East Central

Young Kwak

\"All of the other bartenders come here\" says The Flame\'s Beth Stevens.

Some people would say it’s lonely here at night, but they’d be mistaken.

The roads of East Central snake through a ruddy quilt of factories, auto-repair shops, freeway underpasses, rail lines. Driving around, you feel lost, but that’s all right. Where better to get lost at midnight than in a deserted industrial zone?

In fact, among the crevices of the manufacturing-commercial landscape are refuges sporting backlit signs or blinking lights, places where people gather to ease their pain and celebrate the end of their day. Places like the Flame-n-Fox (2401 E. Sprague Ave.).

Bartender Beth Stevens says she and her ex-lover were driving through Wyoming once when he told her he’d take the wheel so she could watch the fiery sunset.

“I looked back, and we were headed for the ditch,” says Stevens, nearly 30. “He was looking at the sunset, too.”

Stevens now works past sundown at the Flame-n-Fox, a joint on the edge of East Sprague where it begins to taper off into a vortex of industrial-commercial nothingness.

Her bar stays open late, says Stevens, which is a rarity for the neighborhood.

“This is the bar, you know?” she says. “All of the other bartenders come here, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday.”

While Stevens talks, Rush’s “Tom Sawyer” plays on the jukebox, followed by Coolio’s “Gangsta’s Paradise.” The room has a cozy feel tonight, like a pocket bar. That’s because there’s a large room open on weekends for live music but closed off on slow nights so Stevens doesn’t have to baby-sit her more adventurous patrons.

“Somebody could be having sex [back there], I don’t know,” Stevens says, nodding to the closed-off hall.

Stevens isn’t the only one with sex on their mind. A guy across the bar yells out the name of the Rainbow, a must-stop on any East Sprague crawl.

Hung above the rainy sidewalk is a hand-drawn sign reading “Girls Girls Girls.” Inside, a dozen guys and a dancer or two mill around or camp out at the bar.

It’s Valentine’s Day at the Rainbow Bar and Grill (1824 E. Sprague Ave.).

The bartender, an older woman, checks driver’s licenses with a magnifying glass and says “Happy Valentine’s Day” while cashing a tab. On stage, a woman strips to that Everlast song, “What It’s Like.”

God forbid you ever had to walk a mile in his shoes
‘cause then you really might know what it’s like
to sing the blues

PBR is served by the can. It costs $5.50 for a soda and a Shock Top. Other than what look to be a couple of regulars, most of the men here tonight ignore the women. Some drink at the bar. Others shoot pool.

Once you’ve satisfied your carnal urges, indulge your naughty stomach. Hang a left outside the Rainbow and hit Vien Dong (1730 E. Sprague Ave.) for a bite to eat. A tasty banh mi costs less than $5.

Or, if you’re jonesing for some chicken wings, head back a little further toward downtown to Jones Radiator (120 E. Sprague Ave.). It’s a nice, warm bar where professional-looking folks take their after-the-office beers. Tonight, in fact, they’re watching a Zags game on a wall-sized projection screen. Try the spicy chicken wings while you’re at it. They. Are. Delicious.