Barr Seco
Photograph: Courtesy Justin ChungBarr Seco
Photograph: Courtesy Justin Chung

The best new bars in Los Angeles to try right now

In the mood for somewhere new to drink? Our quarterly list of the city’s hottest new lounges, dives and wine bars has you covered—non-alcoholic options included.

Patricia Kelly Yeo
Contributor: J. Fergus
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Though we consistently cover new restaurants with killer cocktail offerings, new bars in L.A. are few and far between—but deserve just as much attention. To keep you up to date on the city’s bar scene, we’ve got a quarterly guide to the city’s best new bars, where you can find the city’s freshest places to drink that are actually worth checking out. 

Plenty of newer drinking-oriented establishments straddle the line between bar and restaurant, but on this list we prioritize venues where it’s not strange at all to order a single nightcap or aperitivo—without your server trying to upsell you on bar bites when you aren’t hungry. We also strive to include establishments that stay open past 10pm on weekends, though we of course make exceptions for standout spots. 

While these fledgling watering holes and lounges might lack the storied reputations of the city’s best bars and cocktail dens, they make up for it with stylish interiors and unique booze offerings. Some even have delicious bar bites perfect for whenever you’re feeling peckish, but this list focuses on destination-worthy venues with excellent drinks or first-rate atmosphere for going out (ideally, a combination of both). 

So just how new are these drinking dens? We limit our list to bars, lounges and breweries that have opened in the past nine months. We check out each bar personally to make sure it’s worth your time and hassle—since there’s only so much booze money to spare.

Oct 2024: This summer has seen an explosion of new bars across the city, and we’ve got eight(!) new openings for you, including great wine bars, cocktail dens and neighborhood watering holes. Of course, that means some spots (Cold Shoulder) have hit the nine-month mark, and one (STAY. Zero Proof) has unfortunately already closed. Happy fall drinking!

L.A.’s best new bars, ranked

  • Wine bars
  • Chatsworth
  • price 2 of 4

Yes, I know: Canto VI is all the way out in Chatsworth, but this sophisticated drinking den is worth the trek for serious wine lovers. Run by Mélisse’s former sommelier, Brian Kalliel, Canto VI’s premium by-the-glass selections punch well above their weight class. (Kalliel is a total wine snob, which means the bottles open on any given night are rarer, more interesting and usually more expensive than those at most L.A. wine bars, which translates into more bang for your buck.) Paired with reasonably priced, rustic cuisine from Joan’s on Third alum Chester Hastings, the overall experience is an epicure’s delight. Next to the U-shaped counter, a cocktail bar offers top-shelf liquor and excellent renditions of classics for those in the mood for something stiffer. Upscale touches like complimentary valet, a killer playlist and live music on select evenings round out a surprisingly classy night out in the Valley. Street and valet parking.

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Patricia Kelly Yeo
Food & Drink Editor, Time Out Los Angeles
  • Cocktail bars
  • Downtown Historic Core
  • price 2 of 4

Housed inside Suehiro DTLA, this intimate Japanese cocktail bar draws inspiration from Tokyo’s famous whiskey bars and American-style speakeasies. Run by Seven Grand and Steep After Dark alum Huy Nang Pham, the first-rate drinks here run the gamut from affordable to upscale, including a $32 Rob Roy that uses Yoichi whiskey and thoughtfully constructed non-alcoholic options made with Seedlip. Pham’s house drinks are equally interesting: Take the Peach Kid, a refreshing gin-and-soda-based creation that mixes creme de peche, Aperol, yuzu and sakura bitters. Those feeling peckish can also order food from next door. Given the recent closure of the Varnish, Bar Suehiro is a welcome addition to the Downtown bar scene—and a worthy destination for anyone who enjoys a well-balanced drink. Non-alcoholic cocktails available. Street parking.

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Patricia Kelly Yeo
Food & Drink Editor, Time Out Los Angeles
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  • Wine bars
  • Silver Lake
  • price 2 of 4

Favored by bicoastal elites and influencers (both wannabe and bonafide), this oh-so-trendy Silver Lake wine bar spills out onto the sidewalk nightly with people who want to LARP a night out in New York City. I’m not joking in the slightest—and honestly, I’d love to hate Barr Seco if the food and wine offerings weren’t actually good. Fortunately, they are. The 25-seat space, which recently debuted its daytime café menu, serves a series of flavorful small plates alongside natural wines by the glass that don’t taste like vinegar (for once). Culinary highlights include the bluefin tuna tostada and endive Caesar salad, but the reason you should come to Barr Seco is the scene and the scene alone. Expect to be jostled and packed in like a sardine for your glass of vino—the price of being cool these days, I suppose. Non-alcoholic cocktails available. Street parking.

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Patricia Kelly Yeo
Food & Drink Editor, Time Out Los Angeles
  • Cocktail bars
  • West Hollywood
  • price 2 of 4

One of L.A.’s hottest reservations at the moment isn’t even a restaurant—it’s the Lucky Tiki, a speakeasy-style tiki bar hidden away behind West Hollywood’s Tail o’ the Pup. Enter by buzzing the intercom within the pickle barrel on the patio, push through the beaded curtain and you’ll find an intimate space decorated with blowfish lanterns, one-of-a-kind tiki mugs and plenty of memorabilia from the original Lucky Tiki, which the 1933 Group’s Bobby Green first opened in the San Fernando Valley back in the early aughts. The second-floor space is also where the Doors recorded L.A. Woman in 1970, and the bar pays homage with a drink called the Ghost of Jim Morrison, which pairs Copalli rum with blackberry shrub and burnt rosemary. All of the drinks here are kitschy, strong and delicious—everything we’re looking for in a tiki drink. The only kicker? Reservations, released on a 30-day rolling basis on Resy, are hard to come by, and walk-ins aren’t guaranteed.

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Patricia Kelly Yeo
Food & Drink Editor, Time Out Los Angeles
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  • Wine bars
  • Downtown Historic Core
  • price 2 of 4

The former Ace Hotel has a brand-new rooftop in the form of Sauced, an NYC transplant known in its hometown as an ultra-hip, menuless wine bar. While it remains to be seen if its L.A. counterpart can draw the same crowds, the beloved Downtown third space is thankfully mostly unchanged except for a bunch of new plants and a cringeworthy “Can’t Stop Drinking About You” neon sign. Head inside to the bar for a choose-your-own-adventure experience—guided by one of Sauced’s expert bartenders—and a small selection of light bites, then take your glass outside and take in the sweeping views of Downtown. Weekend evenings bring DJs and food pop-ups to the space (which are generally announced on the bar’s Instagram), so if you’d like to help resuscitate Downtown’s struggling nightlife scene, give Sauced the good old-fashioned college try. Outdoor patio and non-alcoholic cocktails available. Street parking.

  • Cocktail bars
  • Downtown Historic Core
  • price 2 of 4

Though Spring Street Bar has traded its industrial sports bar decor for a warmer, more refined look, this old-but-new Downtown spot isn’t trying to squeeze out former patrons. A well-rounded, largely sub-$8 beer list is matched with craft cocktails at prices nearby bars would only consider during happy hour. Even the Japanese highball selection offers options starting at just $11. The milk punch elevates and clarifies a banana piña colada while the surprising addition of mango to the white Negroni makes it one the best of its kind east of Hollywood. This marks Bar Flores and Lowboy alums Alex Vaughan-Ruiz and Brandon Richard’s first bar together, and they seem intent on keeping it a locals-first spot. Since they’ve kept the TV screens, you might even still be able to catch a game or two. Non-alcoholic cocktails available. Street parking.

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J. Fergus
Freelance Contributor
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  • Cocktail bars
  • Culver City
  • price 2 of 4

The old Mandrake Bar space at the edge of Culver City has a new tenant: No Smoking, a stylish cocktail bar that’s a little too expensive to truly be considered a neighborhood dive. Lowbrow touches like bar chips and $12 well drinks combine with pricey works of art on the walls and wood paneling. Reasonably priced $15 house creations include frozen ube coladas and Toki highballs (though you can find the same exact drink for cheaper at Afuri Ramen down the street). Happy hour (4–7pm) brings $10 wells and glasses of wine, plus $5 beers. If No Smoking was in Silver Lake or Northeast L.A., this opening wouldn’t be noteworthy—but in a part of town lacking in interesting cocktail options, I’ll take any decent-enough casual bar I can get.

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Patricia Kelly Yeo
Food & Drink Editor, Time Out Los Angeles
  • Wine bars
  • Highland Park
  • price 2 of 4

You could almost miss Sam’s Place in passing, but once this tiny Highland Park wine bar catches your eye, you’ll be hooked. A wood-paneled interior invites you into a few alcoves offering hints of privacy. A passthrough window between the bar and the simple, dog-friendly patio makes you feel more like a houseguest than a patron. A blend of New and Old World bottles along with a diverse skin-contact selection are served by a savvy staff eager to make recommendations. Whether you’re popping in for a snack or steak dinner, the Japanese sweet potatoes steal the spotlight on a small but well-executed food menu. Depending on availability, whether a wine is only served by the bottle is a suggestion rather than a hard rule at this cozy neighborhoood spot.

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J. Fergus
Freelance Contributor
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  • Bistros
  • West Hollywood
  • price 2 of 4

If not for the charming, well-heated patio and decent hors d’oeuvres, we wouldn’t necessarily give this new West Hollywood bistro our stamp of approval. That being said, the second location of this Venice cocktail joint fills a solid niche within the upscale neighborhood—a stylish date night spot with amazing cocktails and decent, not-too-expensive bar bites. It all makes for an easy slide from drinks into (light) dinner at Coucou, where Bouchon Vegas alum Jacob Wetherington offers a cheese-covered “l’haute” dog, a vegan-friendly French dip made with king oyster mushrooms and a straightforward steak tartare that gets the job done. Our suggestion? Skip the mains, go all in on appetizers and be sure to order several drinks—Coucou’s beverage programs rivals that of the city’s best cocktail bars.

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Patricia Kelly Yeo
Food & Drink Editor, Time Out Los Angeles
  • Hotel bars
  • Santa Monica
  • price 2 of 4

Taking over the old Onyx space, the Coco Club offers the same sweeping views of the Pacific Ocean that made the space’s former occupant one of the best rooftop bars in town. A new island-inspired cocktail menu by Dushan Zaric (best known for cofounding NYC’s Employees Only) adds intrigue with drinks like the passionfruit-tinged Coco Killer and a lychee-infused gin creation known as the White Lotus. A complete design overhaul has given the indoor-outdoor bar an all-new tropical-leaning look and feel, which includes artisan-crafted rattan stools lining the balcony railings—perfect for taking in the picture-perfect view—and a fire pit in the string-lit outdoor lounge. On the weekends, expect live DJ sets and heavier crowds to contribute to a dancefloor-like atmosphere inside. Outdoor patio available. Valet, street and 90 minutes' free parking at nearby public lots.

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Patricia Kelly Yeo
Food & Drink Editor, Time Out Los Angeles
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  • Lounges
  • West Hollywood
  • price 2 of 4

Holy Water’s Tulum-core aesthetic fills two small rooms primed for intimate conversations with a friend or date. You can partake in some elevated bar bites or simply order in or bring your own food—a policy often unheard of in a lounge of this caliber. The cocktail menu skews sustainable, offering imaginative and whimsical drinks like a pour-over white negroni riff or a frosty take on adult Dole Whip. Teas, cold brew, lemonade and sodas are always $5 or less, but they also offer a nonalcoholic cocktail on their special Sunday School menu. If you can pry yourself away from your third Midwest Summer (see: Dole Whip), you can enjoy the Woods’ jungle-like patio next door for a more lifted evening. Street parking.

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J. Fergus
Freelance Contributor
  • Cocktail bars
  • Downtown Arts District
  • price 2 of 4

In a relatively quiet corner of the Arts District (for the late-night crowd, anyway), Flamingo Bar fills the area’s need for a cocktail dive. You can get better cocktails down the street at E.R.B., but that’s not why you go to Flamingo Bar. You’re there to watch the game, grab some strong drinks or a good beer, and groove under the dancefloor’s disco ball. By your second drink, the grease-forward menu will quell your drunchies with the likes of thick burgers and gooey, loaded fries. The pink-drenched decor evokes late ’80s, early ’90s Miami Beach, encouraging you to snap pics both in and outside the photo booth. Some prices feel a bit high, but the daily happy hour from 4pm to 7pm is well worth the trip. Street parking.

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J. Fergus
Freelance Contributor
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  • Cocktail bars
  • Fairfax District

This new Melrose cocktail lounge in the former Bathtub Gin space comes from nightlife veteran Jared Meisler (the Roger Room, the Friend). With a baby grand piano and a spinning disco ball, the Moon Room brings a touch of class to a raucous night out—but it’s the thoughtfully executed house cocktails that distinguish the bar from the rest of the pack. Beverage director Annemarie Sagoi mixes spiced cocoa and camel milk with aged tequila and mezcal in the Orion, a smoky, slightly creamy concoction reminiscent of a malted milkshake. She’s also crafted an intensely crushable spicy marg in the form of the Andromeda, a pineapple-forward rendition that distills the thrill of jalapeño to a mere whisper. Stop in on a weekday or earlier in the evening for a more grown-up cocktail party feel, or tear up the unofficial dancefloor that forms on weekend evenings. Outdoor patio. Non-alcoholic cocktails available. Street parking.

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Patricia Kelly Yeo
Food & Drink Editor, Time Out Los Angeles
  • Cocktail bars
  • Highland Park
  • price 2 of 4

Still friendly with (and slightly outshined by) Good Housekeeping off the back patio, this reimagining of Cafe Birdie splits the former restaurant into the loungey, foliage-draped Arroyo Club and the carb purveyor the Hotline. The latter makes use of the kitchen to whip up burgers (beef optional), egg sandwiches, grilled cheeses and a couple of variations on fried potatoes for $14 or less. From the signature cocktails to mocktails, Arroyo Club’s drinks have a Latin-Caribbean flair to them without steering into tiki territory, and they’re inventive without alienating patrons. Outdoor patio and non-alcoholic drinks available.

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J. Fergus
Freelance Contributor
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