Exclusive | Classic Hollywood dive where Tarantino wrote Pulp Fiction revealed as bar in ‘The Regulars’ 

It’s the bar tale that’s got Angeleno bookworms buzzing.

“The Regulars,” a novel written by well-known voice-over artist Johnny Cosmo, is Los Angeles’ hottest read, telling the story of Jimmy Ruggiero, an East Coaster who finds himself in Hollywood after breaking up with his girlfriend in Boston.

Every night, he escapes to a mysterious dive bar rich with an eclectic assortment of LA characters, including ex-actors, gamblers, a bartender named Danny and a beautiful smoking-and-drinking temptress named Jillian. 

The novel details the dive as having a nondescript exterior, a neon sign outside, with velvet curtains blocking out the light.

The only location clue comes on page 40, noting that Jimmy ”continued past Fairfax” to reach the bar.

The exact location of the bar has book bloggers in a lather. “What bar is this?? I know I’ve been there!!” one posted on Instagram.

So The California Post contacted Cosmo, who agreed to come clean: The bar is actually based on the legendary watering hole, Ye Coach and Horses.

The classic dive, which opened in 1935, was once frequented by Hollywood royalty such as John Wayne, Robert Mitchum, and Alfred Hitchcock. They loved the Sunset Strip spot primarily because the dimly lit environment gave them privacy.

Another more recent regular, before the bar closed its doors in 2010, was director Quentin Tarantino, who penned his iconic hit “Pulp Fiction” while sitting in one of its red booths.

“The book has been in my head a long time. There’s one of these places all over the country; cherish them,” Cosmo said. “Coach and Horses was so dark; it was lit with one nightlight. The place was filled with day drinkers and smokers. 

“If you didn’t smoke, it was still like you had had four cigarettes by just being in there.”

Cosmo remembers the scene inside well and mirrors it in his bar tale, writing: “A couple heavy doors, black velvet curtain so light doesn’t come in.

“Bar on left. Crescent booths. There were only 12 people in there during the day, some wearing fez hats and wigs,” he reminisced. “Everyone was doing shots.”  

The author admits he does pay slight homage in the novel to legendary West Hollywood bar and restaraunt Dan Tana’s, particularly the late beloved bartender Michael Gotovac, who notoriously always smoked while pouring drinks. 

“There’s a lot of that in there,” he says.

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