The Best Cocktail Bars in Los Angeles

A narrow room with exposed brick, copper fixtures, and a back bar that reads like a reference library. The bartenders here trained in New York before moving west, and it shows — every drink is built with a logic that rewards attention. Best at 10pm when the room fills up but before it gets loud enough to make ordering difficult. The tasting menu option (four cocktails, paired) is the move on a first visit.

Order: The house Vieux Carré variation with rye, Armagnac, and Black Walnut bitters

Technically a hotel bar, in practice one of the best cocktail programs in the city. The former head bartender from a three-Michelin-starred restaurant runs the menu here, and the seasonal approach means the list changes every six to eight weeks. Arrive before 9pm to get a stool at the bar — the standing room fills fast once word gets out that the new menu has dropped.

Order: Whatever they're calling their clarified milk punch this season

The kind of place that takes cocktails seriously without taking itself seriously. The room is small, the lighting is warm, and the drinks lean heavily on agave and citrus — which, in LA, makes more sense than anywhere else. Their rotating mezcal selection sits alongside house-made syrups that change with what's coming out of the market that week. No reservations, no velvet rope, just good drinks at fair prices.

Order: The Oaxacan Sour with Espadín mezcal, tamarind, and fresh lime

Nightshade earns its price point. The room runs on candlelight, the seating is arranged for privacy rather than volume, and the cocktail list reads like a short story — each drink has a provenance note explaining where the key ingredient comes from. The aged spirits selection behind the bar is genuinely impressive. Book a banquette table at least three days ahead; walk-ins happen but rarely after 8pm.

Order: The 20-year Madeira cocktail with orange blossom and Cardamaro

An Art Deco room that somehow manages to feel like it has always been there. The cocktail menu runs to 18 options, all original, with nothing named after a classic just to make it familiar. The bartenders are knowledgeable without being performative — ask them to take you off-menu and they will, without hesitation. The wine list is short but intelligently chosen for anyone who wants to mix drinks and glasses over a long evening.

Order: The Gardenia — gin, elderflower, fresh cucumber, champagne float

Culver City's most serious whisky and cocktail bar, occupying a converted warehouse space with exposed timber, low ceilings, and the kind of amber lighting that makes everything look better. The American whisky program covers 80-plus labels, but the cocktail menu is where the bartenders show their thinking — each drink built to work specifically with the spirits profile of a region or distillery. Excellent for a long evening that starts with cocktails and ends with a dram.

Order: The LA Manhattan with a ten-year Bourbon, Punt e Mes, and a smoked cherry

No sign, no listed phone number, no Instagram. The Meridian Room operates through a reservation system that someone will text you once you've been the first time — the initial visit requires knowing the right person. Inside, the bar seats fourteen, the bartender has three Michelin-starred restaurant experience, and the cocktail list runs to ten drinks that change monthly. One of the city's most serious programs, if you can get in.

Order: The seasonal sour — it changes monthly but is always the best thing on the list

Up a staircase, off a side street, above a dry cleaner. The name is literal. Second Story has twelve bar stools, two booths, and a menu of twenty cocktails that the owner writes himself. The drinks are technical but never showy — a Negroni here is made the right way, with good ice, the right ratio, and no drama about it. The kind of bar that locals consider theirs and tourists never find.

Order: The Negroni — built correctly, stirred cold, served over a single large cube

The outdoor setup here is the best in Highland Park — a narrow patio strung with lights, a pass-through bar window, and a sound system that plays exactly the right level of loud. The cocktail list leans California: dry vermouth, citrus, herbs from the garden behind the bar. Best in the hour before sunset, when the light hits the patio at the angle that makes LA feel like it justifies every overpriced rent cheque.

Order: The Dry Garden — blanc vermouth, grapefruit, tarragon, sparkling wine

In a former printing press building in the Arts District, Patron Saint has the best agave spirits program in the city. The mezcal shelf alone covers twelve producing regions; the bartenders can walk you through the differences between Tobalá and Tepeztate without making you feel like you're in a masterclass. The cocktail menu is short — eight drinks — because when your spirits are this good, you don't need to hide behind a long list.

Order: The Oaxacan Old Fashioned — single-village mezcal, demerara, mole bitters