The 11 Best New Bars in Los Angeles: Summer 2017

Although Accomplice is in the guise of a neighborhood bar tucked in a neighborhood, people usually drive through to get to someplace else, it really is a destination cocktail spot. The bar program, created by Gabriella Mlynarczyk, offers exotic craft cocktails with Asian-inspired ingredients to complement the food.

The Drink To Drink: The Mar (Vista) Tini, an easy-drinking cocktail with pisco, pandan sake, sherry, curaçao and an absinthe nata de coco garnish

Know Before You Go: While the bar does have its own food menu, if you’re looking for something more substantial, you also have the option of ordering “Taiwanese soul food” from Little Fatty right next door. Delicious dishes like walnut shrimp will be delivered to you in Chinese takeout boxes.

The folks behind many of downtown’s hottest cocktail spots, 213 Hospitality, collaborated with renowned barmen Eric Alperin (The Varnish) and Richard Boccato (New York City’s Dutch Kills) for this Mediterranean-inspired neighborhood café and bar. Even with high-caliber bartenders, the beverage program trades fancy cocktails for simple classics and 18 taps of wine, craft beer, cider and cocktails like the Aperol Spritz to accompany the casual vibe.

The Drink To Drink: Lambrusco on tap! This alone makes Bar Clacson both the best place to start the evening and end it. When you just want something low-key and easy drinking.

Know Before You Go: Tired of darts, pool and other same-old bar games? Bar Clacson is home to the first indoor pétanque court in L.A., which is conveniently mere steps away from the bar.

There’s no mistaking this small downtown craft beer bar as pretentious, especially when it inexplicably touts itself as “the dumbest bar in L.A.” A working Garfield the cat phone, wood panel walls and a Tapper arcade game make up the décor for a chill 1970s neighborhood bar vibe. A rotating selection of rare and interesting craft beer, wine and cider—follow them on social media for an updated tap list—are served along with simple bar bites like sandwiches and charcuterie.

The Drink to Drink: Even though it’s more about beer here than cocktails, the warmer weather calls for the Frosé O'Donnell, the bar’s take on the frozen rosé. Available all summer, it’s made with rosé, fresh watermelon and white grapefruit juices, and orange blossom water, topped with Peychaud's bitters and served frozen.

Know Before You Go: Ask the bartenders, “What’s good here?” and they’ll key you into which beers they’re most excited about on the short draft list. Occasionally, they pick up kegs from breweries that don’t even have distribution yet, like Topa Topa Brewing Company up in Ventura, about 70 miles outside of Los Angeles.

Before there was this swank subterranean bar, in this space was an LAPD gym. Thankfully, weight machines have been traded for elegant midcentury-style living room furniture complete with a floating fireplace. But don’t call it a speakeasy, even if it is signless and underground. The vibe here is 1950s rumpus room, where servers are costumed like Mad Men extras. The cocktails are inspired by forgotten classics, as well as celebrities from the Atomic Age. Ella Fitzgerald is envisioned as a Dirty Martini with pickle juice, while Doris Day is a matcha tea-foam-topped Gold Rush.

The Drink To Drink: Who knew that ’50s pop singer Pat Boone could be so dangerous? Despite having been the former poster boy of clean living, the cocktail he has inspired is super boozy: stirred with almond-infused rye, sherry and absinthe.

Know Before You Go: Got a sweet tooth? The bar doesn’t serve food, but each night it offers a house-made cake, like a pineapple upside-down cake for $6 per slice.

Unlike L.A.’s iconic Magic Castle, you don’t have to be a club member or a magician to gain access to this stunning new 19th-century-inspired bar and theater by nightlife impresarios the Houston brothers. But you do have to get tickets to spectate the shows that run Thursdays through Saturdays and feature magicians and burlesque dancers in true Houston brothers spectacle. Arrive to the bar early and order up quick bites like shui mai dumplings and pad Thai from next door’s Thai-Chinese takeout window, Crying Tiger.

The Drink To Drink: For a unique and decadent after-dinner drink, ask for the Bullet Catch, a dark and potent concoction of freshly brewed coffee, cigar smoke rum, coconut cream, cinnamon and a flaming shot of Green Chartreuse.

Know Before You Go: There are shows on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. But the bar is still open other days of the week, with reservations accepted for seating in the “theater.”

If mezcal was a bar, it would be this one. The owners of Laurel Hardware’s Mezcal Bar in West Hollywood actually created the space to be “as artfully crafted as the spirit itself." Every detail, from the wood floor to the plush seats, was custom-built, creating a warm, sexy venue perfect for lounging in while enjoying nearly 100 mezcals either neat or in seasonal craft cocktails.

The Drink To Drink: The sweet and complex Maria Sabina, named after a legendary Oaxacan healer who used psychedelic mushrooms. This approachable concoction is a great intro to mezcal newbies, mixing Los Nahuales reposado mezcal, Japanese whisky, blood orange juice, basil and lavender vanilla espuma and topped with coffee and Mexican chocolate.

Know Before You Go: Not only does the bar offer a mezcal flight, but there’s one personally curated by the bartenders spotlighting varietals from the best mezcaleros in the business. The selection is composed of extremely small-batch and rare agave sips with vastly different flavor profiles.

Leave your thoughts of Margaritas and a bucket o’ Tecate beer at home as new downtown watering hole Mezcalero aims to elevate the “Mexican cocktail.” Tequila and mezcal cocktails are made with ingredients like huitlacoche and mazapan syrups, reminiscent of Oaxaca. Bonus is its offering of sophisticated tacos like the Southern-inspired fried chicken taco with watermelon salsa and buttermilk dressing.

The Drink To Drink: When life hands you burned tortilla, make a syrup out of it. Such is the basis for the unique Smoke ’Em If You Got ’Em cocktail, which is made with burnt tortilla syrup, roasted corn-infused Maestro Dobel tequila, byrrh quinquina, cinnamon, fresh celery and lime juice. It’s a delicate balance of smokiness and sweetness.

Know Before You Go: Indulge in the tacos, but make sure to save room for the churro balls. The cinnamony churro bites are served with a side of mini horchata topped with mocha mousse and chocolate dipping sauce.

For its first Los Angeles outpost, Danish brewery Mikkeller took a more-than-100-year-old auto repair shop and preserved its industrial feel, high ceilings and walls of windows. Beer lovers will find paradise in the 62 taps of the best beers in the world, including Mikkeller’s Belgium-brewed Spontan series. Still thirsty? There’s also a specialized bottle selection and a craft cocktail program.

The Drink To Drink: With an impressive draft list, you can’t go wrong. But definitely try any of Mikkeller’s award-winning Beer Geek coffee stouts.

Know Before You Go: The beer menu is categorized not by beer type but the temperature the beers are served at: 40, 45 and 55 degrees Fahrenheit.

If speakeasies and dark bars aren’t your thing, there’s L.A.’s first-ever walk-up bar, meaning one can just walk up to the bar off the street and order a drink. Its bar stools and a bar are mere steps from the sidewalk thanks to retractable glass walls. The only “downside” is, unlike in Las Vegas, you and your cocktail have to stay on the property. But with delicious craft cocktails and live music in this 2,800-square-foot space, you won’t want to go too far anyway.

The Drink To Drink: According to drink creator Dave Whitton, his Hilaria cocktail—a blend of Papalote mezcal, sherry, watermelon, honeyed apricot, citrus, limonene terpene, bitters and herbs—not only possesses a beautiful depth of flavors but provides anti-inflammatory benefits, which will keep you looking good.

Know Before You Go: The bar strongly encourages drinking while you dine. Each dish on its food menu is accompanied with a listing of beer, wine and cocktail suggestions. For instance, it recommends its burger be enjoyed with a Dark & Stormy, riesling or amber ale.

Like its attached sister bar, Bar Clacson, The Slipper Clutch has a high cocktail pedigree, backed by The Varnish’s Eric Alperin and Richard Boccato of New York City’s Dutch Kills, but offers simple and straightforward drinks on tap. Think: quality variations of seven Highball classics, like Jack & Ginger and Vodka Cranberry. The bar itself is a throwback to the punk/rock ’n’ roll ’80s era in New York a la Martin Scorsese’s Mean Streets. But if you must have an Old Fashioned, they have one batched and squirted out of a soda gun.

The Drink To Drink: The R(h)um & Coke, a mix of a coconut-washed rum blend and house-made cola, is a smoother and less sweet version of the dive bar staple on which it’s based.

Know Before You Go: It only serves the Highballs and spirits neat or with a mixer back there. However, if you want something a little more involved and with more ingredients, like a Manhattan, you can order it from Bar Clacson up front and enjoy it back in The Slipper Clutch.

For those who believe the best seat in the house is at the bar, Woodley Proper in Encino is for you. It was actually built around the idea of the hospitality industry’s favorite pastime of dining at the bar. But even those not in the biz can enjoy easy conversation, delicious bites and well-crafted cocktails in this “cocktail restaurant.” For easy consideration, cocktail offerings are categorized by aromatic, herbaceous, floral and fruit.

The Drink To Drink: The dreamy First Date, made with gin, Floc de Gascogne apéritif, fresh lemon juice, and orgeat and orange blossom syrups, is both a bit creamy and slightly tart with a subtle fragrance.

Know Before You Go: Come hungry. You’re going to want to dive into delicious offerings ranging from roasted bone marrow to dry-aged prime New York steak. Make sure to leave room for dessert, like the foie gras mousse stuffed churros.