Los Angeles is a wonderfully creative place to enjoy a cocktail.
While challenging to navigate, its sprawling topography offers a wealth of diversity that is also reflected in its drinks scene. Drinking dens abound in underground or hidden speakeasies. A number of great bars hide in plain sight, whether in glamorous Beverly Hills or on legendary Sunset Boulevard.
Bars attached to thriving restaurants feature cocktail programs helmed by bartenders who collaborate with the kitchen. Think repurposing ingredients for the purposes of sustainability, but also thematic consistency. Meanwhile, high-quality nonalcoholic options can be found on drinks menus everywhere, providing options for those in sobriety as well as the younger set, who are increasingly consuming less alcohol. Low-ABV drinks also abound for those riding the middle, looking for a steadier pace throughout their night. Bonus: These lower-alc cocktails also tend to pair better with food.
When it comes to spirits, however, agave distillates are in high demand thanks to the influence of LA’s neighbors to the south. Meanwhile, many of the city’s top bartenders have an eye on promoting and utilizing sotol, bacanora and raicilla as local imbibers become more educated about trying Mexican spirits beyond tequila and mezcal.
To partake in LA’s inventive cocktail scene, read on for some of the city’s most distinctive bars that are at the top of their game.
Photograph by John Troxell
9159 Sunset Blvd. West Hollywood
instagram.com/barnextdoor_
Housed in what was once Marilyn Monroe’s talent agency, Bar Next Door expertly balances the demands of serious imbibers with those of pre- and post-show revelers of the Sunset Strip. Its charmingly retro decor serves as the perfect setting for enjoying wonderfully executed classics and inventive, balanced signatures by bar director Brynn Smith, which she named after nearby West Hollywood landmarks.
You should try: Order the Olive Drive, perfection born of crossing a vesper with a dirty martini. On the lighter side, rewrite your understanding of the tart Cosmopolitan with the Chateau Marmont, buoyed with St-Germain, green Chartreuse and hibiscus, which add body where the traditional vodka-cran-triple-sec recipe does not.
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