BBQ Cookout: Sundays at Idle Hour

A BBQ cookout and old-school tunes keep the weekend vibe flowing in NoHo.

Friday and Saturday, it almost need not be said, do a lot of load-carrying when it comes to our expectations of having a good time.

But Sunday has stepped up in recent years on the whole extending-the-weekend front. Look to the popular "Sunday Fundays" at various restaurants and attractions, those food and music-filled jamborees that keep the Friday/Saturday sparkle strong, but with a slightly more laid-back, "Monday's coming" vibe.

Idle Hour in North Hollywood, the historic barrel-shaped landmark that first opened in 1941, understands the impulse to keep the weekend's easygoing atmosphere going. In fact, the restaurant's very name suggests as much, and few things tap into easygoing weekend-o-sity like a patio cookout and old-school tunes.

It's the Sunday BBQ, a new happening that'll complement the restaurant's established brunch. (Make that recently established, of course; Idle Hour re-debuted in early 2015, after a major redo/reopening, courtesy of The 1933 Group.)

What's on tap for the Sunday BBQ scene, which kicks off at 1 o'clock? Live tunes on the bulldog-adjacent patio, for starters, and some saucy eats for twelve bucks (think a choice of ribs or pulled pork with a couple traditional sides).

A weekly rotating list of craft beers will shore up the libation end of things.

Mike Bray, who's rocked as a Tenacious D support act — hello, Sasquatch — shall be at the mic and taking requests as well as jamming out with area musicians.

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Will the general sound of many of the songs hail from the 1960s, '70s, '80s, and '90s? C'mon. Those were some primo decades for get-happy music, decades that have produced more than a few tunes we've all likely grooved to at various barbecue cookouts at one time or another.

But you don't need to wait for your next neighborhood cookout invite to tap into this song 'n sup spirit. Idle Hour has it going on, every Sunday. And that special neighborhood cookout feel is what the restaurant is plugging into, no worries, no hurries, it's all good.

Sunday Funday's now got a side of smoky sauce and hit songs, in NoHo.

And as for the aforementioned bulldog? That's the restaurant's ode to the street-close stands of yore, when quirky architecture — like the beloved barrel on Vineland Avenue — ruled the roads of Southern California.

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