Whether it just sour 5 o’clock ( or originally , no assessment ) , or you ’re looking for the perfect nightcap , we ’ve got you covered with our guide to the finest cocktail place to start and stop an LA outing – with minimum Uber prison term – from downtown to the beach .
Pair #1
Frolic Room
Peruse the Internet for information on Hollywood ’s legendary Frolic Room and you ’ll discover the followers : LA ’s recent capital villain - scribe Charles Bukowski was a regular ; flaky racy guy Howard Hughes once owned the neighboring Pantages Theater and often host private parties at the bar ; and it was the last place notorious execution victim Elizabeth Short ( aka the Black Dahlia ) was seen live . But what makes the down and filthy Frolic Room such a provocative place to seize drinks these days is n’t so much its colorful history , it ’s the vista of hunkering down on a barstool next to some unhinged hatter who might be down and out or far-famed , and has never ever searched the net for entropy on anything .
Good Times at Davey Wayne’s
Just a 30 - second Uber ride from the Frolic Room ( it ’s LA , you ’re not really planning to walk a whole tenth of a mile , are you ? ) is a bar that seems to have been lifted from a ‘ 70s telecasting show stage set . remember shag - carpeting . Davey Wayne ’s give in 2014 and is the handiwork of LA night life virtuosos Mark and Jonnie Houston of Harvard & Stone , Pour Vous , and La Descarga fame . The Houston twins are quite fond of surreptitious entrance , and the passage to this flea market - furnished funhouse may be their most revolutionize . Inside it ’s pretty people boogying to groovy tunes , mass - brewed beer in can , and fortified snow cone dish from a repurposed trailer in the bar ’s roomy backyard .
Pair #2
The Corner Door
For the record , it ’s not Venice , it ’s west Culver City . Ah , but the Corner Door is so geographically and spiritually aligned with Venice that any muddiness is understandable . Cocktail geeks go gaga over this shoes and its supreme leader , Beau du Bois , who possesses olympian drink - making skills and the way good sense to match his lyrically alliterative bon vivant - ish name . Du Bois is a local fable ; the man whistle , and people come from all around to watch the magic . His bar program consist of top - pass cocktails that are balanced , creative and approachable . Corner Door has a reliable , neighborhood bar feel to it . You ’ve just finish body of work , you breeze in , have a absolutely craft potable or two , and glide on to the next spot .
Scopa Italian Roots
A naut mi due due west of Corner Door , a robust Frisbee ’s pass from the Venice Pier , sit an expansive , bustling , well - appointed eating house and bar considered by many the position to be on LA ’s west side . Scopa sport an all - star lineup that include Top Chef alum Antonia Lofaso , spirits and cocktail expert Pablo Moix , and a squad of seasoned sommeliers led by Taylor Grant , who can specify the source of a grape vine down to a 5 - naut mi spoke . Scopa ’s back bar is as honorable as any in Los Angeles , so you may be sure to find something special to wind down your evening . On top of stellar food and adult beverages , Scopa suffice up pile helpings of timber people - keep an eye on night in and dark out .
Pair #3
Seven Grand
Opened in 2007 , Seven Grand was one of a fistful of spots that usher in the new golden age of cocktails in Los Angeles . And the whiskey … oh , the whiskey . for sure this downtown haunt boasts one of the largest collections of rarified and gamy - end brown hard liquor in the land . It ’s home to City of Angels ’ “ Whiskey Society , ” which hosts monthly tasting and education seminars . The spacious second - floor walkup is dimly lit and masculine , evocative of the places frequented by problematical guys in crime novels . There are pool table , of class . And another small speakeasy in the back called Jackalope , with its own ridiculous regalia of Scotch , bourbons and ryes , and Japanese whiskeys .
Crane’s Downtown Bar
Crane ’s is a not - so - easy - to - locate region bar , with brick walls and unhappy tile floor settle inside an old cloak-and-dagger bank hurdle . So you may forget about cell service of process . For real , blank out about it – leave the damn smartphone in your pocket and unwind . You ’ll be better off for it ; electronic devices are the mortal enemy of good company . Crane ’s has a intimate lay - back vibe , friendly bartenders , and a refreshingly mellow good vibraphone quotient . There are a couple of tv , some video games , a jukebox , and the cocktail are reasonably priced . In other password , it ’s tailor made for chillin ' offline .
Partner Content From
Happy time of day is n’t limit to 5 o’clock or dry land for that matter – it ’s day or night in the Emirates ’ Onboard Lounge for First and Business Class . And as of July 1st , you may catch a second daily flight from LAX to Dubai and beyond
Pair #4
The Mandrake Bar
Some might say that being the adept legal profession in Culver City is on par with being a valedictorian at summer schoolhouse , but we wholeheartedly discord . These days , Culver City is where it ’s at . Particularly if you ’re among the 95 % of Los Angelenos who ca n’t yield to live or trifle anywhere nigher to , ahem , Silicon Beach . The Mandrake Bar is divided into three sections – the front bar , a room with a dance floor where they show religious cult classic films on a projector , and the softly lit terrace in the backside . When the DJ ’s spinning , bear a clayey Venus’s curse of previous school jams and stuff from The Smiths . And when the terrace close at 11 , it gets loud than bombs inside .
The Roger Room
When you ’ve had your filling of Kool Moe Dee at spike - dissever stage , we suggest you channelise due northward from the Mandrake to the quieter confines of The Roger Room where – get this – you ’ll encounter a laid back panorama where people carry on honest - to - good conversations . This convenient 7 - yr - sure-enough mobile canteen has been serving sublime cocktail from day one , and is a perennial “ Best Of ” list contender . Formerly home to the Coronet Pub , the tiny elbow room has been refashion in the conversant ban - era fashion with some anomalous flourishes . Its comportment falls somewhere between swanky and smudged .
Pair #5
Harvard & Stone
Two years after it opened , this raucous East Hollywood hotspot was named Small Nightclub of the Year at the Nightclub & Bar honour in Vegas . It ’s also been name for a prestigious Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Award every year of its life . It is , plainly , one of LA ’s most noted drink establishments . The Houston buddy own it , and as we ’ve established , they do it what the hell they ’re doing . Harvard & Stone is big and loud and sexy . There ’s bouncy music . Burlesque . A minuscule bar in the back where some of the world ’s good barkeep regularly drop by and pull guest work shift . It ’s commonly packed with off - responsibility celebs .
Melrose Umbrella Co.
For the record , they do n’t sell portable devices designed to protect you from the rain at Melrose Umbrella Co. , they betray memorable experiences that include hard crapulence , grilled cheese , and tomato soup … whump whump ! The name is an homage to the goal of Prohibition . It ’s also a reminder that California could really use some precipitation . Melrose is a endearing topographic point , to be certain , and yet another ecesis fashioned in the ubiquitous post - Prohibition style , a genus saloonus we believe will remain in vogue at least a small while longer .
Pair #6
Brick + Mortar
We know you love Sunday Funday . We do too . Day drunkenness is a quintessential ingredient of any weekend well spent . And if you ’re going to drunk - brunch by the beach in this town , well , here ’s the place to do it , with mimosas and make - your - own bloodies . So you ’re gon na postulate solid food too , and the modern American culinary art they serve is brilliant . We recommend the belly - settle brick oven pizza pie . As for the people you will meet , well , it ’s loosely a merriment - loving crowd , many of whom were born during the Bill Clinton era . Plenty of big sieve TVs make it an idealistic spot for watching sport .
The Basement Tavern at the Victorian
This swinging subterranean space is located at the base of a two - narrative shingled hall just two blocks from the beach in Santa Monica . The nondescript entrance is tucked around back , through a service door and down a flight of stairs past the kitchen — a well - break nouveau - speakeasy contrivance that somehow never get old . deglutition are excellent . Brobdingnagian selection of high - end spirits . Top - notch service . Live music . japery . The only matter missing is a window .
Basement Tavern/Facebook
Frank Ishman/Good Times at Davey Wayne’s/Facebook
Scopa Italian Roots/Facebook
Seven Grand/Facebook
Ken Hively/Getty Images
Melrose Umbrella Co./Facebook
Basement Tavern/Facebook
