downtown l.a. nightlife roundup
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Wondering about bar options in Downtown Los Angeles?
Just in time for Friday night, this Downtown Los Angeles blog has put together a Nightlife Roundup, a listing of all the wine bars, clubs, lounges and pubs in the neighborhood.
With new drinkeries opening all the time, check back often for updates.
Venues that are primarily restaurants or that have limited hours have been intentionally excluded. Did we miss anything? Let us know in the comments!
Arts District
Blue Dahlia Cafe & Wine Bar - 738 E. 3rd St, Los Angeles, CA 90013
(213) 613-0621
Bordello - 901 E 1st St, Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 687-3766
Church & State - 1850 Industrial St, Los Angeles, CA 90021
(213) 405-1434
Royal Claytons - 1855 Industrial St, Los Angeles, CA 90021
(213) 622-0512
Bunker Hill/Financial District
Bona Vista Lounge - 404 S. Figueroa St, Los Angeles, CA 90071 (top floor of the Bonaventure Hotel)
(213) 624-1000
Bonaventure Brewing Co. - 404 S. Figueroa St, Los Angeles, CA 90071
(213) 236-0802
Casey’s Irish Pub - 613 S. Grand Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90017
(213) 629-2353
Elevate Lounge - 811 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90017
(213) 236-9600
Gallery Bar @ Millenium Biltmore - 506 S. Grand Ave, LA, CA 90012
(213) 624-1011
Library Bar - 630 W. 6th St, Los Angeles, CA 90017
(213) 614-0053
Point Moorea @ Wilshire Grand - 930 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90017
(213) 833-5100
Seven Grand - 515 W. 7th St, Los Angeles, CA 90014
(213) 817-5321
Seven Restaurant & Bar - 555 W. 7th St, Los Angeles, CA 90014
(213) 223-0777
Suede Bar & Lounge - 404 S. Figueroa St, Los Angeles, CA 90017 (Lobby of the Bonaventure Hotel)
(213) 489-3590
The Standard - 550 S. Flower St, Los Angeles, CA 90071
(213) 892-8080
Chinatown/El Pueblo
Grand Star Jazz Lounge - 943 N. Broadway, Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 626-2285
Hop Louie - 950 Mei Ling Way, Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 628-4244
The Mountain Bar - 475 Gin Ling Way, Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 625-7500
Traxx Bar @ Union Station - 800 N. Alameda Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 625-1999
City West
Blue Velvet - 750 S. Garland Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90017
(213) 239-0061
Tatou - 333 S. Boylston St, Los Angeles, CA 90017
(866) 424-0847
Historic Core/Civic Center
626 Reserve Wine Bar - 626 S. Spring Street, Los Angeles, CA 90014
(213) 627-9800
Banquette - 400 S. Main St, Los Angeles, CA 90013
(213) 626-2768
Bar 107 - 107 4th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90013
(213) 625-7382
Broadway Bar - 830 S. Broadway, Los Angeles, CA 90014
(213) 614-9909
Charlie O’s (CLOSED FOR REMODELING) - 501 S. Spring St, Los Angeles, CA 90014
(213) 514-5345
Club 740 - 740 S. Broadway, Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 225-5934
The Edison - 108 W. 2nd St, Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 613-0000
The Golden Gopher - 417 W. 8th St, Los Angeles, CA 90014
(213) 614-8001
Jalisco Inn - 245 S. Main St, Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 680-0658
La Cita - 336 S. Hill St, Los Angeles, CA 90013
(213) 687-7111
Origami Bistro & Bar - 257 S. Spring St, Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 687-8606
Redwood Bar & Grill - 316 W. 2nd Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 680-2600
Safari Sam’s at the Regent Theater - 448 S. Main St, Los Angeles, CA 90013
(213) 327-2220
Versus LA Nightclub - 618 S. Spring St, Los Angeles CA 90013
(213) 489-1555
Little Tokyo
2nd Street Jazz - 366 E. 2nd St, Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 680-0047
Far Bar at Far East Cafe - 347 E. 1st St, Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 617-9990
South Park
Back Door Pub @ Milner Hotel - 813 S. Flower St, Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 627-6981
Conga Room (Coming December 2009) - 800 W. Olympic Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90017
(213) 749-0445
Fox Skybox Bar @ Staples Center - 1111 S. Figueroa St, LA, CA 90015
(213) 742-7345
Hank’s Bar @ Stillwell Hotel - 840 S. Grand Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90017
(213) 396-7718
Hotel Figueroa - 939 S. Figueroa St, Los Angeles, CA 90015
(213) 627-8971
J Restaurant & Lounge - 1119 S. Olive St, Los Angeles, CA 90015
(213) 746-7746
The Mayan - 1038 S. Hill St, Los Angeles, CA 90015
(213) 746-4287

28 comments
the mayan, crash mansion, point moorea, the smell,…is club 740 still around? the stock exchange?
hank’s at the stilwell hotel, king eddy’s at 5th & los angeles, weiland’s in little tokyo and in the financial district, bonaventure brewing company in the financial district, patina and the redcat bar/lounge in bunker hill.
i’m trying to remember all the places i used to get drunk at. hmm, is the cocaine and/or that geisha bar (honda plaza i think?) still in little tokyo?
What about Fox Sky Box in South Park?
The bar at Checkers is small and charming.
Grand Ave Sports bar and the beautiful Gallery Bar at the Biltmore.
you forgot the royal claytons in the art district
Thanks for the additions! Some are complete omissions on my part, but others, like Royal Claytons, Bonaventure Brewing & Weiland were iffy, because they’re restaurants that have big alcohol selections. I’ll still add them, though.
bar cosmo in little tokyo, blue dahlia in the artist Dist., the back alley bar at the Milner…damn good bar too.
Does anyone have any up-to-date information on when Cole’s P.E. Buffet is expected to reopen?
Where can my boyfriend and I feel comfortable having a drink with another male couple?
Ah! Good question, lastraphanger. I assume you’re asking for suggestions aside from Jalisco Inn.
Rico and I often feel comfortable taking the boys to several places: Far Bar, Blue Velvet and The Edison.
He would also probably tell you Redwood Bar & Grill and Casey’s, but they’re not my favorite. Stick with the three above. Also, Charlie O’s has Moustache Mondays, but we haven’t tried that yet. If you do, let us know.
Thank you! I have heard about Moustache Mondays…maybe tonight?
I like the Broadway Bar. It’s a good mix of good looking people. Though it’s a “straight bar”, it’s gay friendly. Great looking, friendly, and efficient bartenders. Gets busy on Friday and Saturday after 10:00.
Stock Exchange - under it’s varous names - has been closed by new owners.
Cole’s has been closed since March of last year. The “remodel” was supposed to take “about a year.” Not happening. Count on it.
June at the earliest. Right now the walls are ripped up and the floors are dug out. This is for new bathrooms and brand new kitchen facilities. This a “remodel” the same way the Linda Lea Theater was a “remodel.”
There’s another bar “The Association” taking over part of Cole’s old space, and I imagine that will open around the same time, as the work is going on simultaneously. The space also has big holes in the floor.
I live in the building, so you’re getting this from the source.
Scott, thanks for the update. Wow. As Los Angeles’ oldest restaurant I would have hoped Cole’s historic status might have spared it such a major “remodel” that may well destroy what was charming and unique about the place in its former incarnation.
Perhaps I will be wrong…….I sure miss Cole’s.
Where is a good place to grab some drinks after the game tomorrow???
Matt, a few close options would be the Fox Skybox Bar in the Staples Center, Figueroa Hotel (Fig & Olympic) or Riordan’s Tavern next to The Pantry. Those are all popular for the game crowd.
you forgot your fav place.. MODE!
weiland brewery - both the 505 Flower and lil’ tokyo locations have great happy hour specials. also the checkers lounge, grand ave. sports bar (in the biltmore), the mccormick’s happy hour in the financial district.
dt so far lacks a great sports bar. grand ave bar next to the biltmore is a joke. the tvs are small and they dont have anything thats not on west coast television. the same goes for casey’s with just west coast feeds, tho casey’s is at least a pretty good spot to hang. i think i’ve tried all “sports bars” dt and they’ve all been let downs. i don’t care about the pac10 or the nfc/afc west which means dt bars are pretty pointless. i go to wangs in hwood each weekend, which is def one of the best sports bars i’ve ever been too, but i’d love to just walk/bike a couple blocks rather than subway it at 9am each sunday/saturday. or better yet, get home after work and just stroll a bit rather than missing games i would like to see. any place u all know about that actually has satellite and reps games outside this area?
tykejohnson —> Trifecta on 2nd & Hill.
Glad you liked Casey’s, which by the way, is purposely not a sports bar. Casey’s does have European sports, which is unique. For sports bars, sometimes I’ll send people to Grand Ave Sports Bar, sometimes to ESPNZone at Staples.
Jake, I think you meant Fox Sky Box. ESPN Zone I believe opens in the next phase of LA Live in less than a year. Now that will be a Sports Bar!
RE: tykejohnson, while Grand Ave isn’t my fav b/c of the decor, they do have the full NFL package and do a great job of ensuring any game you want to watch is shown on a tv. They also have at least 4 large plasmas, so not sure the small tv criticism is fair either.
But it definitely sounds like you’d prefer Trifecta. Leather recliners, three huge projectors, and always seems to be empty.
my specific criticism for not having the east coast feeds was actually for college football. and yes, eastcoaster, the decor seems to kill any type of excitement one can get from watching sports. but maybe i’m being over critical. i’ll def check out trifecta. thanks!
COSMOS FUN PLACE TO DRUNK WITH OWNER JOE SAN FUNNIEST GAY MAN FROM JAPAN!
If you’re looking for something fun to do, check out Royal Claytons English Pub in the Arts District. On Monday nights there’s The Monday Night Inquisition which is a traditional pun quiz night, and it’s FREE. Sign-ups at 7:30, starts at 8pm. Greart Prizes too!
Also try Burlesque Bingo every 4th tuesday of the month. It starts at 7pm, but fills up quickly. Drag Queen bingo caller and great female burlesque dancers. this is a rowdy night with a lot of fun. Door proceeds for Bingo always go to a charity. Last couple have been Team in Training ‘s Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and The Downtown Womens Shelter. This is really fun.
Burlesque Bingo is the 4th Sunday of every month…Sorry!!
Hey,
I just moved here (to LA from Phila) and I am a big fan of your blog. I refer to it for a lot of fun things to do as a newcomer and I found something you might like.
The Jim Henson Company does this cool comedy/improv thing with puppets at Avalon Hollywood, it us called “Puppet Up!” : http://www.henson.com/alternative.php?content=puppetup
There really is not much info about it out there so I can’t provide much else except a link. Sorry.
This is a great show in Hollywood. The videos I found are quite funny and people I have talked to agree that this is definitely worth it.
Let me know what you think, Taylor
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