going to have a Sammie Smiths for the Fish n’ Chips, but I like SNPA, or maybe a Brown Ale for my “nerks”. I have to put my hand on my heart here also and even state that the Fish n’ Chips rivaled those of Lucky Baldwin’s, which I hate to keep mentioning, but in this case it is only to show how good the fare was here (as I love LB’s). The food here is indeed high quality, and they serve US sized portions, if you know what I mean. I spied some of the other food options being served and they all looked interesting, enough to make me question my own selection, which is usually a good sign. It’s pretty good value as well, for Pasadena at least.

Well the first time I came here my memory of it was completely forgotten. Later visits for just beer whilst partially inebriated, was a bad experience, and as such I had an inherent “bad feel” about Barneys, which prevented a return – until now. A “fresh faced” visit this weekend revealed in the cold light of day that that this is actually an OK establishment, and my prejudices were totally unfounded. It has a decent enough beer range that is above the norm (sort of), and that has something that will satisfy all but the hardened beer geek (and who cares about them) whilst eating, or even just for a quick beer or two. However, whilst the beer range is somehow appealing, it is still pedestrian and better suits the accompanying food option rather than drinking alone.

The service was good, and the very polite & lovely waitress made the experience all the better as well, but that’s another story. If you want some great food with an above average beer range and quick service to accompany it, you can certainly do much worse in Pasadena than coming here.

Last Visit: 11 Jan 04
Jan 14, 2004
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Reviewed by Rumrunner from California

3.5/5  rDev -6.7%
vibe: 3 | quality: 3.5 | service: 4 | selection: 3 | food: 4
Not much to say about this place. It is somewhat uninspiring. We met here for some food for the So. Cal. BA gathering.

A very well kept up place. The atmosphere is clean and pleasant. A front room with tables and a medium sized bar. A back room for larger groups. TV's to view sports and news. The walls have been painted with scenes of southern California life on them. Nice and colorful.

The food was good. I had the fish and chips and I found them to be better than Lucky Baldwin's fish and chips and I do like LB's fish and chips. My girlfriend had a chicken salad and enjoyed it as well.

The beer list is large. It is just unrefined for most BA's. This would be a nice place to bring some people who a BA was trying to get them off of the typical macros. A BA beginners bar. The beer list has nothing obscure or unique. It does have some English, Mexican and a few craft beers that are not bad. I did not notice a large selection of Belgians or any.

The service was great and the waitress was very friendly.

Overall a nice mellow place with good food and service. The beer list has a lot of beers, just not a lot to offer.
Oct 13, 2003
Barneys Limited in Pasadena, CA
Place rating: 3.75 out of 5 with 8 ratings