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Blackship is already a breezy affair, what with that plant-bedecked patio setting a cool scene for the restaurant, but over the weekend, the space got a little sunnier—and moodier—thanks to a new bar perched atop it all. On Friday night Bar Sopra opened its doors just off the Sunset Strip, revealing a sleek classics-focused cocktail den that sits above chef Keiichi Kurobe’s Japanese-meets-Italian spot. Indoors, the lighting’s low and the seats spill from a seven-stool bar and intimate lounge area onto the deck. Outside, a horseshoe-shaped couch gets flanked by greenery and shaded by a long awning, the latest sunny spot to grab a drink this summer. But Bar Sopra is a far cry from the bright, colorful rooftop and patio bars sprinkling L.A., where frozen drinks and rosé reign; instead, the space takes cues from European aperitivo destinations and dark, polished spaces like, say, Lost Property, Rhino Williams’s other bar. While Williams keeps the focus on whiskey there, and on Japanese riffs at Blackship’s program—which he also designed—at the weekends-only Bar Sopra he’s strictly about the classics. Photograph: Courtesy Bar Sopra From Thursday to Saturday, just look to the entire menu page dedicated to negronis, where the classic blend of gin, Campari and vermouth gets half a dozen spins, including the Negroni Peroni, which tops the classic with whipped Peroni pilsner foam; the Negroni Blanco, with gin, white vermouth and Salers Gentian apéritif; and a house-aged and -bo

For fans of the negroni, it’s Christmas in June. Negroni Week, a celebration of this vibrant Italian cocktail, arrives but once a year and it finally kicks off today: In lieu of presents under a tree, find negroni specials and variants all over town June 24 to 30 thanks to beverage-centric Imbibe magazine and Italian apéritif company Campari teaming up for the worldwide event. The best part? The participating restaurants and bars all donate a portion of their negroni sales to raise money for various charities. With 108 LA.-area bars and restaurants participating in the fundraising this year, you’ve got a bevy of beverages to choose from. Some restaurants and bars are sticking with the classic Campari-vermouth-gin recipe, while others are offering multiple variations on the drink and adding mezcal, chartreuse and whatever else they can stir up—which means you’ve got some sipping to do. To help you plan your attack, we’ve created a guide to some of our favorite specials to be found this week, including but not limited to house-made negroni mochi for a sweet finish. Here’s where to drink for a cause this week. Accomplice Mar Vista’s Bar Awards-winning cocktails are some of the best in the city, but this Negroni Week, the team is going above and beyond and giving us a little sugar, too: In a nod to its sister restaurant, Little Fatty, each of Accomplice’s three negroni specials come served with a piece of house-made negroni mochi to mirror the Thai street-food–inspired eats ne

L.A. is home to transplants from all over the world, but today, we’re most thankful for a son of Cleveland. That’s because Jeremy Fox—best known for his vegetable-forward, hyper-seasonal cooking at Rustic Canyon and Napa’s Ubuntu—is flipping his culinary script and returning to his Midwest roots and Southern ties to bring Santa Monica one of the most creative stick-to-your-ribs menus the city’s seen yet: the kind of meal where there’s caviar dolloped onto your latkes and the blue-plate special is Mongolian tri-tip with bone-marrow–fried farro (and that’s just on Wednesdays). Birdie G’s soft-opens tonight with limited reservations in the historic Bergamot Station, a former art gallery, train stop and celery packing plant now fresh-faced from a revamp to accommodate the restaurant’s massive open kitchen and seating for 150. Enter through the alleyway, pass the patio and find yourself in an airy warehouse space now home to Fox’s latest, a highly anticipated concept that’s just as much an ode to his childhood memories and formative meals as it is to California produce and the peckish, shareable Angeleno style of dining.  Photograph: Courtesy Birdie G’s/Lucianna McIntosh There’s family in nearly every dish, whether they’re Fox’s own grandmother’s recipes, which he recreated from memory, or the chicken scaloppine from chef de cuisine Brittany Cassidy, an ode to her mom. The wine list from Kathryn Coker, Rustic Canyon Family’s vino go-to, takes inspiration from the somm’s

Summer’s almost here, which means one thing for those of us who like to think outside the bun: The Taco Bell Hotel is almost upon us—and so is Taco Bell breakfast in bed. In case you’ve been living under a whopper of a rock, you may have heard the call of the fire sauce last month when the Fourth Meal advocates and Crunchwrap creators announced that Taco Bell will take over a Palm Springs hotel in one of the company’s most insane and ambitious activations yet. Officially running from August 8 to 12, The Bell: A Taco Bell Hotel and Resort promises poolside cocktails, “Bell” hops, an on-site hair and nail salon, themed rooms, merch and tacos galore. The reservation’s set to be hotter than diablo sauce, which is why we’ve got great news: We now know exactly when you should be setting your alarms to snag a spot—plus a few more details on what to expect.   King Sauce Room Rendering: Courtesy Taco Bell   On Thursday, June 27, at 10am PDT, you’ll finally be able to head to the hotel’s official site and book your room. Choose between one-, two- or three-night stays within the four-night window, starting at $169 per evening. Unfortunately, you won’t be able to book additional rooms for your entire crew: While the V Palm Springs Hotel, the actual site of the pop-up, offers more than 70 rooms, The Bell has a one-room-per-booking rule (so remind your friends to set some alarms, too). Note: There’s also a one-car-per-room rule when it comes to on-site parking, in case you’re me

Downtown L.A.’s much-anticipated Alamo Drafthouse has been a bit of a tease. We first caught word of the beloved Austin dine-in movie theater chain’s plans to open in L.A. back in 2014, and we’ve been eagerly watching its future home at the Bloc ever since. “This must be the year,” we’d kept thinking, especially after a 2017 announcement pegged it for a 2018 opening—for real. Well, 2018 came and went with nothing more than a rooftop pop-up, but finally, seriously the Alamo Drafthouse has announced an opening date—or at least an opening window. Construction on the DTLA location is nearly complete and, according to a press release, the Alamo Drafthouse is expected to “soft launch” in early July. It’ll debut with what the company’s calling a beta test of its expanded Alamo Season Pass subscription service, which—for an undisclosed price—allows members to watch a movie a day and reserve seats, with an option to purchase companion seats as well. Famous for its beer selections and hardline no talking, no texting policy, the cinema will feature 12 auditoriums, each outfitted with a 4K laser projector (and one with a 35mm film projector). Expect a mix of wide-release blockbusters and smaller indie flicks alongside cinema classics and cult favorites. Outside of the auditoriums, you’ll find a full bar and kitchen, as well as Video Vortex, a bar and video store that’ll offer free Blu-Ray and DVD rentals. For an area once lined with movie palaces, cinemas are surprisingly scant in Dow

As we anxiously await to see what sort of Nintendo fun is being cooked up at Universal Studios, a bit of virtual green shell mayhem has boosted into Orange County to hold us over. Mario Kart VR is now playable at Irvine’s K1 Speed. Here’s the gist: You plop onto a kart-shaped rumble seat, complete with pedals and a steering wheel, and strap on an HTC Vive virtual reality headset as well as a set of VIVE Tracker controllers. Then you can steer your way through a four-player race—you can choose from Mario, Luigi, Peach or Yoshi—in which you use your hands to virtually pluck green shells and bananas out of the air and throw them at your competitors. Check out the video below if you’re still a little unclear on the setup. The game is the centerpiece attraction at the VR Zone Portal, a traveling virtual reality arcade from Bandai Namco that also includes a skiing simulator, a mech-piloting shooter and a pair of non-VR Pac-Man games. The experience first opened in Japan, and it made its U.S. debut late last year in Washington, D.C., before moving over to Irvine on June 12—it’s now the only spot in the U.S. to experience Mario Kart VR. No specific end date is given for the game’s run, though a post on K1’s site estimates it’ll be up for at least a year. It’ll cost you $12 for a race that lasts about five minutes—or $20 for two. If you’re interested in the other games, you can pay for them piecemeal, or get one go on all of them for $25. All games are available on a fi

If Jorge “Joy” Alvarez-Tostado wants you to know one thing, it’s that he’s “the greatest taquero of all time, period.” If there’s one thing Victor Delgado wants you to know, it’s that the pair are opening their first restaurant next week. Tacos 1986 and its owners’ rise to the top of the L.A. taco pyramid is nothing short of meteoric. The perfect storm of product, skill, showmanship and hustle, the outfit slinging Tijuana-style tacos swept the city within eight months of its first appearances. Since November, the tacos—slathered in avocado and folded into freshly pressed corn tortillas—made their way from renegade taco cart to weekly pop-ups at events such as Smorgasburg, received a glowing review from L.A. Times critic Bill Addison, then expanded to a catering operation and made a wildly successful Coachella appearance. Now, as of next week—ideally Monday—they’ll get their very own restaurant in a compact red-and-white storefront along Spring Street in Downtown L.A.    Alvarez-Tostado’s signature kissy faces and taquero swagger are in fine form at the new location Photograph: Stephanie Breijo   “The end goal was always to have a brick-and-mortar store,” says Delgado, the operation’s founder. “The only problem was that investors and people who could support me didn’t understand the concept: They didn’t understand why there was no beer, no burritos on the menu, and they couldn’t feel comfortable about it. That led to us starting it ourselves.” Delgado first tapped

When it comes to relaunching the Jurassic Park raft ride, Universal Studios has seemingly spared no expense. The theme park closed the iconic splashdown in August to make room for a new Jurassic World-themed revamp, and it doesn’t stop there. This morning the park announced some liquid news that gives even the 84-foot waterfall drop a run for its money: Just in time for the ride’s summer relaunch, Universal Studios Hollywood is unveiling an all-new tiki bar—and we refuse to believe that you aren’t familiar with the concept of attraction to fun drinks. View this post on Instagram Jurassic World The Ride Update: workers were taste testing the drinks at Isla Nu-Bar. Drink come in souvenir Tiki cups and range from $14-19. The drinks are tropical themed and include rum, whiskey, and tequila drinks. #islanubar #jurassicworldtheride #jurassicworld #universalstudios A post shared by M.L.E.’s Adventures (@mleadventures) on Jun 15, 2019 at 1:10pm PDT Throw on your best Nedry-style Hawaiian shirt because Isla Nu-bar is already in soft-open mode, serving tropical vibes, cocktails and collectible tiki mugs from a thatched-roof, open-air setting next to the ride’s entrance. The name of the walk-up bar is, of course, a spin on Isla Nublar, the franchise’s fictional “cloud island,” but instead of dinos amok and Bryce Dallas Howard, you’ll find drinks topped with pineapple leaves and edible orchids. Expect blended concocti

This isn't to say that Pizzana's nouveau-Neapolitan pies weren't worth the trek to Brentwood, but this is to say that some of L.A.'s best pizzas are now available in West Hollywood—a cause for celebration, if you ask us.  The critical darling and recent Michelin Bib Gourmand restaurant opened today at 11am serving chef Daniele Uditi's signature blistered-crust, seasonal-produce–topped pizzas, which all get made with his family's dough starter transported from Italy. Yes, that beloved cacio e pepe pizza is on the new menu, and so is the squash blossom and burrata pie—one of our favorite bites of the year—but the new location has much more up its sleeves.  We've been looking forward to the second Pizzana since the announcement last summer, but had we known it would serve New York-style slices and offer late-night service, we would've been counting down the days. The eastward outpost is brought to us by the OG team of Uditi, partners Candace and Charles Nelson (of Sprinkles Cupcakes fame), and partners Caroline and Chris O’Donnell (the latter of Batman & Robin fame). They've brought all of the Brentwood favorites, including the mountains of salads and the sides like the charred artichoke hearts, as well as a separate menu of specials—most notably the Salmone, a smoked-salmon pizza with ricotta crema and bottarga, an ode to new neighbor Spago's iconic dish. Photograph: Courtesy Pizzana/Dane Deaner Keeping the Salmone company on that opening specials list are the new Sud

For those who grew up to the not-so-dulcet tones of All That's "Welcome to Good Burger, home of the Good Burger, can I take your orrrrrder?"—your '90s food dreams become reality next month. Nickelodeon's cult-classic sketch-comedy series returns this summer, and to celebrate, the network is launching a Good Burger pop-up where you can buy real Good Burgers, Good Shakes and Good Chunks (no word yet on the Good Weenies or the Good Chickwich) from the fictional fast-food burger shack. And please, no swimming in the shake machine. The "Good Burger" sketch—originally starring Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell—was so popular it got its own spinoff movie, and on July 10, it's getting its own restaurant for an indefinite turn at the West Hollywood Gateway shopping center, the former home of the insanely popular Saved by the Bell-inspired Saved by the Max pop-up restaurant. Fitting, as the same team is behind both nostalgia-fueled events. Tickets run $30 and include a main course, one side and a commemorative gift item, and once you snag your tix—on sale Monday, June 17—and make your way into that hallowed burger hall, you'll be able to order fast food ripped straight from the "Good Burger" menu, including items topped with Ed's secret-recipe special sauce. The pop-up also promises games, occasional cast appearances, merch and the kind of hokey, zany service mishaps you remember from the sketch; hopefully you won't be the customer who gets a bun with no meat. ("But you said you wan