TGIF: Pagoda Bar and Tony's Open Tonight

It really is TGIF for LA cocktail enthusiasts, with two bars opening in Hollywood and downtown.

First up, Daily Candy notes that the Pagoda Bar is reopening tonight. Nestled just below Hollywood’s venerable Yamashiro restaurant, the outdoor Pagoda Bar overlooks the pool, the 600 year old pagoda (California’s oldest structure, according to Yamashiro), and the city below. With Memorial Weekend just around the corner, it’s the perfect time to check out the Pagoda Bar’s unique combination of gorgeous views, Cal-Asian apps, and of course the signature cocktails.

The drinks all have names related to Yamashiro’s history, from the Fashionable 400 Club (in the late 1920’s, Yamashiro’s was an ultra-exclusive Golden Age Hollywood hangout) to the Purple Swan (the pool used to be a lake with rare Australian swans). And then there’s the infamous Norman’s Mai Tai, named after Yamashiro’s first bartender, who brought the secret recipe over from Hawaii some 40 years ago. Check out the Pagoda Bar cocktails menu and picture yourself imbibing under the stars.

Pagoda Bar
1999 N. Sycamore Ave. (at Franklin)
Los Angeles, CA 90068
(323) 466-5125
www.thepagodabar.com

Tonight is also the soft opening of Tony’s, the latest from Cedd Moses and his 213 group. UrbanDaddy calls it “an all-American saloon on a no-man’s-land patch of Downtown road,” and notes the booths, chalkboards, pool table, and darkness.

Even better, UD remarks on the homages to Hunter S. Thompson in the interior design; the mind boggles with the possibilities. It wouldn’t be a Cedd Moses bar if there wasn’t a great whiskey selection, and the Thompson theme continues in the form of Stranahan’s whiskey (or as my drinking buddy Scot would call it, “hooch”), made by Thompson’s Colorado neighbor.

With Royal Clayton’s and the red hot Church & State on nearby Industrial St, this part of the Arts District now offers a nice little bar crawl for downtown denizens and urban adventurers alike. And if something is happening at the nearby Premiere Events Center on Imperial St, you’ve got the makings of a long, epic night.

Tony’s fully opens on Monday, May 18.

Tony’s
2017 E. 7th St. (E. of Mateo)
Arts District
Los Angeles, CA 90021
(213) 622-5523