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• Best Cigar Lounge for Scotch Lovers

  Buena Vista Cigar Club

  There are plenty of warm, welcoming cigar emporiums around L.A., but Buena Vista Cigar Club stands apart, with its secret lodge/hideout ambience and the superior attention to detail of its proprietor/bartender Rigoberto Fernandez, whose roots go back to some of the best Cuban cigar manufacturers. Occupying an older structure on Little Santa Monica in Beverly Hills, the place is a… More >>

• Best Venice Beach Happy Hour

  Bin 73

  You sit at a neighborly bar where small-plate orders are made up right in front of you, chatting with the especially nice bartenders who oversee Bin 73, a sleek little find amidst the loud Venice Fishing Pier bars and tourist traps. Bin 73's carefully selected wine list, great deals on wine flights and truly generous pours — not to mention… More >>

• Best Place for a Quiet Drink

  WurstkÜche Venice

  Those who have visited this second incarnation of wildly popular sausage purveyor Wurstküche on a Friday night or Saturday lunch might be bowled over by the suggestion of "quiet." Prime time is marked by lines out the door for food, a deejay bolstering the alternative-club atmosphere and communal tables packed with Venice's finest flannel. Come after the lunch rush but… More >>

• Best Whiskey Happy Hour

  Neat Bar

  Of the many establishments that provide an above-average selection of whiskey and cocktails, Glendale's Neat Bar offers perhaps the best value. Attend during peak hours and you'll be subjected to the same industry-standard prices maintained by all comparable bars, but stop by during happy hour and feel that pinching knot in your shoulders begin to loosen. Between 5 and 7:30… More >>

• Best Modern Cocktails

  Pour Vous

  There's a mad-scientist vibe to many modern cocktails, and often it can lead to weird science. How to make a drink that's not just a remix of the classics without veering into the cocktail version of fusion? The flavors probably shouldn't go together, but let's try it anyway! (Wine milkshake, anyone?) The folks at Pour Vous, the newish Hollywood cocktail… More >>

• Best Classic Cocktails

  The Wellesbourne

  Some days, you just want to drink like an old man. And while most any bartender in town will whip up a martini with glee, there are some classic drinks that aren't as common, and therefore not as likely to be done right. Luckily, the good folks at dapper West L.A. bar the Wellesbourne have us covered, whether you're looking… More >>

• Best Negroni Variation

  The Nice Legs at the Varnish

  Gin is having its moment in the cocktail world, and the Negroni — that classic mix of gin, Campari and Italian vermouth — has offered much inspiration to the bartenders of the world recently. But the Negroni is a glorious drink, and despite the fact that there are many variations, the original is hard to beat. One drink that's basically… More >>

• Best Culver City Happy Hour

  Oldfield's Liquor Room

  There are, of course, a half-dozen perfectly lovely restaurants where you can celebrate the day's end in charming downtown Culver City. But Oldfield's, the gloriously old-fashioned "liquor room" on Venice just a mile to the west, has them all beat. One reason is the parking lot — let's face it, when you're meeting someone for happy hour, you're almost always… More >>

• Best Fairfax Happy Hour

  El Carmen

  A very old, sexy, dark tequila bar hidden behind thick, red curtains in an unassuming storefront on West Third Street near Fairfax, El Carmen has a Mexican wrestling motif on the curved ceiling — and, beneath it, one of the best happy hours in the city. The deliciously tart house margaritas would be shockingly good even if they weren't a… More >>

• Best Beverly Hills Happy Hour

  Bar Bouchon

  So you can't afford a trip to Napa to go to Thomas Keller's French Laundry. So what? Not only is Keller the genius behind Beverly Hills' Bouchon but he also has helpfully provided a less formal, less expensive option right underneath it — and right near that free parking garage on North Canon Drive. (Score!) Whether you're outside on the… More >>

• Best Santa Monica Happy Hour

  Enterprise Fish Co.

  This spacious seafood restaurant has one of the best patios in Santa Monica: a twinkly, leafy oasis that feels more like something you'd find in New Orleans' French Quarter than a few blocks from a SoCal beach. But the patio isn't even Enterprise Fish Co.'s main draw — that distinction goes to its always hopping happy hour. In the bar… More >>

• Best Westwood Happy Hour

  Napa Valley Grille

  Situated on the ground floor of a high-rise office building on one of the most corporate-looking corners in Westwood, Napa Valley Grille does not seem like a place where PBR would be a hit. Perhaps the clientele is drinking it out of nostalgia for a time when a young man could drink Pabst without irony. Perhaps they just like a… More >>

• Best Manhattan Beach Happy Hour

  Mangiamo Ristorante & Bar

  Even those lucky ducks who live in the South Bay can't go to the beach every day — some days, there's work. Or networking. The only real solution in such beautiful environs is to do your networking with the beach still in view. Mangiamo Ristorante & Bar is firmly planted in the best parts of both worlds: It's a high-end… More >>

• Best Place to Tipple on the Cheap in Hollywood

  Dillon's Irish Pub

  Though it's usually best to avoid the madness of Hollywood altogether, if you must go, you'll at least want to avoid typical Hollywood drink prices. The solution? A pit stop at Dillon's Irish Pub. A restaurant and bar located on two floors, Dillon's has a pool table, bosomy bartenders in Catholic schoolgirl uniforms and an impressive variety of incredibly cheap… More >>

• Best Eastside Club Night

  Subsuelo

  As if she were performing in a funky corner of Granada, Spain, a dancer called La Tigresa does staccato stamps and quick spins accompanied by guitar, cajón (a box-shaped, Afro-Peruvian percussion instrument), and a trio of DJs. The music is flamenco with an electronic twist and touches of hip-hop, funk and cumbia, while revelers sip sangria and beer. But this… More >>

• Best Westwood Bar Not Overrun With College Kids

  The Glendon

  Oh sure, there are times when you want a cute coed in a schoolgirl kilt to bring you Jell-O shots. And there are times you don't mind being groped by lunkish frat boys while elbowing in to order your Jäger. (Or is that just us?) But for those times when someone proposes meeting for a drink in Westwood and you're… More >>

• Best Bar for an Adult Birthday Party

  Jumbo's Clown Room

  Another year has passed, and you're trying to figure out a place that isn't Edendale (i.e., the Chuck E. Cheese of Silver Lake) to invite all your Facebook friends to buy you a birthday drink. Have you thought of Jumbo's Clown Room? Once saddled with a reputation (well-deserved) as one of the sleaziest stripper spots in town, these days, as… More >>

• Best Hipster Bar for People Who Don't Identify as Hipsters

  1642

  We've heard it argued that 1642 Bar is not a hipster bar, which we don't understand. Of course it's a hipster bar. It's just that the very definition of being a hipster is that you hate all things labeled hipster, for good reason: You want to avoid the hordes of wannabe hipsters finding your spots and ruining them. So let's… More >>

• Best Hotel Bar We're Not Going to But Should Be

  Culver Hotel

  Let's get this out of the way: the Munchkins. Yes, as legend has it, during the filming of The Wizard of Oz nearby, they drank and partied here at the Culver Hotel, hung from rooftops, formed the Lollipop Guild, helped conceive Liza Minnelli — we don't really know. But what we do know is that the hotel — at one… More >>

• Best Belgian Beer Bar

  Little Bear

  In a region where hoppy beers reign, an establishment exclusive to Belgian beer and food is a welcome change. Distinguished yet casual, Little Bear fits in comfortably on Industrial Street in the Warehouse District downtown. At the base of the looming lofts converted from toy factories, the spot's iconic red door opens to reveal a bright and airy interior. The… More >>

• Best Valley Dive Bar

  Oyster House Saloon

  Oyster House Saloon is only half a mile or so from Ventura Boulevard's hip gastropubs, but this venerable seafood restaurant has a bar that can't be beat. Its sea-blue façade is more Pismo Beach than San Fernando Valley, and the wood-paneled interior is so unintentionally retro that you'll feel out of time. If you stop by not too long after… More >>

• Best Tiki Bar

  Tonga Hut

  You'll be faced with a lot of choices at Tonga Hut. To drink, do you want a Suffering Bastard or a Drooling Bastard? Should you pick Tom Jones or Fu Manchu on the jukebox? This North Hollywood tiki bar has been in business since 1958, but even as retro tiki revivals come and go, it manages to keep up with… More >>

• Best Vegan-Friendly Brewery

  Golden Road Brewing

  Golden Road Brewing may now be the most recognizable L.A. based-brewery. Less known is that the pub menu is more vegan than not. More than half of the 27 items — from snacks to sandwiches — are vegan, although the font indicating as much is quite tiny. For those used to interrogating waiters about whether a dish includes eggs or… More >>

• Best Westside Dive Bar

  Cozy Inn

  As in many big cities, the price of real estate in L.A. tends to be too high to permit dive bars to offer those rock-bottom "real dive bar" prices, particularly on the Westside. But Culver City's Cozy Inn at least gives you great value. Its specialty is super-generous, almost obscene pours. You know how if you order, say, a Jameson… More >>

• Best Oceanfront Bar

  Nelson's at Terranea

  If you're looking for a quick weekend getaway, there's no need to head to the 'Bu or (gasp!) the O.C. Instead, we suggest Palos Verdes' Terranea Resort, particularly because restaurant/bar Nelson's is a crown jewel. Perched atop the Palos Verdes cliffs, Nelson's is one of the most removed places in all of Los Angeles County. From the bar you can… More >>

• Best Place to Drink with Smart People

  Altadena Ale & Wine House

  In the shadow of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, tucked into a quiet but up-and-coming sector of Altadena's "Fair Oaks Corridor," there's a place where everybody knows your name. Subbing in for Cheers' bar stool warmers at Altadena Ale & Wine House, however, are the very same folks jockeying the Mars Curiosity rover or fresh from Marketplace on NPR. Smart folks… More >>

• Best Neighborhood Bar With Free Tacos

  La Cuevita

  Rechristened La Cuevita, the bar formerly known as Little Cave is a neon-lit, Highland Park landmark. Bought 10 years ago by the 1933 Group (who are also responsible for the three Bigfoot Lodges, the Thirsty Crow and Oldfield's), the establishment received a major face-lift in 2012. Never fear, it's still dark inside, though not quite as inky and goth as… More >>

• Best Secret Art Bar

  No Vex at Hyperion Tavern

  Artists Michael Dopp and Lisa Madonna reserve Silver Lake's Hyperion Tavern — a place that feels half like a cabaret and half like a backwoods bar — each Tuesday night. They call these nights "No Vex" and most people hear about them through word-of-mouth or Facebook invites. The bar opens sometime around 10 p.m. Dopp and Madonna bartend themselves —… More >>

• Best DJ

  Rashida

  The best-kept music secret in town is the Sunday-night party at Chateau Marmont's Bar Marmont. There, tucked away in the corner by the bar, you'll find the tiny, gorgeous, dressed-to-kill DJ Rashida. A Los Angeles native, her distinctive and irresistible blend of funk, hip-hop, soul, house and new wave has made her one of the scene's most in-demand, make-you-wanna-dance DJs.… More >>

• Best Downtown Dive Bar

  King Eddy Saloon

  In a city like ours, most clubs are chock-full of networking wannabe stars who won't engage with you unless you're a "somebody." At the King Eddy Saloon, however, the attitude is a little different; its tagline, after all, is, "Where nobody gives a shit about your name." A speakeasy during Prohibition, King Eddy's upstairs was converted into a legal saloon… More >>

• Best Live-Music Hollywood Speakeasy

  The Sayers Club

  The Sayers Club — a relaxed yet elegant hangout essentially hidden behind the Papaya King hot dog stand on Wilcox — attracts a shockingly un-douchey crowd. Credit has to go to the club's conceptual creator and music curator, Jason Scoppa, who helped turn Bardot above the Avalon into a first-rate spot. But Sayers has a spontaneity and star power that… More >>
• 

  Best Theme Bash

  Studio 69

  Halloween is amateur night. Everyone knows it, particularly Perish Dignam. He throws parties that put anything you've ever done on Oct. 31 to shame, and he does it almost every month. From "Illuminaughty" glow-in-the-dark gatherings to "hot, pink and wet" foam fetes, his Studio 69–branded bashes are always over the top and always encourage themed costumes. (When you RSVP on… More >>

• Best Club Changeover

  El Cid

  We're delightfully surprised to report that El Cid has been rocking harder than ever lately under new ownership. Much credit goes to booking manager Kelly Spencer, who has filled the room with everything from garage favorites to cabaret to metal. While some of the acts can be seen at other local venues, there's something about this Silver Lake spot that… More >>

• Best All-Ages Venue, East L.A. Edition

  Self Help Graphics

  Part contemporary art gallery, part historic punk venue, part Chicano community center, Self Help Graphics has been integral to the East L.A. Latino cultural movement since 1970. (Although it's zero parts graphic arts store, in case you're wondering.) No longer located in the building plastered with colorful ceramic shards along Cesar Chavez Avenue, its new location is across the street… More >>

• Best Diner That Becomes a Punk Club at Night

  Blue Star Café

  Blue Star Café closes its kitchen after the lunch rush; that's when owner Kash Brouillet hands his diner over to the local punk-rock scene. A hidden gem in a just-beginning-to-be-gentrified part of industrial downtown, the Blue Star is an oasis for loud music, cheap beer and good-natured debauchery. Local and touring bands play on the outdoor stage, which feels like… More >>

• Best Place to Hide From Your Editor

  Redwood Bar & Grill

  Been avoiding that story about City Council corruption? Having trouble coming up with something nice to write about Dwight Howard? Turn off the BlackBerry and climb aboard the Redwood Bar & Grill. A steep block from the Los Angeles Times, Redwood Bar is a cozy, nautical-themed bar that also happens to be full of Times writers. Have a good Sam… More >>

• Best Jazz Jam Session

  World Stage Jam Session

  If you go to jam sessions looking to play the same tunes every week, you've got lots of options around town, but the best jam sessions are those where musicians actually learn something. For amateur local musicians wondering whether they've got the chops to make it, then, the World Stage Jam Session is great, because if you aren't up to… More >>

• Best Place for a Twilight Drink

  Sunset Hour in the Penthouse at the Huntley Hotel

  The Penthouse at the Huntley Hotel is awash in white, appointed with dainty chandeliers and divvied up (by gauzy curtains) into indoor cabanas. Each of them provides an ideal perch from which to watch the sun slink slowly behind the Palisades. Hoteliers have even installed an express elevator (with a stunning ocean view of its own) that zips past prole… More >>

• Best Santa Monica Bar for Avoiding Tourists

  Basement Tavern

  Below the Victorian event space on Main Street in Santa Monica, the Basement Tavern bumps with live music and cool cocktails. The bar has shimmering chandeliers, blackboard menus, comfy couches and, though packed on weekends, more of a laid-back local vibe than you'll find elsewhere in these parts. The house-made ginger syrup shines in the Basement Burro, a delicious take… More >>

• Best Bar With 360-Degree Views

  High Rooftop Lounge at the Hotel Erwin

  From the rooftop of the Hotel Erwin, it's a little less "see and be seen" and a little more "gazing at psychedelic Los Angeles sunsets." Reminiscent of rooftops in Greece or Turkey, the High Rooftop Lounge has it all: attractive, 20-something couples snogging in the corner, LED-illuminated menus (perfect for after the sun goes down) and blankets to lay in… More >>

• Best Bar That Used to Be a Bodega

  Venice Beach Wines

  You may have to battle for a spot at Venice Beach Wines, a 35-seat bar, but it's worth it. Formerly a bodega, the spot is half bottle shop and half wine bar; folks come both for the cozy atmosphere and the excellent wine choices. (The recommendations — say, an Albariño with a crisp acidity on the tongue — hold up… More >>

• Best After-Hours Spot

  Los Globos

  This is a little embarrassing. Friends are in from London, Tokyo and Mexico City ... and there's nothing to do after the 2 a.m. last call. L.A.'s after-hours scene often feels elusive, but in the last year or so a sure thing has established itself as a beacon in the darkness: Los Globos. Red banquettes and matching walls, complemented by… More >>

• Best Rooftop Party

  Culprit Sessions at The Standard Downtown

  In a town besieged by dance-floor cheese, the Droog DJ collective is a breath of fresh cred. The trio of Andrei Osyka, Brett Griffin and Justin Sloe has been building a community of followers based on groovy, understated tech-house sounds and superlative afternoon poolside parties that have made the Standard Downtown's rooftop venue harder to get into than an Oscar… More >>

• Best Karaoke

  Palm Tree L.A.

  You're out with your friends and you're tired of Hollywood drink prices, standing-room-only clubs and pushy meatheads. You wonder aloud if there's a cozy place where you can imbibe and enjoy music with all the comforts of your couch. In fact, there are many such spots in Koreatown, where karaoke rooms are known as norebang. Some have after-hours alcohol and… More >>

• Best Thaitown Night Spot

  Hollywood Thai

  There are maybe a half-dozen places to soak your impending hangover in pad see ew in Thaitown, but that perfect combination of the-party's-still-going vibe and authentic, not-just-for-white-people food is elusive. Our sure thing is an old standby, Hollywood Thai. On a good weekend night, it can see a post-2 a.m. full house. Blame the menu, which includes awesome post-drinking specialties… More >>

• Best Drag Club Night

  Trannyshack L.A.

  Bouncing between venues like Los Globos and Echoplex, Trannyshack L.A. revels in gritty, off-the-rails, thought-provoking performances. Though there are Trannyshack nights in San Francisco and New York, Heklina — the event's founder, co-producer, MC and occasional performer — notes that L.A. is "hungry for this kind of drag" show. If you go, expect to see not just star national acts… More >>

• Best Bar Bathroom

  HMS Bounty Bar

  The 3300 block of Wilshire, home to the HMS Bounty Bar, wasn't always sleepy. The fabulous Ambassador Hotel used to loom large across the street, and the Bounty is one of the last witnesses to its faded glamour, its ghosts felt in the old jazz jukebox, wood paneling and strong drinks. Legend has it that Winston Churchill once had a… More >>

• Best Chinatown Karaoke

  Melody Lounge

  If the sign trumpeting "Cold Beer and Ham Sandwiches" is not enough to win hearts, the charmingly mistranslated songs (e.g., the John Denver classic "Libyan on a Jet Plane") at Melody Lounge should be. The stripped-down decor and bare-bones booze selection (only bottled beers) might deter the less adventurous, but it would be a mistake to miss this unassuming joint's… More >>

• Best Hotel Pool Party

  Night Swim at Tropicana Bar

  At Tropicana Bar's Tuesday night pool party, Night Swim, you might see James Murphy or Jon Hamm, but you won't find the attitude that comes with most celeb-studded soirees. Located at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, it offers pool toys and a pleasant atmosphere, featuring scattered ottomans among fire pits and palm trees. (Partygoers tend to actually go swimming, in droves.)… More >>

• Best Speakeasy

  Next Door Lounge

  The only indication that you've arrived at Hollywood's Next Door Lounge is the golden key on a sign out front and a doorman wearing pinstripes and spats. He'll ask you for the password, which you can request via the website (below), but don't worry if you don't have it. He'll let you in if you look like you belong inside,… More >>

• Best Cigar Lounge for Jazz Lovers

  V Cut Smoke Shop & Lounge

  Now in its 15th year, Taz Murtaza and Adam Karimi's cigar hobby has turned into a full-time passion. Located on the western end of Melrose, the V Cut Smoke Shop & Lounge has cultivated a laid-back and refined clientele with, as Murtaza puts it, "a discriminating palate." Walking into the spot is a little like marinating yourself in cigar smoke,… More >>

• Best Gay Bar, South Bay Edition

  The Dolphin Bar

  Some folks assume gay bars are debauched dens of demonstrative sexual wackiness. Untrue. Catering to a devoted clientele, the Dolphin Bar — whose mascot is a tipsy upright dolphin, which is rather fitting given the animal's pansexuality — hosts such typical pub institutions as karaoke nights, drink specials and pool games. Open since 2001, it's presided over by jocular former… More >>

• Best Hollywood Dive Bar

  Frolic Room

  When a friend comes to town, why not take them to where Bukowski drank? Hollywood's Frolic Room is one of the only places Bukowski obsessives agree that he actually haunted, and a portrait of him hangs above the cash register. But you don't have to be a Bukowski fan to appreciate a good dive bar and, thanks to gentrification, Hollywood… More >>

• Best Place to Party With L.A.'s Political Elite

  Casa La Golondrina Mexican Cafe

  The oldest restaurant on Olvera Street, dating back to 1930, is Casa La Golondrina Mexican Cafe. It's where Los Angeles' politicians and their wealthy benefactors like to throw each other parties — also known as campaign fundraisers — not to mention slap each other on the back and maybe make a promise or two. The restaurant also is known for… More >>

• Best Blues Club

  Harvelle's Santa Monica

  "Every day I have the blues," Memphis Slim famously sang back in 1949. The nightclub Harvelle's Santa Monica, however, has had the blues almost every night since 1931, when it opened during the Great Depression. Such veritable legends as Guitar Shorty and modern-day blues traditionalists like Dennis Jones, Jimmy Z., Arthur Adams, Rod Piazza and John Lee Hooker Jr. continue… More >>

• Best Ping-Pong in a Bar

  Mom's Bar

  Dimly lit Mom's Bar not only has cheap drinks, a friendly staff, great music and a stellar group of regulars but also, when it comes to the best place in the city to play ping-pong in a bar, it handily, um, smashes the competition. Channel your inner Randy Daytona (you know, from Balls of Fury) against an opponent you've brought… More >>

• Best All-Ages Venue

  AmplyFi

  Earnest rock stars, cynical politicians, self-absorbed athletes and maudlin telethon hosts alike often claim that they're doing it "for the kids," but the kids usually are much better off when they do it themselves. Case in point: Kota Wade, who didn't want to wait until she was old enough to drink to see bands play live, so she opened her… More >>

• Best Country Venue

  Viva Cantina

  There aren't many clubs in the L.A. area where you can ride your horse up to the back entrance, mosey on inside and catch country-music legends like Red Simpson and Riders of the Purple Sage — for free. The Mexican restaurant Viva Cantina is uniquely situated next door to the L.A. Equestrian Center and across the street from the Pickwick… More >>

• Best Mid-City Dive Bar

  Sheddy's Public Parlor

  Sometimes a dive bar serves as a place to kick back, but other times it's needed as a refuge. Such is the case with Sheddy's Public Parlor, a shadowy Fairfax tavern that's exactly the kind of hole you want to crawl into after battling shoulder-to-shoulder shoppers at the Grove. It's either that or go on a tourist murder spree. So… More >>

• Best Folk Club

  McCabe's Guitar Shop

  McCabe's Guitar Shop is just as much a thriving music store as it is the ongoing site of historic folk-pop concerts. Every so often during shows in its back room, a spontaneous yet sacred ritual occurs, typically midway or near the end of a set. Then, the most madly virtuosic member of whichever band is onstage at the moment takes… More >>

• Best Urban Wine-Tasting Room

  3Twenty Wine Lounge

  There's no shortage of great places to taste wine around Los Angeles, with both Temecula and Malibu boasting beautiful, sprawling vineyards where you can happily knock out an afternoon. But sometimes you just want to get your wine sipping done without the road trip. Thankfully there's 3Twenty Wine Lounge in Mid-City — the perfect place to go when the craving… More >>

• Best Neighborhood Bar

  The Tattle Tale Room

  The lights at the Tattle Tale Room are bare but low, illuminating half-awake bikers snuggling in booths with heavily tattooed dames; aspiring cougars in sequins swishing through the narrow spaces between tables and stools; a white guy in a black tank top hopping up to rap a karaoke rendition of "California Love." The bikers nod along. Some patrons shoot pool… More >>

• Best Hollywood View Without Having to Be in Hollywood

  The Roof on Wilshire

  Ah, Hollywood. What a glamorous thing you are to gaze upon. Especially at night, when the streets twinkle with revelry and the houses in the hills glitter all the way up the mountainside. But in order to get this view you often have to go to Hollywood and wade through the sea of tourists to a ritzy, crowded, lofty hotel… More >>

• Best Gay Bar

  Akbar

  Akbar continues to be a top-notch stop for barhoppers — straight and gay alike — nearly 16 years after opening. The exotic spot always has great music pumping, whether from top-notch DJs in the dance room or the killer jukebox in the loungey bar area. There's a cool staff, potent cocktails and a central location with plenty of parking in… More >>

• Best Beer Bar

  Daily Pint

  The Daily Pint could be mistaken, and probably has been, for a college dive bar. But take a look at those four beer engines; what's being pumped from these casks is not your average lager. Daily Pint owner Phillip McGovern merged this city's European stout and American IPA ways, and without a single gastropub burger. (Little food is served here.)… More >>

• Best Place to be a Noncommittal Drinker

  Vinotéque on Melrose

  Even for the practiced wine drinker, ordering a bottle you've never tried before can be risky business. Once that cork is popped, you're stuck with it, for better or for worse. And what if it's worse? For the price of, likely, your entire dinner, you now must down five glasses of grape juice you're just not into. Unless, that is,… More >>

• Best Bar to Ogle the Liquor Labels

  Stark Bar

  Among LACMA's renovations has been the addition of its watering hole, Stark Bar. The covered outdoor facility allows the museum's architecture to take precedence, with retro red chairs adding a swanky touch. The bar menu, meanwhile, caters to those who want a true mixology experience. This is not surprising, as it was originally developed by Névé Luxury Ice founder Michel… More >>

• Best Hipster Bar That Isn't in Echo Park or Silver Lake

  The Mandrake

  We're not calling you a hipster, but let's just say you like dark bars and cheap drinks, and you don't mind hanging out with people wearing fedoras and prescriptionless eyeglasses. If you're on the Eastside, no problem, but if you're in a neighborhood not named Echo Park or Silver Lake, you're going to have to search a bit harder. The… More >>

• Best Sports Bar for Obsessives

  The Draft

  Studio City's The Draft is loud, fun, divey and one of the most entertaining places to watch the NFL, Lakers, Clippers and Kings, not to mention Ultimate Fighting Championships and Floyd Mayweather–Manny Pacquiao fights, for which you won't be charged a cover. The enclosed front patio has competition beer pong with three tables (winners get a gift card), skee ball… More >>

• Best Juke Box

  Drawing Room

  Owning your own jukebox rather than renting it clearly has its benefits, as supreme dive bar and venerable Los Feliz hangout Drawing Room can attest. In addition to the bar staff's in-depth knowledge of local punk rock and general L.A. music history, patrons have brought in their own mixes for the bar's decades-old CD slinger. Each of the mixes, like… More >>

• Best Dive Bar Makeover

  Max Steiners - CLOSED

  Every time a preplanned, cross-branded, faux dive bar opens up, a city loses a little part of its soul. It's also troubling when real dives (those beautifully bummy booze boxes) try to go upscale, edging out the genuine regulars in favor of hipper-snappers. So we worried when we heard that Max Steiners — a venerable, 50-year-old Long Beach dive that… More >>

• Best Water Park Downtown

  Summertramp

  Though downtown sees its share of moonlit warehouse parties, event producer Andres Rigal's summertime monthly daytime party Summertramp gives us a worthy reason to drag ourselves out of bed and head to the "beach" in the industrial district. Party kids and drag queens dressed in swimsuits and crazy costumes flock to this pansexual pool party, where the line to buy… More >>

• Best Dive Bar Art

  Buccaneer

  Though Sierra Madre is sandwiched among the suburbs of San Gabriel Valley, it has a small town's soul, complete with a tried-and-true dive bar, Buccaneer, which has changed little over its 52 years. It offers the usual townie-bar amenities — dimly lit sign, jukebox, pool table, stiff pours — but what sets it apart is the decor. True to its… More >>

• Best Hollywood Happy Hour

  The Well

  You almost have to go out of your way to visit the Well after happy hour. From 5 to 9 p.m. every day of the week, this Hollywood bar and lounge offers an extensive menu of drinks and food at prices often sought but scarcely found in the area. The Cucumber Press and Brown Sugar Old-Fashioned will have you feeling… More >>

• Best Los Feliz Happy Hour

  Vinoteca Farfalla

  In the neighborhood of Los Feliz, few establishments offer a happy hour, so when you stumble upon one as generous and well-rounded as that at Vinoteca Farfalla wine bar, the only responsible thing to do is share it. From 4 to 7 p.m. daily, the menu offers reasonable prices for all palates. House reds and whites are reduced to $6,… More >>

• Best Downtown Happy Hour

  Pour Haus Wine Bar

  Generously poured flights and a satisfying menu are pleasing at any time of day, but frequent Pour Haus Wine Bar in downtown's Warehouse District during its daily 4 to 7 p.m. happy hour and you, too, might be driven to fits of hyperbole. A select glass of red, white or sparkling wine is available for $5, as are assorted menu… More >>