For a city obsessed with the lavish lifestyles of the rich and famous, you might assume that spending a night out on the town could send you broke. But surprisingly, some of the best bars in LA offer dirt cheap happy hour specials in the afternoons and early evenings—meaning you can get fully immersed in the experience while still saving up for that private jet you’ve been dreaming of.
Here’s 7 of the best bars in LA guaranteed for good times and happy hour vibes.
Connie And Ted’s
8171 Santa Monica Blvd, West Hollywood
Image credit: Connie and Ted's | Instagram
Specialising in market fresh seafood without the stuffiness, Connie and Ted’s was once the hottest venue in WeHo. Their bountiful platters of crustaceans, steaming bowls of chowder and excessively pricey lobster rolls drew rambunctious crowds, and queues of diners that snaked down the street. While the restaurant is still popular, the bar area is more chill–and between 4-7pm weekdays, drinks will only set you back $6.
Redbird
114 E 2nd St, Los Angeles
Image credit: Redbird | Instagram
From 5-7pm Wednesday to Friday, the award-winning bar program at Redbird becomes dangerously accessible—with $11 wines and cocktails that are so tempting, it’s difficult not to order them all. Many try. Fortunately, happy hour also includes a selection of small plates to soak up the alcoholic beverages; choose from duck wings, spicy shishito peppers and grilled prawns, all of which are $15 and available at the bar.
Nick + Stef’s Steakhouse
330 S Hope St, Los Angeles
Image credit: Nick + Stef's | Instagram
There’s $9 beers, $11 wines and $13 cocktails on show all week at Nick + Stef’s, to complement their retro menu of devilled eggs, heaving plates of grilled steak and potato wedges. Happy hour cocktails are split between the classics (perhaps a spritz, moscow mule, old fashioned or margarita) and those with a modern twist, like the sangaree rose—a blissful concoction of rose wine, St Germain, creme de peche, orange and lime soda.
Stache
8941 Santa Monica Blvd, West Hollywood
Image credit: Stache | Instagram
No matter what time of day you find yourself at Stache, a party will be going down. But head there before 7pm on any day of the week, and you’ll score happy hour prices to prepare yourself for the rowdy night ahead. There’s $9 palomas, mules and mojitos, $5 beer and generous mounds of fries to fuel you up before things get unruly. To find the venue, which is located smack in the centre of West Hollywood’s Boystown, just follow the sound of disco, drag shows and DJs.
Good Clean Fun
868 S Olive St, Los Angeles
Image credit: Good Clean Fun | Instagram
One of the best bars in LA for natural and minimal intervention wines, Good Clean Fun is a small but impressive operation. It’s often run as a one man show; your friendly server might be pouring beverages in between managing a stocktake, then ducking into the kitchen to whip up a quick charcuterie board or boxing up a take-home order at the adjacent wine store. But it works–and it brings a welcoming, neighbourly vibe to the concrete metropolis of downtown LA. Happy hour is from 2-6pm and includes a rotating selection of sparkling, rose, red, white and orange wines, plus cheese and caviar bumps.
Employees Only
7953 Santa Monica Blvd, West Hollywood
Image credit: Employees Only | Instagram
It doesn’t look like much from the street—in fact, there isn’t even any clear signage—but that’s the catch with speakeasies: they’re cool because nobody can find them. But get the coordinates right and you’ll discover a glamorous, Prohibition-era cocktail bar that’s considered one of the world’s best. Between 6 to 8 p.m (Tuesday to Sunday) it’s Golden Hour, when house wines are $10 by the glass, and bar snack specials include roasted bone marrow with gremolata and personal wood fired pizzas.
Tabula Rasa
5125 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles
Image credit: Tabula Rasa | Instagram
Proudly treading the borderline between high-brow wine bar and low-brow local pub, Tabula Rasa is the kind of neighbourhood establishment where everyone feels at home. On one hand there’s the hardcore enthusiasts who come here for rare vintage drops; on the other, the university students who are drawn in by $9 house wines and $6 beers (available from 4-6pm daily). Live jazz sessions, which happen on the last Sunday of every month, bring both camps together through the power of groove.
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