Best bars in Los Angeles

[tmac]

anyone know any good bars to watch el clasico tomorrow?

[Drinkey McDrinkerstein]

you should check out Lucky Baldwin's in Pasadena, they are a very good soccer pub http://www.luckybaldwins.com/

[tmac]

thanks mate

[Drinkey McDrinkerstein]

Went to Los Angeles Brewing Company last night before the Jeff Mangum show. the space is okay, i like how big it is and the really high ceilings. They had a nice number of good beers for $3 specials, and the fried chicken dinner I had was really good. Unfortunately, the place is severely under-staffed, and the waitress we had was completely unable to answer any question we had about the menu. Surely when you have a menu item called "fresh mixed vegetables - varies by day" you should be able to say what vegetables those are. At one point I waited nearly 20 minutes for a beer, and the place, while busy, was not that crowded. There's nothing so special about this place that i feel any real desire to go out of my way to return.

[Drinkey McDrinkerstein]

ALSO I am fairly sure I got food poisoning from oysters from Perch. It was either that or the local veggies antipasto or anchovies pizza at Urbano. Those are the things my girlfriend ate last Wednesday evening and we both ended up with the same violent symptoms on Friday. Shame since I enjoy both places so much.

[getbetter]

Los Angeles Brewing Company has dirty taps or something because my beer(Goose Island's Matilda) did not taste that well and I couldn't taste that awesome belgian sugar taste it normally has.

[mmsk123]

LA Brewing Company is such a damn disappointment. They could be packed to the gills in that location everyday but they are fucking it up big time.

That said, I walked by The Counter this morning and they pulled off all the screens from the windows. The inside looks great and it should be opening soon.

[Drinkey McDrinkerstein]

Girlfriend and I are excited about The Counter being downtown. Om nom nom

[SepaGroove]

Girlfriend and I are excited about The Counter being downtown. Om nom nom

Never been there before but I just read the menu and it sounds fucking great

[bmack86]

Went to Los Angeles Brewing Company last night before the Jeff Mangum show. the space is okay, i like how big it is and the really high ceilings. They had a nice number of good beers for $3 specials, and the fried chicken dinner I had was really good. Unfortunately, the place is severely under-staffed, and the waitress we had was completely unable to answer any question we had about the menu. Surely when you have a menu item called "fresh mixed vegetables - varies by day" you should be able to say what vegetables those are. At one point I waited nearly 20 minutes for a beer, and the place, while busy, was not that crowded. There's nothing so special about this place that i feel any real desire to go out of my way to return.

Very very true. And I'm so excited for the Counter in downtown. I used to go to the original in Santa Monica all the time.

[Drinkey McDrinkerstein]

I went to Sunset Beer in Echo Park for the first time last night...holy crap this place is awesome! It's a craft beer bottle store that is also a bar. The first seection is a smallish store with a bunch of coolers where you can buy beer like any liquor store, and the whole selection is craft brew. next to that is a very comfortable loungy area where they not only have 5 taps, but you can also bring bottles from the store in the lounge and just hang out with them like a bar! Most nights they have a $2 "corkage" fee, but you can still buy $1.70 12oz bottles of great beer and have a great deal. Wednesday happens to be No-Corkage night! We weren't there too long last night, but I ended up having a 750ml bottle of Surf City's rye pale ale and a bottle of Russian River Damnation for $10 total. Fucking awesome!

I'll definitely be returning. Having dinner at The Park and then hanging out here would be a great pre-party activity before Echo shows. It[s really awesome too that you can basically hang out in a great bar for a couple hours and then buy more good beer to go as you leave!

[zachb]

I went to Sunset Beer in Echo Park for the first time last night...holy crap this place is awesome! It's a craft beer bottle store that is also a bar.

Not sure if you're familiar, but Buzz (buzzwinebeershop.com) in downtown is now essentially the same thing. It's a great beer and wine store and you can also buy and drink tastings served in their "bar" section. Great deals too, usually $2 for a 5 oz flight of good beer or $2 for a nearly full glass of wine. And it's open pretty late too. Great alternative to most other bars in the historic core.

[Drinkey McDrinkerstein]

Awesome, i was not aware of Buzz. Thanks!

[mmsk123]

Walked by The Counter on my way home to lunch and it is now open.

Buzz has "Thursday flight nights" and Friday night "beer o'clocks." Sign up for their email list to get info on what beer/wines they serve each night. Last time I went it was $7 for a paddle of 3 beers about.. half? pint each. It was pretty mellow and nice.

[Mugwog]

Melgarde Pub House @ Melrose and Gardner has a wonderful happy hour special - buy a beer, get a free cheese pizza - they have a GREAT selection of beers (Lost Coast!) and the food there isn't too shabby either.

Also formerly the Bungalow Club, now called Bugatta @ Melrose & Formosa - little overwhelming euro vibe at times with the music, but the happy hour is hard to beat. Most appetizers $6-$8 (filet mignon skewers/chicken satay skewers/lobster ravioli *WOW* ) and all their martinis are $6 and specialty mixed drinks are the same. Wonderful to do afternoon meetings at. You leave quite tanked for under $30-40

[sonnyboy11]

Awesome, i was not aware of Buzz. Thanks!

Hm, thought we had talked about them here before. Guess not. If you live in the area this place actually delivers. There's a girl that will take your order over the phone and then haul out to your place on her bike to drop the booze off. Check out the site for more info. My only gripe would be they don't often update the site in parallel with what they have in stock. Understandable.

[sonnyboy11]

Two Boots is open in DT!

http://twitter.com/#!/blogdowntown/s...345280/photo/1

[SepaGroove]

Hey guys I really want to eat some good Korean BBQ this weekend. I haven't eaten at any of the KBBQ restaurants in Koreatown because I usually go to this place in West Covina that I've been going to for like 8 years cuz my g/f knows the owners. I've heard I'm really missing out though. Anyone have any suggestions on KBBQ restaurants in the Koreatown area for a guy on somewhat of a budget? Like maybe walking out spending no more than $20-25 per person?

[Drinkey McDrinkerstein]

This was posted a few pages back, I would look into these!

Hey rageagainsttheaoki, the best kbbq rec's From a Korean dude (me):

There are different classes of Korean BBQ, so it depends on what your looking for.
For example, 2 main differences are the "all you can eat places" and the "a la carte" places.
Obviously the all u can eat places have unlimited meat and banchan (small side dishes), but the meat is for the most part much lower quality, and some places have a limited selection of cuts/marinades. The a la carte places tend to specialize in specific types of meat and are priced per serving. They have good to great meat quality and specialty marinades (either regional or creative). All this being said, here are my recommendations (75% of the kbbq places are absolute shit)

Best all you can eat, pricey: Oo-kook. 3385 w. 8th St. http://oo-kookbbq.com/
High quality meat and sides for all u can eat. Fairly pricy, but if you can eat a lot...this is a great choice. Reservation recommended as it gets crowded. 24.99 per person ayce and up

Best a la carte, pricey: Parks BBQ. 955 s. Vermont http://parksbbq.com/park-bbq
Great quality meat, possibly best in town. Pricey and crowded reservations recommended.
Also good: soowon galbi, soot bul jeep is decent if you specifically like charcoal grilled meat (soot bul means charcoal flame)

Best reasonable price all u can eat: this changes monthly as new places usually put their A game on for the first few months and then cut down on meat quality. Road to seoul (1230 s. western) seems pretty consistent, as is hae jang chon (3821 w 6th). Both I believe have 17.99 and 19.99 all u can eat options.

Other places to consider are specialty BBQ places that specialize in a specific meat. Best example is ham ji park (3407 W 6th) as they have the best spicy pork ribs in town by far, and decent pork in general. There is also honeycomb for all u can eat pork specialty. Plenty more choices for offal cuts etc, but this will get u started through the ktown BBQ scene.

[SepaGroove]

Awesome. Thanks Drinkey. Next time I'll search through the thread more lol. Some great suggestions here!

[RageAgainstTheAoki]

My parents are visiting this weekend. Taking them to a play at the Music Center in downtown on Saturday. I think we're going to a late post-theatre dinner. Any suggestions for places still serving their full menus after 10:30pm? Downtown would be the preference.

[mmsk123]

Baco Mercat. Godamn I want one of their Bacos right now.

Edit: Rivera might also work. Mas Malo as well. Both are Mexican food.

[RageAgainstTheAoki]

Thanks, I'll check those out. I was actually looking at Mas Malo right now. It seemed perfect, because we could do dinner at Mas Malo and then walk to Bottega Louie for dessert -- Bottega is way too loud to enjoy any sort of dinner conversation. The menu looks great at Mas Malo, but I'm kind of astonished at the number of negative reviews they've recently received on Yelp. Almost all about rude and downright unacceptable service. Have you had a better experience there?

[sonnyboy11]

Thanks, I'll check those out. I was actually looking at Mas Malo right now. It seemed perfect, because we could do dinner at Mas Malo and then walk to Bottega Louie for dessert -- Bottega is way too loud to enjoy any sort of dinner conversation. The menu looks great at Mas Malo, but I'm kind of astonished at the number of negative reviews they've recently received on Yelp. Almost all about rude and downright unacceptable service. Have you had a better experience there?

I've eaten there a half dozen times. All good. Go.

[spiggums]

Baco Mercat is fantastic. Great recommendation!

So excited that I'm moving downtown next week! Though my bank account is probably not going to be happy with so many tasty places to eat just steps away from my apartment!

[mmsk123]

Thanks, I'll check those out. I was actually looking at Mas Malo right now. It seemed perfect, because we could do dinner at Mas Malo and then walk to Bottega Louie for dessert -- Bottega is way too loud to enjoy any sort of dinner conversation. The menu looks great at Mas Malo, but I'm kind of astonished at the number of negative reviews they've recently received on Yelp. Almost all about rude and downright unacceptable service. Have you had a better experience there?

I was just there two weeks ago. Service was ok? I'm not too keen on paying so much money for Mexican food, especially when the taco truck a block away has tacos that taste just as good for 1/3 the price. Note that Bottega closes at midnight I believe so I'm not sure if you'd be able to get anything if you take some time for dinner. Honestly if you haven't tried Baco Mercat I highly suggest it. It's something interesting and new that doesn't really fit any specific sort of cuisine. Everyone I've taken there has been totally into it.

[RageAgainstTheAoki]

Oh, I definitely will try Baco Mercat, especially since Josef Centeno of Lazy Ox is the Exec Chef. But I think I'm taking them to Langer's Deli for the world famous pastrami sandwiches at lunch, so we probably won't do sandwiches for dinner. Thanks, guys!

BTW - finally did Library Bar a few weeks ago. Shared some appetizers/small plates with some friends and shared a really nice bottle of pinot grigio which I'm forgetting the name of now. It was all decent. Hardly a place I'd rush to get back to, but all in all enjoyable.

[SepaGroove]

I was just there two weeks ago. Service was ok? I'm not too keen on paying so much money for Mexican food, especially when the taco truck a block away has tacos that taste just as good for 1/3 the price. Note that Bottega closes at midnight I believe so I'm not sure if you'd be able to get anything if you take some time for dinner. Honestly if you haven't tried Baco Mercat I highly suggest it. It's something interesting and new that doesn't really fit any specific sort of cuisine. Everyone I've taken there has been totally into it.

I refuse to spend more than $10 for a plate of Mexican food. I've noticed that the expensive Mexican places are never as good as the cheap, whole in the wall places, or a truck/taco guy, so why pay the price?

[mmsk123]

I refuse to spend more than $10 for a plate of Mexican food. I've noticed that the expensive Mexican places are never as good as the cheap, whole in the wall places, or a truck/taco guy, so why pay the price?

[Drinkey McDrinkerstein]

I have a bunch of friends that have been going on and on about Don Cuco's taco truck in Sylmar. i really need to check that out soon.

Also, Cactus Taqueria on Vine between Santa Monica and Melrose and Casita's in Burbank are two of my favorite small shops. Om nom noms