Mervyn’s Lounge

236 Castro St, Mountain View, CA

Mervyn’s Lounge

So here is a place that I did not know existed for about a decade despite living relatively near the place for a while. I’ve spoken to long time Mountain View residents who also didn’t know this place existed either despite the fact that it is technically right on Mountain View’s main drag.

It used to be very inconspicuous tucked away in an alleyway as it was basically the back area of the Chef Liu restaurant. Nowadays it is the back half of a sushi restaurant and they actually have signage in the front and back of the building pointing to the alley doorway.

The bar definitely fills the dive bar void in the middle of Google-land and I hope that it keeps chugging along while they keep cycling through the restaurants in front.

Thoroughly old school dive that apparently has been there for a while looking at the nostalgic picture on the wall. Get your beer and get your shots while the jukebox gets played a bit too loud and the patrons pound dice cups. Not a huge beer or liquor selection so go look for your fancy stuff somewhere else.

If I recall correctly, in the old days the bar used to have some insane hours like opening at 7 AM or something like that. Looks like they open at 11:30 AM now so I guess you can still go there to make your “it’s noon somewhere” joke. I’m guessing Mountain View currently is likely not comprised of the early morning bar crowd.

I have seen recently that their hours are a bit hit & miss so if you go during the day - note that the opening time seems more like a possibility vs a hard fact.

As I hit the dive bars in the area - I’ve noticed a lot of red paint or red lighting - what’s the deal? I guess if you had to choose a color the red fits but wondering if there is some dive bar decoration workshop instructional that’s driving the red everywhere.