Thunderbolt ★ 4.6
Thunderbolt in Historic Filipinotown, Los Angeles is a Mathew Biancaniello cocktail room with frozen rotations and one of the city's best martinis.
Signature drink: Frozen mai tai
Food: Bar snacks, pickled things
Cocktail bars, wine bars, dive bars and gastropubs: drinking in Los Angeles for grown-ups.
Where to drink
Frolic Room ★ 4.3
Frolic Room on Hollywood Boulevard, Los Angeles is a 1934 dive bar with a Hirschfeld mural along the back wall and a $7 well drink. Cash only, no food.
Signature drink: Whiskey on the rocks
Food: None, snacks at the counter
Bar Flores ★ 4.5
Bar Flores in Echo Park, Los Angeles is Othon Nolasco's mezcal and tequila room serving Latin-leaning cocktails and a small dinner plate menu.
Signature drink: Tepache margarita
Food: Small Mexican plates
Good Times at Davey Wayne's ★ 4.2
Good Times at Davey Wayne's in Hollywood, Los Angeles is a 1970s-themed bar from the 1933 Group; enter through a refrigerator door, large patio out back.
Signature drink: Popsicle cocktail
Food: Snacks, food truck on patio
Tiki-Ti ★ 4.5
Tiki-Ti on Sunset, Los Angeles has been a 12-seat tiki bar since 1961, run by three generations of the Buhen family. Cash only, opens at 16:00.
Signature drink: Ray's Mistake
Food: None
The Roger Room ★ 4.4
The Roger Room on La Cienega, Los Angeles is an unmarked cocktail bar behind a palm-reader sign, pouring craft drinks at a 25-seat room since 2008.
Signature drink: Industry sour
Food: Small plates
Tiki No ★ 4.3
Tiki No in North Hollywood, Los Angeles is a 1933 Group tiki bar with hand-carved booths and a long rum list. The strongest Mai Tai in the valley.
Signature drink: Painkiller
Food: Bar snacks
Old Lightning ★ 4.7
Old Lightning in Venice, Los Angeles is a hidden whiskey bar behind Scopa with rare bourbons and pre-Prohibition spirits. Order the vintage bourbon flights.
Signature drink: Vintage bourbon flights
Food: None
No Vacancy ★ 4.3
No Vacancy in Hollywood, Los Angeles is a 1902 Victorian house turned 1933 Group cocktail bar with a large patio, a piano room and a strict ID at the door.
Signature drink: Smoked old fashioned
Food: Patio bites
Everson Royce Bar ★ 4.5
Everson Royce Bar in the Arts District, Los Angeles serves a martini-and-smashburger combo that locals book the patio for. Walk-in friendly weeknights.
Signature drink: Smashburger and a martini
Food: Burger, small plates
Cha Cha Lounge ★ 4.0
Cha Cha Lounge in Silver Lake, Los Angeles is a kitsch-y dive bar with a back patio, a photo booth and a $5 well. Open since the late 1990s.
Signature drink: $5 well
Food: Snack vending in lounge
The Prince ★ 4.3
The Prince in Koreatown, Los Angeles is a 1949 hotel bar with red velvet booths, used as a Mad Men location, now serving Korean fried chicken with soju.
Signature drink: Korean fried chicken and a soju
Food: Korean menu, fried chicken
La Cuevita ★ 4.3
La Cuevita in Highland Park, Los Angeles is a mezcal and tequila bar with a deep agave list, a Mexican kitchen and one of the better DJ booths on York.
Signature drink: Mezcal flight
Food: Tacos, small bites