Happy Hour: SiLO Vodka Bar in Downtown L.A.

Place: SiLO Vodka Bar: 221 W. 7th St., Los Angeles; (213) 221-7956.

Hours: 4 p.m.-8 p.m. everyday.

Deals: $5 well drinks; $4 house wines; $3 draft beer; $3-6 food.

Vibe: SiLO Vodka Bar at happy hour belies its nighttime persona, shinier in its sleek design of darker wood paneling and glass orb installations. At the height of happy hours elsewhere, the bar and sometime lounge is subdued.

The space, though not the most spacious, will appear that way in the late afternoon light with the majority of the customers — say, eight or so — sitting at the bar and a handful of people sitting at tables alongside the opposite wall. In the late afternoon light, the bar might be more a setting for state-of-the-relationship discussions than catching the latest NBA game.

Next door is its culinary counterpart SiLO Slider Bar, with a dozen versions of the mini sandwiches. Two of those sandwiches are available on the happy hour menu back at the vodka bar — one with a beef patty, the other fried chicken ($5 each). Chicken wings ($6) come in three different sauce options (hot, sweet chili or barbecue) and served with one of two (ranch or blue cheese). It's rather straightforward bar fare executed better than, say, Weiland Brewery. It's meant less for a menu of vodka cocktails — happy hour doesn't extend to them. There are instead well drinks, house wines and draft beer.

Food and drinks are ordered at the bar; the bartender is the only one tending to both types of orders. The happy hour runs until 8 p.m., which is later than the average and one step that sets it apart.

Sweet chili wings; Credit: Christine Chiao

And in related news:

– 3rd Annual Happy Hour Week in Pasadena Starts Tomorrow

– Happy Hour: Neat in Glendale

– Happy Hour: The Churchill

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