The People’s Bar

Throughout its history, Naja’s Place has undertaken only two-and-a-half changes of ownership. Achim and his father Herman sold to partners Jason Rosenfeld and Jim Trevillyan in late 2003, and roughly three years later the former sold his shares to Trevillyan. Overall, only a few changes have been made – the beer bottle wallpaper is gone, a digital juke box hangs where the pay phone once was, the men’s stall has a door on it, and the slogan has changed to “Fear No Beer.” For the most part it’s the same old lovely bar Najah created in ‘81, and subsequent owners have all found that people don’t want that to change.

“It really hasn’t evolved that much,” says current owner Trevillyan, better known as Jim. “It’s the same location, no heat, no air conditioning, right next to the ocean, thriving better than ever.”

Jim, a hardworking man’s man, is an electrician by trade who also does maintenance on cranes and dabbles in construction (he’s built a house and is remodeling another). As such, he’s afraid people might ask, “Then why is the place so run down?” And to that he answers, “Because people beg me not to change it!”

He expounds, “Naja’s is one of the oldest beer bars in California, if not the country. It’s a little beachy bar dive that the customers don’t want fixed up. It’s a place where you can go with your flippy-flops, you don’t have to get all dressed up… just a great place to come have a beer and see a buddy, and look at the ocean; and maybe try something rare that day.”

In tune with socio-industrial beer trends toward unbound taste and experimentation, one substantial change Jim did implement (in 2008, to little recoil from his customers) was increasing the number of taps to 88. It was accompanied by a redesign of the draft system to ensure that the shortest lines possible would dispense the freshest beer possible.

Jim openly admits that he used to only drink Michelob Ultra (one of the lightest crap beers on the market). With humble appreciation, he credits the evolution of his nurtured palate to his customers and the staff past and present. People like Jan-Maree (GM from 2000-2002 and 2004-present, who Jim calls “The bones of the bar”), Martin Svab, Jay Outsen, and former partner Jason Rosenfeld; who all helped curate and transform the craft selection at what has become widely regarded as the premiere craft beer bar in Los Angeles.

Naja’s has always been a place to find aged bottles, but they’ve become so serious about beer that they even cellar barrels for years on end before tapping them, and without inflating the price per pour. They also hold an annual IPA Festival, for which nearly 60 taps are committed to different IPAs. The bar hosts various events for breweries and organizations. Several employees have even had their own recipes brewed and bottled by craft breweries; including Jan-Maree’s 2010 Sierra Nevada Beer Camp creation called The Empire Strikes Black, of which she’s stashed a bit more than a half barrel that will eventually be tapped and shared at Naja’s.

To sum it up simply, Jim says, “I like celebrating beer. It’s a beer celebration, no matter what your palate.”

“We’re the people’s bar,” he adds.

And it always was, even from the days when it was Le Petit Fleur and Najah would catch flack from her customers for expanding.

“In the beginning… the bar gets so crowded and so packed, and even the customer told me, ‘Najah, please don’t make it bigger, I like it like this.’ Every time I extended it, they said, ‘Don’t extend it, we don’t want it like other places!’ But it retained its atmosphere, but extended three more times.”

And it’s stayed the same. Fourteen years later, people still come in asking for Najah, and she even attracts the occasional passerby raving about her bar over a tank of gas in the desert.

Significance

What has changed is the beer industry. Once quietly brewing in dark garages, beer geeks have emerged as rock stars amid the explosion of the craft beer revolution, which has permeated society deeply enough to become part of local culture. Atop the rising tide in a sea of beer, where by now it seems like a new style comes out practically everyday, Naja’s has historically pitted itself in a prime position to help foster the social awakening.

Jim’s former partner, Rosenfeld, who’s been the Business Development Manager for Southern California with Sierra Nevada since he parted ways with the bar in 2007, says that, along with Lucky Baldwins in Pasadena and Stuffed Sandwich in San Gabriel, “Naja’s was one of the birth places of the craft beer movement in Los Angeles… It was one of three bars that dedicated itself to finding the special and rare beers from the smaller, independent micro breweries that existed in the early years. It helped start and grow the craft movement in Los Angeles by giving a home to the smaller independents and a place for the beer connoisseur to find these beers.”

Jim also recognizes that Najah herself was ahead of her time. “She had that idea of a tap house a long, long time before anybody else was doing it. It’s one of the oldest multi-craft houses that evolved prior to what the community does… way ahead of the curve with the multi-tapping… In the craft beer community, I think Naja’s is historical. It’s kind of taken on its own legend, and it’s world famous.”

Najah Zeinaty’s fame has certainly persisted locally. Her bar has transcended generations, cultures, and owners, and her innovation has left an everlasting effect on beer culture in the South Bay, Los Angeles, California, and the country.

“You don’t believe how much brings good memories for me when we talk about it,” she tells me. “It’s like really good things to think about something like Naja’s Place, how much we have fun. My daughter Eman — she thinks that was the best time of her life, when she used to help me serve in there. She always have good memory of that place, she wish it never ended.”

Najah misses Redondo Beach, but accepts life with hardship and says that it’s not all dreams for anyone.

“I felt everything I did is still there. To me it’s like a blessing actually that people still really enjoying this place. It’s like investing in something beautiful – doesn’t have money in it or anything, that beautiful thing… Means a lot for me that kind of thing… I’m happy that I could start something as good as this, but I didn’t realize I did. I did it in the beginning for the purpose of make people happy, because I really enjoy when I see somebody enjoying something; when you do something for them and they enjoy it, you get the same happiness. To me that’s what I feel, like giving and take at the same time.”

Ultimately, hordes of regular ol’ people still flock to what Najah invested in: a community home for the enjoyment of life, each other, and beer.

Jan-Maree says, “With all the beer bars that are out there now, and up-and-coming… I hope in years to come that Naja’s is still there, still one of the best, and true to itself. I just see us as caretakers of a legacy, or legend, whatever you want to call it, that Najah started. She created a wonderful bar, and she was the center of that.”

Naja’s Place plans to launch the Naja’s No Fear For 88 Beers Tour in place of Naja’s Passport, and is tentatively planning a Najah at Naja’s night as a winter event with Najah herself. To this Najah says, “I like to come if this is gonna be one day that I should go. I love to go see all my customer I love like my own family.”

Naja’s Place is located at 154 International Boardwalk, Redondo Beach. (310) 376-9951. Naja’s Food and Drink Garden is at 31251 Goffs Road, off I-40, in Fenner, CA.. (760) 694-0181.