Grace P.
Yelp
Lanea used to be my spot! I loved going here and every time someone came to town I'd take them to Lanea. I thought it was cool, especially as a Latina living in the SM area, Lanea felt like home. However, this all changed due to two different instances.
The first one was a creepy incident I witnessed. One time I was there with my boyfriend, and the manager (can't remember his name) was being very handsy with a girl. There was a group of people at the bar, and he kept giving them shots. At one point, he walked over to a girl who was part of the group and put his arm around her in a very weird way. He kept touching her, I don't know if she was ok with it but it was just weird, and gave me the ick.
The second one: A few weeks ago a friend and I had dinner near 3rd Street and we decided to end our night with a game of pool. We walked into Lanea and were about to buy a drink but decided to use the bathroom first. We walked into the bathroom, and while I was there I received a phone call and needed to leave ASAP due to an emergency.
We walked out of the restroom and the manager was at the bar. I began to express to him that I was sorry but we had to leave. He began shaking his head at us, and very rudely said "next time I am going to have to charge you, if there even is a next time". He proceeded to be very rude and stood there shaking his head at us. I think he thought we just walked in to use the restroom? It's understandable that can be frustrating as a business owner, but he didn't even ask what the matter was or tried to inquire about us leaving so soon. He basically insinuated that we weren't welcome anymore just because of that.
It's such a bummer because I loved this place, and one time he asked me for music recs and I told him to play rock en español and were jamming out to some rock en español! He had to have known I was a loyal customer, and I left because I had tend to an emergency.
Well, he basically told me that I was not welcome there anymore because maybe he thought I only went inside to use the restroom. I tried to explain to that I was sorry I had to leave, but he just wasn't having it. Oh well, he lost a loyal customer base! Deveras que lastima que los latinos se crean así nadamas por ya tener negocio en Santa Monica!