Where to Drink Cocktails Right Now in Los Angeles

Culver City’s new design-forward destination is a portal to modern Paris, with a striking neutral interior by celebrity designer Jeremiah Brent and decadent bites like duck confit “cigars” and sea bream tartare topped with caviar and crème fraîche. Equally opulent is the cocktail menu, which features not one but two Champagne cocktails (a nod to the restaurant’s massive selection of French bubbly) and the Midnight in Paris martini, made with gin, vodka, Lillet, and Meyer lemon. Très chic, indeed.

The revamped incarnation of La Dolce Vita in Beverly Hills is already hotter than its massive, bone-in veal Parmesan. Part of the allure is its history as Frank Sinatra’s restaurant of choice, but it’s also all about the decadence of sliding into a massive red-leather booth and ordering an ice-cold martini to sip alongside updated versions of red-sauce standards. It’s no surprise that the cocktail menu leans heavily into Italian classics, complete with multiple Negroni variations, but what could be better with a plate of spaghetti and meatballs?

Frogtown’s latest addition is the sister restaurant to DTLA’s Cha Cha Chá, and at this modern Mexican stunner, the focus is on fresh seafood that stars in tostadas, aguachiles, ceviches, and the like. The cocktail menu, which is divided into “sea” and “desert” drinks, has a couple of done-up margarita options. But you can also get more adventurous and sip a Manhattan Succio (Mal Bien Espadin, Ancho Amaro, Bianco Vermut, Amontillado, and bitters) or Trans Mundo Garibaldi (Xila Campari, Madeira, Anis Estrellado Naranja y Limon, and Sal de Azahar) with your prawn tacos.

Excellent Neapolitan-style pies from chef Daniel Cutler are one of the main draws at this neighborhood favorite on Melrose, but don’t sleep on the drinks. Sure, you could order a nice Lambrusco to accompany your soppressata-topped Spicy Chomper pizza, but keep an eye on the cocktail menu for always-exciting options like Shipwreck’d (Bacardi Eight-Year, pineapple, ginger, lime, and a dark rum float) or the show stopping Cigarettes After Sex. The combination of over-proof rye, cognac, Velvet Falernum, salted passion fruit, and cassis is served under a glass dome that reveals a generous swirl of smoke when it’s removed.

The team behind Crudo e Nudo recently opened a new restaurant that’s all about coastal cuisine, charcoal-singed skewers, and wood-fired cooking. To match all that fire, bar director Kent Thompson has concocted a cocktail list that combines classics like a refreshing Spanish gin and tonic with peppercorn, rosemary, and sage with newfangled concoctions like the Seaworthy, a play on a dirty martini whose main ingredient uses oyster shell-washed gin. Served with pickled mini sea beans, the drink packs a briny punch to stand up to your wood-fired half kanpachi.

You heard it here first: Outdoor dining and drinking season is upon us. Where better to kick it off than on a laid-back, greenery-filled patio like the one at De Buena Planta in Silver Lake? Feel like you’ve escaped to the shores of Tulum when you pair your harissa aioli-topped elote and roasted cauliflower tacos with a frozen Cococolada (coconut cream spiked with mezcal and rum) or a herbaceous creation like the Green Goddess (gin, celery, snap pea, poblano, Sotol, lime, and dill). On weekends, there’s live music, making this gorgeous patio a true party.

The Santa Monica restaurant that’s now considered one of the stalwarts of L.A. cuisine has a new executive chef, Zarah Khan, who’s putting her signature stamp on the menu. The bar program, run by Justin Dicken, remains one of the best in the city after all these years, with an equally produce-minded focus as the kitchen. Start your meal with a classic like the Don Draper (a 1960s-style rye Old Fashioned), or sidle up to the compact corner bar for one of Dicken’s seasonal creations like a Double Impact (mezcal, smoked sun gold tomatoes, aji amarillo, and fresh lime).

Santa Monica’s ever-evolving Main Street has another sexy new contender in Coucou, a cozy French-inflected bistro from the owners of the space’s previous incarnation, Chez Tex. Start with a platter of oysters with an aperitif like a Kir Royale or an Aperol Spritz, then move on to classics like steak tartare and mussels paired with classics like a White Negroni or more daring choices like a Hippies in Paris (Citadelle gin, raw turmeric, ginger, galangal, and lime). And for those Westsiders on the hunt for an Espresso Martini after dinner, look no further—they’ve got you covered here.

It would feel out of touch to not include a no-ABV option, as many Angelenos are going the N/A route these days. Enter Lingua Franca, the new Frogtown restaurant from the sandwich maestros behind Wax Paper. At dinnertime, mounds of matchstick fries share table space with braised leeks, shrimp cocktail, and pasta topped with hearty braised beef cheeks. There’s a big focus on natural wine, but those looking for a zero-proof pairing can look for a special N/A cocktail of the week, like a recent spicy mango-serrano-cilanto number garnished with housemade serrano brittle.

More info and reservations here. 

Chef David Kuo’s Taiwanese restaurant in the heart of Mar Vista is known for its spicy wontons and XO fatty noodles. It’s not unusual to see the bar packed every night of the week, partially for the aforementioned noods, but also for the ever-rotating, inventive cocktail list. Right now, for instance, there’s an Apple Martini made with vodka, gin, Thai basil, and green apple that’s actually good (it even has “trust” in the name) and the packs-a-punch IYKYK Milk Punch, a clarified piña colada served with strawberry daiquiri powder.