Los Angeles is a city with no centre, which means the bar guide to Los Angeles is a guide to 15 separate cities that happen to share a freeway system. Each neighbourhood drinks differently, operates on different hours, and attracts a different kind of bar. The Silver Lake bar is not the same as the West Hollywood bar, which is not the same as the DTLA bar, which has almost nothing in common with the Venice Beach bar. This guide works through four of the most rewarding zones and tells you which bars in each are actually worth the drive.
The practical advice first: do not drink in a place you need to drive to and from without a plan. LA's bar scene is distributed across an area that would take 90 minutes to traverse by car on a good night. The best strategy is to commit to one neighbourhood and work it properly. We recommend DTLA for the cocktail scene, Silver Lake for the neighbourhood bars, Venice for the casual end, and the Hollywood Hills for anything you want to call a view.
Downtown LA and the Cocktail Scene
Downtown Los Angeles has transformed its bar scene in the past 10 years from a collection of hotel bars and sports venue options to a genuine cocktail district with 20-odd bars worth visiting. The Arts District specifically has developed a density of quality that makes it LA's equivalent of New York's Lower East Side circa 2010.
01
The Varnish
Downtown LA$$$Speakeasy / Classic / Behind Cole's
Accessed through the back of Cole's French Dip, the oldest restaurant in Los Angeles, The Varnish opened in 2009 and immediately established itself as the best cocktail bar in the city. The format has not changed: 20-odd seats, classic cocktails executed without compromise, a no-standing policy, and a phone-in-pocket suggestion that most guests respect. The bar stools along the back bar are the best seats. The cocktail list is the Ur-text of Los Angeles cocktail culture. Still essential after 14 years.
Order: A Ramos Gin Fizz or ask for whatever historical cocktail the bartender is most interested in right now
02
Bar Clacson
Downtown LA$$$Cocktail / Italian / Aperitivo
The best Italian aperitivo bar in Los Angeles and the bar that most convincingly argues that the format translates to Southern California. Bar Clacson takes the Italian Negroni tradition seriously, with 20 variations on the drink across multiple base spirits and vermouth combinations. The food is genuine cicchetti at honest prices. The atmosphere early in the evening is exactly right for an aperitivo hour, and it transitions into a serious cocktail bar after 9pm. A reliable choice for any evening that starts with Campari.
Order: The house Negroni variation of the month, or ask for the Americano with their current house vermouth
03
Clifton's Republic
Downtown LA$$Multi-level / Live Music / Tiki
The most ambitious bar project in Los Angeles history: a 1930s cafeteria building converted into a four-floor venue with a Gothic ballroom, a tiki lounge, a Pacific Seas cocktail program, and a rooftop. Clifton's has been operating in its current incarnation since 2015 and continues to work across all four floors without any one of them feeling like a compromise. The tiki bar in the basement is the best room. The cocktail program is taken seriously throughout. A bar that could only exist in Los Angeles.
Order: A tiki cocktail from the Pacific Seas basement bar or the signature punch from the main floor
The full Los Angeles bar guide
All 8 bar categories across LA. From DTLA cocktail bars to Silver Lake neighbourhood locals and Venice Beach spots. 80+ listings.
The east side neighbourhoods of Silver Lake, Los Feliz, and Echo Park contain LA's most coherent neighbourhood bar scene. These are the bars that the working writers, musicians, and creatives who make up a significant portion of the city's population actually use. The prices are honest, the hours are late, and the vibe is anti-Hollywood in the specific way that only LA bars can be.
04
Footsies
East Hollywood$Dive / Neighbourhood / Cheap
The best dive bar in Los Angeles and the model for what a neighbourhood bar in a creative district should be. Footsies is cheap, unpretentious, and open late enough that it catches the crowd from the surrounding bars and music venues. The pool table works. The jukebox leans toward classic rock and soul. The bartenders are fast and do not create friction about what you order. A 20-minute walk from a good number of the bars on this list, which makes it a natural endpoint for any East Side evening.
Order: A cold can of beer with whatever shot is cheapest tonight
05
Thirsty Crow
Silver Lake$$Whiskey / Neighbourhood / Classic
A Silver Lake whiskey bar with 120 bottles on the back bar, a cocktail list that actually uses them, and a neighbourhood crowd that treats the place as an extension of their living rooms. The Thirsty Crow has been on Sunset Boulevard since 2009 and has the worn-in quality of a bar that has been through multiple Los Angeles real estate cycles without moving or changing its price point significantly. The whiskey flight is a good way into the list if you do not know where to start.
Order: A Bourbon Old Fashioned or a whiskey flight from the American single malt selection
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Rooftops, Views, and Hidden Gems
Los Angeles has more rooftop bars than any other US city except possibly Miami, and several of them justify the claim that LA views are among the best in the world. The hidden gems are scattered across the city in the places that have not yet become famous, which in LA means checking East Hollywood, Koreatown, and the stretches of Sunset that nobody writes about.
06
Perch
Downtown LA$$$Rooftop / Views / French
On the 15th floor of a 1923 building in the heart of Downtown, Perch has the best accessible rooftop view in LA: unobstructed in every direction, with the mountains visible to the north on clear days. The cocktails are French-inspired and competent without being exceptional. The fire pits on the outdoor terrace make it viable year-round. Come at 5pm on a weekday to beat the inevitable evening crowd and watch the light change over the city from a position that justifies whatever you are drinking.
Order: A French 75 with a view of the mountains, or a glass of Champagne if the budget allows
07
Covell
Los Feliz$$$Wine / Natural / No-menu
Los Feliz's best wine bar and one of the better natural wine programs in Los Angeles. Covell does not have a wine menu. You sit at the bar, tell the sommelier what you have been drinking and what you want from the evening, and they build a selection around that conversation. The format is not for everyone, but for anyone who drinks wine seriously, it is one of the better 90 minutes available in the city. The small plates are well-considered. The natural wine selection from California and France is particularly strong.
Order: Tell the person behind the bar what your last good bottle was, then follow wherever they take you
08
The Escondite
Downtown LA$$Mezcal / Mexican / Late
The best mezcal bar in LA and a genuine hidden gem in a neighbourhood that has been significantly gentrified around it. The Escondite has a mezcal list that runs to 60 bottles from small Oaxacan producers, a kitchen that serves food until 2am, and a crowd that is about 40% regulars who have been coming since before the Arts District became the Arts District. The tortillas are made in-house. The mezcal is served with the care it deserves. Open until 2am on weekdays and 3am on weekends.
Order: A mezcal Negroni made with a young espadin, or a straight pour with sal de gusano on the side
LA cocktail bars: the full list
Every serious cocktail bar in Los Angeles, organised by neighbourhood. From The Varnish to the newest Silver Lake openings. 30+ listings.
Los Angeles is not the second-tier bar city it was 15 years ago. The Varnish changed what was possible. The Arts District demonstrated that DTLA could be a destination. The east side neighbourhood scene proved that LA could sustain bars without an entertainment industry audience. The result is a city with a bar scene that requires effort to navigate but rewards that effort with some of the best drinking in the country.
The Los Angeles hidden gems guide covers 20 bars that did not make this list, including several in Koreatown, Boyle Heights, and the San Fernando Valley that deserve more attention than they get. For the complete overview including rooftop bars, the LA rooftop bars guide organises the best elevated venues by view, price, and access. The Los Angeles bar guide is the starting point for any serious visit.
The best bars in Los Angeles right now
Our editors' current picks across all LA neighbourhoods. Updated regularly with new openings from our West Coast contributor.
