Hi, folks. And welcome. Suppose you, like us, have recently watched an episode of Vanderpump Rules or The Valley. In that case, you are probably pretty familiar with the likes of Jax Taylor and Brittany Cartwright — former cast members on VPR and current cast members on The Valley.
In that case, you are probably also aware that Jax and Brittany are the latest cast members in the Vanderpump Rules universe to dive into the restaurant industry in Los Angeles with their new bar/restaurant aptly named "Jax's Studio City."* Jax's Studio City is in Los Angeles, in the valley, and the exact address is 12514 Ventura Blvd., Studio City, CA 91604, fwiw.
Jax's Studio City opened in October 2023 and began hosting various watch parties for Vanderpump Rules and The Valley in 2024. And with us being two people who live in Los Angeles and routinely rewatch old seasons of Vanderpump Rules like we do, we knew we had to check it out and give you our full review — along with the menu and photos of everything.
So, last Tuesday, we decided to head to the valley and see what Jax's (Studio City) was all about. We chose this Tuesday because that's when the restaurant hosts "watch parties" of Vanderpump Rules, followed by The Valley. Also, according to Jax's Studio City's Instagram page, Brittany was going to make an appearance that day.
Upon rolling up to the establishment, the bar's connection to Bravo and, more specifically, The Valley was VERY clear:
Like...really, really clear:
And so was the fact that this is Jax's bar, thanks to this (rather unnecessary?) plaque:
When we first walked into the establishment, we saw an outdoor patio with lots of seating (like picnic tables) and many plants. It was, dare we say, a little cute and a bit of a vibe.
Beyond the patio, there were two indoor seating areas. The first looked kind of like a sports bar in a cabin or pirate ship, with tons of hockey jerseys on the walls.
The second room, where we were seated, had a COMPLETELY different feel. It had palm tree wallpaper, pink accents, couches that were a little reminiscent of a nightclub, and teeeeny tiny tables not even a foot apart from one another, as you can see.
We'd heard from a friend that the watch parties actually get pretty busy, so we debased ourselves and made a reservation because that felt less embarrassing than showing up to Jax's and being turned away. But when we got there, the place was EMPTY. Like, it was us, one other party, and the staff (LOL). But all the tables around ours seemed to be reserved, so we were curious as to how many parties would actually show up.
As for the decor, the walls were COVERED with pictures of Jax and Vanderpump Rules cast members, particularly Tom Schwartz and Tom Sandoval. Nearly every corner had a framed photograph. It was very much giving "reliving the glory days."
It was also giving...shrine. Jax REALLY wants you to know that this place is his and that it's connected to Vanderpump Rules. That worked for SUR, so we get it! It's definitely a place for Bravo fans.
After settling into our cramped little booth, it was time to peruse the Jax's Studio City menu. Actually, there were two menus, and we're still not sure if there was a difference between the two. One was for drinks but also had food (maybe appetizers?). It included some food that wasn't on the main menu, like Mamaw (Meemaw?)'s beer cheese, which we obviously ordered because it's a part of Vanderpump lore.
The full menu was much more extensive and had many bar food options, like "Jax's Burger" and "Jax's Sizzling Shrimp." It even had a section called "Jax's Favorite Pasta." OK, Jax. Whatever that means...
Prices for food ranged from about $15–$25 depending on the dish, which is pretty standard for LA food prices, but it still pained us to cough up the money for Mr. Jax Taylor.
The cocktails on the drink menu sounded suspiciously good (minus "The Jax"), and Jax was supposedly a great bartender for years or whatever, so we were cautiously optimistic. But we did laugh at "The Jax" cocktail which was literally just Tito's on the rocks. They also had a cocktail aptly named "The Brittany: Sweet Tea."
Lara ordered the spicy margarita, and Shelby ordered the espresso martini, but we traded sips to get the full ~experience~.
We kept to some classic cocktails because we thought they would be pretty hard to mess up. Reader: We were wrong. Genuinely, we did not go into this experience aiming to be haters. But the espresso martini was bad. It was too much vodka, not enough creamy espresso flavoring, and all-around a massive miss.
We won't sugarcoat it; the spicy margarita was also bad. The alleged jalapeño-flavored drink was not spicy at all, it was actually very sour and just tasted very...fake. If you went to your local grocery chain and picked out a pre-made margarita mix filled with sugar, this would probably taste the same. There was also zero fresh jalapeño flavor, which we were excited about before ordering. As much as we HATE giving ANY kind of compliment to the Tom's, Schwartz and Sandy's has better drinks. Sorry.
Now for the food: As we said before, as diehard VPR fans, we HAD to order the beer cheese (it would kinda be a crime not to) so we could finally see if Mamaw's recipe was worth Brittany's storyline in Season 7. It came with two decent-sized pretzels and some celery (which we barely ate, but whatever). We were pleased!!!
Also, the serving board was literally Mamaw-branded, with an actual picture of Mamaw. We laughed.
Okay, but this beer cheese? REALLY GOOD. Like, absolutely DELICIOUS. It was smooth, cheese-y, and even a little spicy! And the beer flavor was nice and subtle. We didn't want to like this as much as we did, but we couldn't stop eating it. Hats off to Mamaw. You win this round.
We also ordered a Margherita pizza flatbread that was decently good and a lot bigger than we were expecting! We love that!!! While the prices are about the same as those at Schwartz and Sandy's or TomTom, the portions were generally a lot bigger in our experience.
And finally, we rounded things out with a Caesar salad, because how hard is that to mess up? The salad was also yummy with a nice dressing and fluffy croutons! We were floored and honestly a little surprised by how decent the food was, and how much food we got! Considering that we paid the same amount at Schwartz and Sandy's for two lukewarm corndogs, three weird doughnuts, and some fries, this was a total upgrade.
However, things soon made more sense when we learned from our friend who did a bit more research that the food is seemingly from the restaurant next door, aka Rocco's Tavern. We're guessing they may share a kitchen??? When we asked for to-go boxes at the end of the night, it was branded from Rocco's.
Since this was a viewing party, they were indeed showing The Valley (and later, VPR) on every TV in the bar, at first at a very normal volume. But at exactly 7:28 p.m., they plugged something into the sound system, and the volume became screaming-level loud. We couldn't even talk to each other. All anyone in the bar could do was listen to the high-pitched whines of Jax Taylor and Tom Sandoval as they complained about their lives on The Valley and VPR, respectively. Also, as the bar started to fill up, it got so, SO HOT. We were sweating so much that we almost had to ask, is Jax too cheap to pay for AC????
No trip to a restaurant is complete without a trip to the bathroom, and once those disappointing drinks hit our bladders, it was time. The only one we could see was a simple green door with a tiny green plaque labeled, "bathroom." There may have been another one in the Jersey/Sport/Picnic Table room, but we were not walking that far. And judging by the line that eventually formed, it very well could have been the only bathroom in the place!
Behind the door was a small washing area with two single stalls. Overall, it wasn't the WORST restaurant bathroom we've ever been in, but it was very cramped. And why was there only one little sink literally two feet from one of the stalls??? We were thankful it was just us when we went, because this setup in a high-traffic situation seemed rather hellish.
As two people who sit down to pee, we have to note that the door was uncomfortably close to our knees. But, nevertheless, we persisted.
After noshing a bit more on our beer cheese and waiting for Brittany to show up to no avail, we decided to save our eardrums from more damage and hit the road. Plus, our room had honestly gotten pretty crowded, so we figured the staff would appreciate an empty table. After boxing up our food, thanks to our amazing server, Luma (shoutout to you, Luma!! We love you and hope we spelled your name right!!!), we moseyed out to the patio and saw the jersey room also filled to the brim with fellow Valley and VPR fans.
