The Gaslite has been a fixture in Santa Monica since 1962. It will reopen this weekend for the first time in 15 months.
It will be a bittersweet reopening for one of Santa Monica’s most iconic watering holes.
The Gaslite — a windowless but welcoming neighborhood bar where drinks are known to flow as early as 6:00 am — will reopen this week for the first time in 15 months.
And now, for the first time ever, customers can enjoy their cocktails on a new outdoor patio.
“I know people are so happy,” owner Claire Ragge tells The Sun. “I have gotten so many text messages. I am not worried about customers showing up. I know they will.”
But one beloved patron will be missing.
“We lost one of our regulars — not to Covid, but to the lockdown,” Ragge says.
“He was having trouble handling the (isolation) and had a nervous breakdown and ended up in the hospital and died. I think the lockdown was a little bit harder than we all realized. There were some who struggled with it more than others. It’s really sad.
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“I hope people think twice before having such harsh restrictions again.”
The Gaslite — like thousands of other businesses — closed its doors in March 2020 at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Many food and beverage establishments, saddled with rent and unable to absorb the loss of revenue, quickly went under.
But Ragge held on.
“Quitting has never been an option,” she says.
Ragge took over the 59 year-old pub in January 1998 and in recent years has turned it into one of LA’s best known karaoke spots.
Karaoke will resume — indoors only — sometime this week.
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Ragge is quick to admit that it would have been much harder to survive the Covid closure were it not for the relationship she has formed with her landlord.
“She is one of my best friends,” Ragge says. “She has been 100 percent supportive of me and I have been supportive of her. I have been her tenant and her friend for over 20 years and so there is a lot of trust there. I know a lot of tenants and their landlords have antagonistic relationships, but I don’t have that.”
The downtime has given Ragge and her staff time to make some other much needed repairs and improvements.
“A lot of what we have done was behind the scenes so people won’t necessarily see it — like fixing the walk in cooler or getting the air conditioner to work better,” she says.
“But I think what people are going to notice most when they walk in the door is the unbelievable feeling of love. People love the Gaslite. It is a welcoming place. I have had so many regular customers contacting me wanting to know when we are going to be open. They are all very excited.”
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