Sarah Bennett
The michelada, the original beer cocktail, is ubiquitous in Mexican restaurants and dive bars across L.A. Though a few shtick-y gastropubs have attempted to swap out the michelada's light Mexican lager for something more small-batch, it wasn't until Colonia Publica opened in Uptown Whittier that the full range of craft-beer michelada possibilities became evident. Chef Ricardo Diaz (Guisados, Colonia Taco Lounge, Bizarra Capital) is the man behind Colonia Publica, and his lineup of new-wave micheladas is made with everything from IPAs (the IPAlada pairs Epic's Escape IPA with grapefruit juice) to oatmeal stouts (La Morena is a take on a black-and-tan made with horchata and St. Ambroise oatmeal stout). Of course, traditionalists still have plenty of options. Using old favorite Modelo as the base, you can also get a michelada with Clamato, a jalapeño-aguachile michelada, a chamoy michelada and a tamarind michelada with agave wine and cayenne pepper.
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