Goodbye, ETA. You Were a Real Slice

ETA (Photo – etahlp.com)

We sat there, taking turns sipping our drinks and sharing our favorite YouTube Video music gems. She told me she DJ’d hip-hop nights at some nearby bar. She suggested a game. On the count of three, we’d say the song from *Earth, Wind, and Fire* we loved most. On that three-count, we each said *Can’t Hide Love*. That was at a little bar called ETA.

By Alex Vasquez

I don’t think I’d been on a date where we were so in tune (no pun intended) on music preferences. We finished our drinks and oysters and waited for musician, Jeff Parker, a staple of ETA, the bar where we enjoyed our date. While our date didn’t lead to a relationship, the bar served as a tried-and-true Wingman, as it had for so many over its seven years in operation.

I came to ETA on the occasional date. Still, mostly, I’d come here to listen to good music, mostly jazz, and a couple of times, some sort of sonic exploration beyond my ability to comprehend but within my grasp to appreciate. After the *Blue Whale* shuttered, the options for appreciating live jazz became fewer and fewer.

On December 28th, 2023, ETA, the small but well-loved little bar located on Highland Park’s buzzy and hip Figueroa corridor, had its last night of service. The line to get in strung around the corner on Avenue 57.

Los Angeles is a large and sprawling metropolis, and it’s hard to find a community here. Whether it intended to or not, ETA served as that friend, the connector, who effortlessly helped people *find* each other within its space to come out of their shells.

The drinks were as well made as the keys pressed on the piano, strings plucked on the guitar, or the notes blowing from the varied brass were true.

The thing about ETA that I’ll miss is that a person could come here and find a small community of passionate music lovers who appreciate the craft. In a city full of strangers, it was nice to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with people sharing the same experience. Everyone has a story to tell, and so did ETA. ETA spent its time as a place for people to relax and enjoy life’s simple and good things with others (or by themselves).

Thank you for seven great years, ETA. I miss you already.

*Saturday, Dec. 30, 2023, was ETA’s last call.

Alex Vasquez is the founder of the Digital Agency, DigiSavvy. He resides in Sierra Madre.