15 Best Cocktail Bars in Los Angeles
The best cocktail bars in Los Angeles — India's Grill, Electric Karma, Bulgogi Hut, and M Grill Brazilian Churrascaria and 11 more, reviewed by TastyPals editors.
The best cocktail bars in Los Angeles are India's Grill, Electric Karma, Bulgogi Hut, and more. Start with India's Grill if you want the strongest overall first pick.
How we picked: We weight technique behind the bar, menu point of view, ice/glass discipline, and food strength.
Top picks at a glance
Practical notes
What to plan for before you book — spend, reservation strategy, and who should skip this guide entirely.
- Expected spend
- $16–24 per drink at the top of the list. A two-drink-and-snack visit lands around $55–75 per person.
- Booking strategy
- Walk-in works before 8 on weekdays. Weekends 9–11 are tight — many of these have a bar-seat-only no-reservation policy.
- What to order
- Order off the signature menu, not the classics. The bar's point of view shows up in the originals.
- Skip if
- you want a long sit-down dinner. Most of these are bar-first programs with a small food menu.
Who this guide is for
The best cocktail bars in Los Angeles treat the drink program with the same seriousness a kitchen brings to the menu. These picks are worth visiting for the glass as much as the food.
Quick picks
On this page
- 1. India's GrillView →
- 2. Electric KarmaView →
- 3. Bulgogi HutView →
- 4. M Grill Brazilian ChurrascariaView →
- 5. Soowon GalbiView →
- 6. Tom's Watch Bar - Los AngelesView →
- 7. Quarters Korean BBQView →
- 8. Road to Seoul Korean BBQ (Western)View →
- 9. Pitchoun!View →
- 10. Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine BarView →
- 11. Spitz Mediterranean Street FoodView →
- 12. Petit TroisView →
- 13. Madre RestaurantView →
- 14. El Compadre Restaurant of HollywoodView →
- 15. The Reef on the WaterView →
How the restaurants compare
How we chose
We looked for restaurants that feel like a strong fit for the guide topic, not just the most obvious names in the city. The shortlist favors rooms with clear mood, dependable pacing, and enough distinction to help someone decide faster. Read our full methodology →
Lighting, pace, and general energy all need to support the reason someone clicked this guide.
We favored restaurants that feel best suited for the moment, not just restaurants with broad reputation.
The final list tries to give readers enough variation in neighborhood, price, and style to compare real options.
15 ranked picks
There's something reassuring about a Punjabi family kitchen that's been holding down Wilshire Boulevard since 1989 — India's Grill has outlasted trends most LA Indian spots chase, and the room knows it. Don't expect a stylized dining room: it's a single, basic space, everything made to order, Bollywood soundtrack running, service from people who clearly want you to stay. That unfussiness is the point. Start with the samosas, which regulars rightly call out, then move into the Chicken Tikka Masala — the sauce is the reason this place gets called an icon by Southern California curry diehards. The Tandoori Chicken earns its featured billing, and the Chicken Makhni Butter Sauce is the creamy, spice-layered house move worth splitting at a bigger table. Finish with gulab jamun. OpenTable lists it at $30 and under, though a full multi-course dinner can climb toward $60–70 a head, so calibrate accordingly. With a 4.7 across 5,000-plus reviews, this is a thirty-five-year institution that earns the loyalty rather than coasting on it. Bring a group; it holds.
Electric Karma looks like a good night-out option in Los Angeles because it reads polished without feeling overly formal. It also holds a 9.4 rating across 1,954 Google reviews.
Bulgogi Hut is an easy yes when you want somewhere that feels considered rather than fussy. It also holds a 9.0 rating across 3,332 Google reviews.
M Grill Brazilian Churrascaria is an easy yes when you want somewhere that feels considered rather than fussy. It also holds a 9.0 rating across 1,596 Google reviews.
Soowon Galbi is an easy yes when you want somewhere that feels considered rather than fussy. It also holds a 9.0 rating across 1,303 Google reviews.
Tom's Watch Bar - Los Angeles is a reliable sports bar choice in Los Angeles when you want something that tends to land well. It also holds a 8.8 rating across 4,515 Google reviews.
Quarters Korean BBQ is a reliable korean barbecue choice in Los Angeles when you want something that tends to land well. It also holds a 8.8 rating across 2,760 Google reviews.
Road to Seoul Korean BBQ (Western) is a clean first click in Los Angeles when you want a korean barbecue option you can trust. It also holds a 8.8 rating across 2,115 Google reviews.
Tucked into the heart of DTLA on South Olive, Pitchoun! is the kind of French bakery that earns its exclamation point. It's a family operation — husband-and-wife team Frédéric and Fabienne Souliès, with Frédéric tracing his lineage back to his grandfather's bakery — and that pedigree shows. This is a 2019 Best Baguette in LA winner, and everything's made fresh on site daily, down to the yogurt. The room is rustic-meets-chic, the sort of charming space that makes a morning feel like an occasion. Go for the almond croissant, their signature: a croissant baked twice with homemade almond paste tucked inside and shredded almonds on top. For something heartier, the croque-madame holds up beautifully. Beyond that, the cabinet runs deep with French regional specialties — kouign amann, tarte tropézienne, gougères, chouquettes — and there's a clever twist: it doubles as a wine store, 80-plus niche bottles and 20 craft beers, same price to drink in or take away. Note the hours close at 3 PM, so this is a daytime affair. Pastries run $4–7.65, sandwiches $16–17.
Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar looks like a good night-out option in Los Angeles because it reads polished without feeling overly formal. It also holds a 8.8 rating across 1,713 Google reviews.
Spitz Mediterranean Street Food is a clean first click in Los Angeles when you want a mediterranean option you can trust. It also holds a 8.8 rating across 1,089 Google reviews.
Ludo Lefebvre's Petit Trois sits in Hollywood operating on a specific and deliberate premise: that a counter-sized Parisian zinc bar, transplanted to Los Angeles without apology, is exactly what the city needs. The room is famously small — more stools than tables, more bar than dining room — and every account of it describes a place that wears its cramped dimensions as a point of pride rather than a concession. The concept is unapologetically French, unapologetically rich, and committed to classical bistro technique executed with a seriousness that the square footage does nothing to diminish. It is, by all consistent reporting, a room built for proximity and intention.
The kitchen's reputation rests on a short menu that treats French fundamentals as worthy of genuine precision rather than nostalgic shorthand. The dish most consistently cited as the reason to come is the omelette — reportedly soft, rolled, and filled with Boursin — which has become something of a benchmark for how seriously Lefebvre takes the deceptively unglamorous end of French cookery. Alongside it, the menu centers on the kind of indulgence the bistro tradition was built for: a foie gras-laden double cheeseburger that reads as the room's most theatrical gesture, and a steak frites with peppercorn sauce that diners describe as the order for anyone who wants to understand what the kitchen actually believes in. Escargots and a well-considered wine list complete what is, by design, a concise picture.
Petit Trois is consistently recommended as a date-night room — not because the food alone demands it, but because the enforced closeness of the seating and the pacing of a short, confident menu make it suited to two people paying attention to each other. Counter seats are the most available and the most characteristic. Reservations are strongly advised; walk-ins reportedly face a real wait. The move, according to nearly every account: start with the omelette, finish with the steak frites.
Madre Restaurant is a clean first click in Los Angeles when you want a mexican option you can trust. It also holds a 8.8 rating across 1,002 Google reviews.
El Compadre Restaurant of Hollywood is a reliable mexican choice in Los Angeles when you want something that tends to land well. It also holds a 8.6 rating across 2,365 Google reviews.
The Reef on the Water is a reliable american choice in Los Angeles when you want something that tends to land well. It also holds a 8.6 rating across 2,041 Google reviews.
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