The Grand Havana Room in Beverly Hills is the creme de la creme of L.A. cigar lounges.  One enters the luxurious setting through a private elevator on the side of the “On Canon” restaurant coincidentally located on Canon Drive in Beverly Hills.  The multi-colored plush couches invite you to relax and be pampered.  Admission to the Grand Havana is limited to its membership and their guests.  The food is as special as the the room with a wide selection of California cuisine, reserve brands, fine wines, and of course, super premium cigars.

Beverly Hills has eleven, that's right, ELEVEN cigar establishments in one mile!

Continuing on our tour from the exquisite to the sublime we found GEORGE HAMILTON’S Cigar Room on Little Santa Monica Blvd..  Our most gracious host, Freddie Kernbach, has old world charm and is happy to walk you through the three level club.  HAMILTON’S is doing so well that it is taking over the space next door.  The main floor exhibits a great selection of vintage wines displayed on every wall.  A large painting of George Hamilton from the LOVE AT FIRST BITE movie adorns the bar area with plenty of dark wood and ambiance.  The adjacent main floor room has a baby grand piano with nightly entertainment until closing time.  It’s not unusual for a spontaneous song to pop out of a customer.  The walk-in humidor is upstairs with a good selection of cigars for sale including George Hamilton’s own red label, which is a very good smoke.

The downstairs at Hamilton’s must have been built with a nuclear war in mind because, this would be the place you would want to be.  Frank Sinatra is among the many who keep their personal wine cellars in Hamilton’s basement.  The decor is so comfortable you feel like you are at someone's house rather than the basement of a first class boozery.

It’s not unusual to see familiar celebrity smokers in any of the Beverly Hills cigar emporiums.  Continuing down Little Santa Monica Blvd. you will find a haven for hipness at PHILIP DANE’S Cigar Lounge.  A late night scene, Dane’s provides live music such as local L.A. favorite Harry Dean Stanton and his band.  The night we were there we caught an excellent new group called Water For Paul.  Philip Dane’s draws great looking women smokers, offers a munches menu, great coffees and a terrific selection of smokes.  The proprietor, Philip Dane, is a great guy and eager to talk cigars with his customers.  The Cigar Lounge is a must-see place on your L.A. cigar tour.

In Beverly Hills you can also visit Thomas Hinds Tobacco, Nazareth's Fine Cigars, Al Kramer’s, Beverly Hills Pipe & Tobacco, The Tinder Box, Dunhill, and the Davidoff store which is up Rodeo Drive’s little shopping village.  The Davidoff store offers their line of merchandise as well as their cigar line.

Travel down Santa Monica Blvd. into Santa Monica and you will find JIM BELUSHI’S Cigar Cellar. A haven for stogie lovers, the Cigar Cellar has one of the best people watching locations in all of L.A.!  Two blocks from the ocean and around the corner from the Third Street Promenade Mall you can catch some rays, do some shopping, have a great pastrami sandwich at the Broadway Deli, and have some great smokes from the Cigar Cellars excellent selection of Mister Belushi’s favorites.  There are a dozen or so private humidors reserved for the regular customers which seems to be a trend at every L.A. cigar store. The Cigar Cellar has a location in La Jolla and San Diego with more stores slated to open in 1997.
 

While you are in Santa Monica you can visit Arnold Schwartznegger’s Schatzi’s on Main Street.  If you are planning to be in the area, the first Monday of every month Arnold hosts a cigar dinner.  The food is great and Arnold usually attends, saying hello to everyone in attendance.  The restaurant is roomy with a great patio.  The event seats 300 and sells out every month so, make your reservations as far in advance as possible.

The Big Easy has two locations, both the creation of a Hollywood set designer.  Located in West Los Angeles, The Big Easy has a comfortable sitting room that has the feel of a Wisconsin ski lodge of the 1960’s.  There is lots of retro furniture, couches and conversation areas with a very good selection of humidors and cigars.

One of California's most successful cigar purveyors is the Royal Cigar Society founded by Steven Scheman.  The Society offers retail shops and private clubs in Manhattan Beach, Santa Monica, Balboa, Costa Mesa, Hermosa Beach and Las Vegas.  The Speakeasy at H2O in Manhattan Beach is the Royal Cigar Society's flagship location with dining, dancing and a cigar bar among its amenities.

There is so much of a cigar scene in L.A. that it’s tough to see everything in one trip but, the Cigar Joint in Westwood is a fun store with a rustic decor that is worth a stop.

If you cross over the canyons into the “valley” you need to visit Jimmy Hurwitz at Gus’ Smoke Shop.  Jimmy has a cigar room adjacent to the retail store where you may find Joe Mantegna and Dennis Franz shooting pool and enjoying a smoke.  There is also the Cigar Warehouse in the valley and many new stores each out doing the previous.  Where some cool sunglasses, smoke some exotic cigar and who knows you may wind up in show business...