Transparently, we could not agree on a title for this bar guide. “The Coolest Bars In LA?” No, what does “cool” mean, anyway? “LA’s Hottest Bars For Hot People Who Just Want To Have Fun?” Obviously, that didn’t get very far in the editorial process. Plainly speaking, use this list of LA bars the next time you’re looking for an exceptionally good time.
THE SPOTS
Honey's is a clubby new queer bar at Star Love (a colorful cocktail spot in East Hollywood) where there’s something different happening on any given night: karaoke Wednesdays, upbeat house DJ sets, comedy nights, even queer night markets. There's a wraparound bar up front and a dance room in the back, so even if you come out on a weekday, it’ll feel like a Friday night. While this place is lesbian-focused, it’s also very inclusive of everyone. They’ve got $10 well drinks Wednesday through Saturday from 6-8pm, and they’re usually strong enough that you’d only need one or two before hopping on stage to perform your fully choreographed dance to “Fergalicious.”
Text ten friends if they want to go to a 1970s-themed Italian disco and chances are you’ll have ten friends show up at your door. So it’s not surprising that Let’s Go Disco is already one of the most talked about LA bars—and we’re here to tell you it delivers on its promise of kitschy, retro debauchery. Attached to De La Nonna in the Arts District (the door’s to the right when you enter), the colorful space is adorned with circular booths, neon lighting, stucco arches, and of course, spinning disco balls. While the dancing really gets going after 9pm when the DJs start, head over earlier to beat the lines and experience a more low-key listening atmosphere. You’ll sip tremendous cocktails at the bar—the sesame-leaf-infused gin martini is dangerously smooth—and gawk at all the design elements, then wonder why it took you this long to get into Italian disco music.
Sign up for our newsletter.
Be the first to get expert restaurant recommendations for every situation right in your inbox.
Attention: After nearly a decade, there's a lesbian bar in LA again. Say hello to The Ruby Fruit, a welcoming, jubilant queer space that already feels like a tentpole of the community. Located in a Silver Lake strip mall, the natural wine bar is small (there’s a tiny wrap-around bar and a handful of tables inside), but the party spills out onto the sidewalk and even the parking lot on a nightly basis, turning a neighborhood bar into an impromptu block party of married couples, neighbors, bandmates, and everyone in between. With only about five wines plus some beer and cider at the moment, the menu is barebones, but if you’re able to snag a table, be sure to take advantage of their excellent snacks menu (get the smoked beets with ricotta and pistachios).
Baby Gee looks like the kind of old-school, divey, watering hole that would be welcome in any neighborhood: vintage checkered floors, a wooden banquette, and stained glass windows to keep it comfortably dim. But it's the small details that really make this charming bar one of the best spots to hang out in Long Beach right now. Some actual thought was obviously put into the reasonably priced cocktail menu—most drinks cost under $15, but still offer interesting twists like a basil sprig in your gin and tonic, or a dash of lemongrass in your whiskey soda. Bar snacks like toasted rosemary focaccia and burrata pizza drizzled with hot honey make you wonder why other bars don't serve better food, and the chill-but-packed bar area feels like the perfect place to possibly meet someone you might one day introduce to your parents.
Wine bars are almost as common in Santa Monica as white Teslas. But natural wine bars where you can groove to vinyl DJ sets? That's where Offhand comes in. This corner spot on Santa Monica Blvd feels like a mellow party in a luxury loft with its high ceilings and massive street-facing windows. The DJ spins vinyl records in the corner from 9pm to midnight on weekends, and the bright orange stools along the bar are exactly where we want to chill on a Friday night. Grab dinner nearby before you come or check their Instagram to see if they'll be hosting a pop-up—they've done everything from pizza nights with LaSorted to a plant-based night market with vendors from Vegan Playground.
From bubblegum pop dance parties to comedy nights with Hannibal Buress, there’s always something fun happening at The Virgil in Silver Lake. This 1920s-themed bar with paisley wallpaper and vintage wood furniture functions as part dive bar, part music venue during the week. But on weekends, you’ll find two dance floors full of people breaking it down until 2am. Whether you’re looking for a good weeknight date spot or a crowded Saturday night party place, check out their Instagram for the latest event flyers.
Sometimes your group wants to go out for drinks, but one friend hasn’t had dinner yet. Instead of making a drive-thru detour, head to MacLeod’s on York, the new Highland Park location of the popular Van Nuys brewery. This taproom has a spacious bar and outdoor patio where groups can gather around a table to play a heated game of Catan after a few rounds of British-style cask ales. And luckily for your hungry friend, there’s an entire pizza restaurant attached to MacLeod’s that sells cold pizza slices for $3 starting at 10pm. Some say it’s strange, we say it’s convenient (and kind of genius).
This aperitivo bar in Eagle Rock has the buzz of a block party packed under a single roof. The wood-paneled interior is lined with big red booths where people sip espresso martinis, white Negronis, and 50/50s. Groups of 20-somethings line the sidewalk patio, spilling further and further into the street as the night goes on. Drinking here is a casual experience, but since it’s walk-in only, you (and anyone else who shows up after 7pm) will probably have to stand guard until a seat opens. The slight chaos is part of why we like Capri Club, so swing around to the far end of the bar, order a drink, and form an alliance with whoever appears to be closing out.
If you want music and a crowd, but also a laid-back space that makes it easy to have a conversation, head to Apotheke in Chinatown. This cocktail lounge has disco parties, DJ sets (mostly on Fridays and Saturdays), and plenty of space on its patio for dancing. But even if your best dance move is a frantic attempt at the Cupid shuffle, they also have rattan sofas and leather seats for you to hang out. Cocktails cost around $20 and are made with things like coconut charcoal vodka and gin infused with Earl Grey tea, but the bartenders here are happy to explain what each of those things actually tastes like. There are no bar snacks here, but if you get hungry, you could try walking in at Majordomo right next door.
Even in broad daylight, Oy Bar is so dark you need to pause to let your eyes adjust as you step inside. This Studio City bar might be new, but the dimly lit, slightly dingy atmosphere it exudes is exactly what we want in a Valley dive. Formally called The Bar At Oyster House (hence the new name), this neighborhood drinking hole is now run by the Jeff’s Table crew with a menu full of bar bites worth braving the 101 at rush hour to eat. There are a couple craft beers on tap and cocktails are simple but effective. This is the kind of place to come after a rough day of work when you need a stiff drink and to be left alone—if that’s what you prefer.
Lily's Bar
When Clark Street took over Coffee Shop 101, they left the iconic diner on Franklin completely intact. Phew. Guess what? Lily's Bar—just down the hallway from the diner at the same Best Western—got the same treatment. Formerly MiniBar, the tiny cocktail den maintains the look and feel of a membership-only airport lounge in the 1960s—there’s a dark, wrap-around bar, a drinks menu filled with every classic cocktail in the book, and the ever-present possibility that you might go home with a pilot. OK, there are probably zero pilots at Lily’s, but it’s fun to dream. If you’re looking for a sexy (but not too sexy) midweek drink date spot, keep Lily’s in your back pocket.
Anyone who has spent time drinking Downtown knows about Las Perlas, the Oaxacan cantina with over 450 agave spirits that’s been going strong since 2010. There’s now a second location in West Hollywood that’s every bit as fun. With a good-sized bar area and back patio, this is the kind of place that works just as well for rowdy groups on the weekend as it does for casual mid-week drinks with a coworker. The cocktails are fantastic (we love the strong kick from the Spiced Daisy), there’s a daily Happy Hour from 5-8pm, and live music on Friday nights. Whatever you do though, be sure to order some food, which is currently overseen by Moderno Cocina Libre in the patio. The tortillas are all made in-house, and the chicharron is some of the best we’ve ever had.
The moment you step onto the jam-packed dance floor at Gold Diggers, you’ll feel like an extra in an early 2000s Ciara music video. This dark, divey dance hall in East Hollywood hosts free DJ sets and ticketed live performances almost every night of the week. And it’s one of the few places in LA where the people actually dance. Gold Diggers is part-bar, part-club, and part-boutique hotel—so depending on how your night goes, you could theoretically stay the night. Bring a group the next time you decide to unleash that new shirt you bought, and prepare to sweat it out while dancing to funk and soul jams under a crystal chandelier.
Homage, a microbrewery and restaurant in the middle of industrial Chinatown, is made for people who love beer but also want to dance. There’s a pleasant patio out front where you might spot a couple of toddlers with their tattooed parents. But the real scene is inside the garage, which has a long bar counter, a spinning disco ball, and a DJ spinning vinyl records behind a monochromatic booth. Most people come here to sip housemade IPAs and snack on scallop crudo during the day, but on Friday and Saturday nights, the dance floor is packed until 1am.
The Grant
It wasn’t that long ago that Glassell Park was a quiet, residential neighborhood next to Highland Park. And while the area certainly maintains its family-oriented roots, this tiny Eastside neighborhood is undeniably coming alive. Case in point—The Grant. With a sleek, art deco-ish interior and craft cocktails made with ingredients like Furlani vermouth and Burmese tonic, this place wouldn’t be out of place on the ground floor of The Roosevelt. That said, instead of chaotic valet lines and lost club kids, you’ll find a low-key crowd consisting of first date nightcaps, neighborly hangouts, and parents squeezing in one last round before the babysitter calls.
Pinky's
Pinky’s feels like a Miami nightclub but in Los Feliz—because between the sleek turquoise walls, disco balls rotating at the speed of light, and a fun variety of DJs, this cocktail bar on Vermont Avenue is absolute pure glamor. Every night, you’ll find jazz, “funk and no junk,” and Brazilian disco parties going until the wee hours of the morning. Wear something slinky and channel your best Elvira.
On weekends, this Latin nightclub becomes an all-out party—an Eastside in-the-know hangout spot where representatives from every age group come together to dance until the early morning. There’s a range of salsa, cumbia, merengue, and punta songs—plus everything in between - blasting over the speakers, a welcomed escape from whatever auto-shuffle TikTok Viral Hits playlist so many other places seem to play lately. They’re open until 4am every Friday and Saturday, host family movie nights, and are a short walking distance away from Dodger Stadium.
Tramp Stamp Granny’s is one of the most objectively fun places to drink in the city. The rowdy piano on Cahuenga in Hollywood is the kind of place you poke your head into because you hear people singing The Killers in unison and stumble out four hours with “Defying Gravity” stuck in your head and a video of Evan Rachel Wood belting Alanis Morissette on your phone. TSG’s is unlike any other bar in the city and if you want to get in on its unabashed revelry, we recommend getting there no later than 10pm or prepare to wait in line outside.
Located above Low Boy in Echo Park, entering Bar Flores is like stepping into your childhood treehouse – except with really great sangria. There’s a gorgeous patio in the back, the drinks are strong and taste great (the sangria should win some international award), and we have no clue what’s in the air, but it smells better than an Aesop showroom in here. Sure, you’re dealing with the usual Echo Park crowd of NPR shirts and sunglasses coordinated with tote bags, but all things considered, this is a truly excellent bar.
El Cid wins the award for that place you always forget about (particularly after a year-long quarantine), but then visit once and judge yourself for not coming more. The Silver Lake bar isn’t much more than a door frame along Sunset, but walk down the stairs and you’ll pop out into a hidden drinking oasis. The cocktails are cheap, the crowd is cool, and the two-tiered patio is the ideal casual hangout spot whether it’s on a rowdy Friday night or for Sunday drag brunch. They’ve also reopened their indoor theater with nightly entertainment ranging from jam bands to queer cabarets.
