Happy Hour
21 Great Places to Soak Up Happy Hour Right Now in LA
It’s no coincidence that, this time of year, restaurant happy hours coincide with the so-called magic hour in cinema, that sliver of time just before the sun goes fully down when the world seems a bit rosier and softer by comparison. Late afternoon post-work drinking does much the same thing.
Here then are 21 great places to enjoy your next happy hour. Each offers great drink deals and reduced-price dishes to help take the edge off, without sacrificing on quality or, if the day’s been especially tough, quantity.
1 Bar Bouchon
Easily one of the best happy hour deals in this part of town, Bar Bouchon features glasses of wine at $5 and $7 well drinks to go with $2 oysters, steak tartare, pork sliders, and truffle popcorn. Pretty decent people watching too, which is always a plus for dining in this part of town.
2 Casa Vega
Sherman Oaks stalwart Casa Vega has one of the longest happy hours in the Valley, available daily from 2:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. and featuring half-priced appetizers alongside $5 house margaritas and $2 drink discounts across the board.
3 Cecconi’s
Upscale West Hollywood space Ceccconi’s has one of the best Tuesday through Saturday happy hours around, anchored by an a lounge burger that comes laced with fontina, pancetta and black truffle oil for $7. Add draft prosecco and a range of $4 – $7 drinks for maximum effect.
4 Dominick’s
A classic West Hollywood haunt, Dominick’s longstanding 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. weekday happy hour turns out $4 martinis and Manhattans, plus $1,50 oysters and jumbo $4 arancini.
5 El Cóndor
Silver Lake’s recently revamped El Condor is a perfect place to dip toes into the happy hour pool, thanks to $5 loaded nachos (no meat) and $4 chips and guacamole deals, alongside $3 Mexican beers and $7 classic margaritas. Best of all, it happens seven days a week, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. and again from 10 p.m. to close.
6 EMC Seafood And Raw Bar
Definitely one of the hottest happy hours in town, the $1 oysters are the main draw, with quality that reaches some of the best seafood spots in the city. Throw in a convivial Ktown crowd and $5 draft beer and you have a recipe for a great time every afternoon from 5-7 p.m. There’s a solid late night happy hour from 10 p.m. to close, as well.
7 FIG Santa Monica
FIG at Five. Almost everyone in Santa Monica knows about this deal that chef Yousef Ghalaini has continued to put together at this restaurant inside the Fairmont. Limited to just 5-6 p.m. from Tuesday to Saturday, everything on the menu except the steaks are half off, as are the drinks. Get it and enjoy the crowd.
8 fundamental LA
Westwood’s home for light, engaging California cuisine, Fundamental LA is also launching a new happy hour Tuesday through Saturday from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m., with $4 bottled and draft craft beer, $6 wines and $5 bar bites — including foie gras.
9 Gracias Madre
From 3-6 p.m. on weekdays, Gracias Madre has discounted drinks like their popular mezcal mule, to go along with a selection of simple bites. Better still, everything on the menu is a cool $5.
10 La Boheme
The recently revamped La Boheme in West Hollywood offers a great happy hour alternative, serving draft and bottled beers for $4 and glasses of wine for just $5. Snacks come in under $5 and full entrees are priced at only $10 — pretty insane for a happy hour that runs from 5 p.m. to close most nights of the week.
Relative 3rd St. newcomer LINK is already standing out along the pricey strip for its $5 daily happy hour, available from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. It includes lots of rotating draft beers, premium well drinks and snacks like chicken tacos, brussels sprouts and, of course, sausage.
12 MessHall Kitchen
Mess Hall makes for a great local happy hour spot, with $6 baskets of wings and an $8 prime burger available Monday through Friday from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. $5 draft beer, $6 wines and a bartender’s choice cocktail priced at $8 just sweetens the deal.
13 Más Malo
Not only is downtown’s Mas Malo offering a weekday happy hour that’s four hours long (3 p.m. to 7 p.m.), it also features $3 nachos, $5 Mexican pizzas and deals on drinks like $3 canned beers and $5 margaritas.
14 Petty Cash Taqueria
Called the Hora Feliz, the happy hour lasts just one hour from 5-6 p.m. at Walter Manzke’s taco shack. Think cheesy churros for $4, guac for $6, and cauliflower mini nachos for $5. The margarita’s a mere $6 while the agua fresca punch runs just $4.
15 Plan Check Kitchen + Bar
This new Mid-City location of Plan Check has a special late night menu served two hours before closing that includes bites like the taco hamburguesa, smokey fried chicken sandwich for $7, pastrami gravy fries for $5, and a beer float for $12 that’s made with espresso stout and bourbon ice cream.
16 Scarpetta
At Scarpetta, it’s all about the $9 drinks and dishes, available until 7 p.m. The mushroom ravioli, porchetta sliders, chicken liver pate, and lobster croquettes that are pretty darn shareable. The drink menu has some quaffable cocktails like the Passione, made with aperol, gin, sambuca and lemon, or the spicy Ferrari, mixing in tequila, Cointreau, blood orange, and jalapeño.
17 The Church Key
From 5:30-7 p.m., the Church Key is offering $6 shake-your-own cocktails, $8 Rat Pack drinks, and $14 shareable punch bowls. In addition, there’s a bunch of $4 to 7 bar bites like beer sliders, glazed chicken wings, and brioche donuts.
18 The Corner Door
The Culver City neighborhood spot has one of the best single happy hour bar items ever: the anti-mixology: a Miller High Life and a shot of whiskey for $6. But then you could also get a great martini or moscow mule if you choose. Then nosh on the cider-glazed wings or fried chicken for $8, or get the $15 steak frites. Throw in the superb cocktails by barman Beau du Bois and you have the making of a fine evening.
19 The Misfit Restaurant + Bar
One of the most reliable happy hour scenes in Santa Monica, which means discounted drinks, sangria, cocktails, mimosas, beer and wine, everyday from 12 to 7 p.m., which is perfect for tourists, beach bums, and folks who don’t have to hit the office at normal hours.
20 The Rockefeller
Manhattan Beach burger joint The Rockefeller runs Monday through Thursday from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. and from opening to 7 p.m. on Fridays, dishing $5 beer and wine deals and rotating plates of food. Go on Tuesday and combine deals with the 99-cent burger (yes, really).
21 Whisper Restaurant & Lounge
Stuck at the Grove in the late afternoon? You could do worse than Whisper Lounge’s under-$10 bar bites menu, which features everything from filet mignon skewers to blue cheese aioli fries. No one is complaining about $7 well cocktails and $9 martinis either. Happy hour runs Monday through Friday from 3 p.m to 6 p.m.
