Hey, are you even 21??…read more I'm gonna need to see some ID before I can let you enter... (Moments later) You can't possibly be 21, you were born in 2005... (Counting backwards on my fingers) Oh. My. God, I'm getting old!!!! ---------------------------- Alright now that we got that out of the way.... Listen up, & Listen up Good. Cause Tonight, Tonight, I'm setting the Bar straight! Now,.... Make sure to hang onto your ID, stay plenty hydrated & be ready to pace yourself... Cause we are about to Hit the bar running and go full throttle with some virtual bar hopping. But first, let's see just how many styles of bars there really are. -Ahh the classic, no-frills Dive Bar -The Cocktail Bar/The Martini Bar -The Sports bar, The BeerGarden -The Pub, The Tavern, The Biker Bar (make sure you wear your best leather pants) -The Hotel Bar, The Rooftop Bar, The Lounge -The Night Club, The Comedy Club, The Karaoke Bar -The Tiki Bar, The Wine Bar -The hidden Speakeasy (my personal Fav.) And of course, where even at 8am there's no judgement passed... -The Airport Bar. Speaking of Traveling... Bonus: Consider yourself lucky if your hotel room just happens to have a well-stocked mini bar. (These are getting fewer and fewer as I travel) Yeah, each bar listed above has its own vibe, and depending on your mood, your own individual style or even what kind of night out on the town you are looking to have... The type of bar you choose is important. But sometimes, the Bar Chooses You! Bar Magnolia quietly enters the chat. It was October 11th, 2025 and my wife & I just checked into Hotel Figueroa in DTLA. (EPIC REVIEW Coming Soon!!!) While we were waiting for our room to be ready, we decided to check out the Hotel Bar Lounge... First thought, Color me Impressed! High ceilings, Natural lighting, classy decor, comfy couches... Yeah, take your time with that room, we'll wait! So we plopped down onto their sofa, waited for a cocktail menu, and let the "we left the kids at home with Grandma; let's enjoy being kid-free for the night begin". $18.00 cocktails....Lets Goooo!! Looking back at the Photos, I can't exactly recall what we ordered... Was it a whiskey sour? Was it a paper plane?? Honestly, Who cares! They tasted great. I was sitting across from a beautiful woman. And we were responsibly adulting. What more could a guy ask for?? I'm glad you asked! After a long car ride in, sipping on water, then the first few sips of my cocktail, I suddenly had to go... Luckily, the restrooms are located just adjacent to the bar area and DAMN are they clean!! Hey, if a bar restroom is well taken care of, you know the place has Class.... And Bar Magnolia has the Class to Match! Of course, there is bar stool seating at the bar... (I usually prefer sitting at the bar as there's always some great stories to be heard and when it time to order another round, you can literally just cut out the... Middle Man (Aka waiting for your server to come check back in) In addition to the bar top stools, there are also low top tables, and a few couch-chairs with a low top table for more intimate conversations. Besides those $18 craft cocktails, a short, well Curated list of bubbles, vino and draft beers are all up for grabs. Unfortunately, we had stopped to eat before we arrived (bad move on our part), but next time, and THERE WILL BE A NEXT TIME, we will definitely partake in their food menu (cause damn, did it look GOOD!) So whether you are a guest of Hotel Figueroa, you are leaving the Crypto Arena after a concert and want to paint the town red, or you are simply just wanting to sit, relax and enjoy a nice cocktail at a classy, upscale, but not so pretentious Cocktail Lounge... Bar Magnolia is your place! Well, it's almost closing time, they are about to call for Last Call, so order us another round, bottoms up and Cheers to us!!!

Came to Bar Magnolia on a Friday evening specifically for happy hour, which their website clearly…read moreadvertises as Monday-Friday. Once there, I was told happy hour is only Monday through Thursday. I pulled up their own website and showed it to the server. The response? A shrug. No apology, no explanation, no effort to make it right. This is straight-up false advertising, and the lack of accountability made it worse. If you're going to change your happy hour, update your website and train your staff to handle it professionally. I shouldn't have to argue with a bar over their own posted information. Won't be back.

Gumbo Brothers made the night…read more... Stumbled into this portion of level 8, after the vibes were mild near the carousel rooftop bar. Good size crowd, but it was easy enough to get a drink from the bar. Vibes were good and got better when the Gumbo Brothers came on. They are a cover band, but specific to hip hop and RnB, and they killed it. Jay on the sax was amazing, and Apollo on the mic was perfect. We will be back on Friday or Saturday, since I believe that's when the Gumbo Brothers are there.

5* Ambiance 5* Service…read more5* Coctails Level 8 really has done a fantastic job creating a jazz/entertainment bar with great service, drinks, and unpretentious service. The guests, come and go and at each moment, in any corner, be ready to be surprised and entertained by a live DJ, acrobat, burlesque performer, pianist and singer. What a show! Veronica at the bar was fantastic and made us drinks just to our order. Supper knowledgable, helpful and kind. Definitely, this place is a great hangout after a meal... be prepared to be be dazzled and entertained.

the lemon pepper chicken wings were great. kudos to the chef.... I most definitely will be coming…read moreback for some wings.

Took some friends here who were visiting and wanted a Speakeasy experience…read more It was maybe 9:30/10pm on a Friday and it wasn't super busy. We were able to get a seat on the coach and order drinks from the bar relatively quickly. Prices were pretty typical of LA ($18-25 a cocktail) but I would say I probably won't come back this late as it's in a shadier part of town. They have a bouncer and it was fine inside, but it's not a place where you can bar hop if that's what you're looking for as the area is seedy. Would be interested to try the food next time, but again, the safety and comfort of the light of day.

Excellent food and experience! The staff was super nice and we felt like it was a true hidden gem…read more They knew it was my friend's birthday so made a special effort to wish her a happy birthday and include a candle on top of one of the pastries. The food is really good and the tea choices are excellent. The mocktail was a nice add to help refresh ourselves on a hot day. Overall a nice place to celebrate any special occasion or gather with friends. The parking lot next to the hotel is super easy to park at. All day parking around $10, self park.

The DTLA Proper Hotel is beautifully designed by Kelly Wearstler, a former athletic faciliity…read more Although I've done several staycations here, tea at Dahlia remained on my bucket list of experiences, since it's only offered on weekends. I finally was able to check it off, thanks to a hotel offer with a dining credit. Dahlia is the gorgeous petite space behind the larger ground floor restaurant space now called Cabrillo (formerly Caldo Verde). Dahlia opened as a bespoke cocktail lounge, then began to offer tea. Now it's just tea. There are five 2-tops and two 4-top tables. All food and beverage venues at the Proper used to be under the auspices of famed chef Suzanne Goin and her business partner/sommelier Caroline Styne. They are no longer affiliated with the Proper, but many of their dishes/contributions remain. The last named vestige of them is on the tea menu, "Suzanne's Deviled-Egg Sandwich". The tea menu has several options: Classic, with a seasonal mocktail, or with different champagnes. I opted for the Classic experience, because the mocktail had mocha, not my fave. Server Lluvia was clearly a Dahlia veteran; she offered a tea-smelling of all the teas that interested me as well as crowd favourites. I ultimately chose one of these faves, Mad Hatter's Tea Party, which had passionfruit and vanilla. I declined milk/cream, but did get lemon. There were rock sugar sticks on the table. It seems the selection of tea sandwiches and sweet treats changes every so often, although the vanilla bean scone, dried currant scone, Devonshire cream and apricot orange jam seem like constants. The sandwich selection at my visit were: cucumber, crab/creme fraiche, beet hummus on pita, smoked salmon and Suzanne's deviled egg. All were delish, the beet, crab and deviled egg especially. The sweet treats were: orange fig butter cookie, spiced apple brown butter crumble, cranberry frangipane hand pie, chocolate mocha macaron, pumpkin madeleine, plus the 2 scones. All were excellent. There were no leftovers. A bit pricey, but a relaxing and lovely experience. The room was not crowded when I visited, adding to the calmness of my visit.

We were at Little Tokyo over the weekend and saw this business with the catch-y name and had to go…read moreinside. You must be 21 to enter. No exceptions, as I witnessed a family who really wanted to come in but had an 18 yr old so they weren't allowed in and because they had a minor with them they couldn't even sit outside in their seating area. Always good to know. Inside the bar got super busy. The inside was a bit dark but again it is a bar. I like the decor and the bar seating was packed. The drinks were good if you like whiskey they have it along with lists of beer options. Nice spot to try out.

very cute little place! love the interior here very moody with accents of orange and green. for…read moreparking, there is a lot nearby, but we just parked at the judge lot like 2 blocks up the street. it's a $6 flat rate after 5 pm so pretty good deal but be sure to walk back in a group lol. this is a whiskey bar and i don't like whiskey very much so i was tasting my way around the menu. the plumola is really nice but the grey wolf took the cake for me. its super refreshing and not very strong. dj was whipping tuuuuunes. disco ball turned on halfway thru the night that was very fun. a fun place to have a lowkey night and not get too crazy. bathroom was kinda dirty tho

Next day update: the manager replied to my review with the same reply he has been giving anyone who…read moreposts negative reviews! So predictable! Why not actually work on improving things?!?! I'm not coming back; NO ONE's stupid enough to come back to give u guys a second chance. Original review: Amazing views AND THATS WHERE IT ENDS! Go to Elevate or any other rooftop lounge in the area! Service: U get seated & then they forget you exist! The greeter finally asked if we're being served n took our order herself! After a while my partner's tea arrives - a cup of hot water & a teabag - no sweetener or spoon. When we finally get the attention of a rare staff, she says we don't have sweetener but I'll check! Sure enough she had a bunch! It's like they're avoiding service.. but they're in the service industry! Staff: Few n far between! Untidy (stained shirt partly tucked in) & unmotivated! You'd think a swanky location like that could provide neat uniforms to their wait staff! Food: I ordered the ham n cheese sandwich which I thought I'd get fast bcz its easy to make, given how slow they were, but I asked for chicken instead of ham since I don't eat pork.. mind you, they have a chicken club sandwich on the menu so it shd be easy, but NO!!! The waitress said "we'll charge extra for chicken". GET OUTTA HERE!!! Ure telling me chicken is more expensive than ham?? My partner got fries bcz he was afraid the wait for anything else would be long! We saw a bunch of people enter, sit around & leave, bcz they're being ignored. We almost did too, but I just paid $28 for parking in a lot (it's $35 at the hotel) so we waited, ate, paid & ended up going elsewhere for a proper dinner after this ridiculous debacle!

We visited La Lola Rooftop expecting a great experience. The view is beautiful -- without question,…read morethe best part of the venue. Unfortunately, the service did not match the setting. My girlfriend and I ordered two Old Fashioneds made with Ilegal Mezcal. The bottle being used was nearly empty, and as professionals in the hospitality industry, we are very familiar with proper pour standards. It was clear there wasn't enough product left for two consistent drinks. The bartender, Bryan, prepared both cocktails without using a jigger. When I politely asked why one drink appeared noticeably lighter than the other and why he wasn't measuring the pour, he smirked, gave a slight laugh, and responded that he "knows the exact measurement of his glasses." The tone and gesture felt dismissive and mocking rather than professional. Instead of addressing a reasonable concern with transparency, the response came across as defensive and condescending. To make matters worse, a 20% gratuity was automatically added, bringing the total to $71.12 for two inconsistent Old Fashioneds. Precision, consistency, and respect are basic standards in this industry. Unfortunately, this experience did not reflect that. We won't be returning.

I absolutely loved this place and will definitely be going back! I went at night, and the…read moreatmosphere and the view from the rooftop were amazing. The service was also pretty fast. As for the drinks, I had their Long Island, carrot margarita, and paloma. All three were excellent and tasted wonderful, but the carrot margarita was my favorite. The people I went with loved it too, so be sure to try it when you're there. Overall, this was a great spot to hang out with friends and have a good time. Whether you want to dance or just sit and chill, you can't go wrong coming here.

We came here on a Sunday afternoon right when they opened. I definitely was NOT expecting the very…read moreloud club music on a Sunday afternoon! Friday & Saturday nights, sure, but a Sunday afternoon? No thank you. So, I can only recommend this place if you: 1. want to walk thru a sketchy alleyway parking lot to an unmarked back door of a building. 2. don't want to talk to other members of your party because the club music is so loud you can't hear your server. 3. want to spend a lot of money on drinks, about $20 per. 4. want very minimal food choices. 5. like to use the bathroom in the dark because there are no lights! There are LOTS of other rooftop bars in L.A. that are MUCH better!

Randomly ran into this place after a Los Angeles Lakers game. If you are a cigar smoker this is a…read morenice chill spot after a late night at work.

Charming speak easy like hidden bar in Downtown L.A. where you have to go in back of the building…read morethrough the garage to see a canopy and burgundy colored drapery framing a reception desk & dark, open door. The entire bar is dark, mysterious with twinkle lights overhead. Like Las Vegas, once inside, it's hard to know if it's day or night outside. Only exception is in their outdoor patio mirrored on the sides like the hall at Versailles and sunlight coming in from above where smoking is allowed. We came early before 8pm during Happy Hour when non-members can enter with a person with a membership which allows 3 additional guests, and all guests are free to enter without a membership until 8pm. [$30 initial membership fee for a year and $20 annual renewal.] Caña (kahn yah) means cane in Spanish referring to sugar cane from which rum is made. Our bartender was helpful and personable welcoming us and taking our orders. Under advice from Caña member Elite Yelper, Isobel L., who graciously took us under her wing, we ordered a shot of Nicaraguan Flor de Caña Rum aged 12 years that came with a cigarillo. We adjourned from the bar to the patio to smoke our mini-stogies and sipped our rum. We came early when there were very few members so it was the perfect place to talk and mellow out. Those who want a more animated crowd probably should come much later when lively dance music begins, and booties start to swing. Caña Rum Bar: 4 stars