L.A. is famous for its legendary bar scene, but not every Southern California bar is created equal. Only a few can truly claim to be one of a kind, with features that make them stand out from the standard dive bar. Here are seven of the top unique bars in California.
1. Anderson Valley Brewing Company (Boonville)
Located in Mendocino County’s Anderson Valley, this craft brewery’s tasting room lets drinkers sample its ales, porters, and stouts. The tap room is fun enough for serious beer connoisseurs, but AVBC also has a beer garden. Patrons can play disc golf and, perhaps best of all, pet the sheep and pygmy goats that call the beer garden home.
2. The Black Horse London Pub (San Francisco)
Officially the smallest bar in San Francisco, the Black Horse measures 19 ft. by 7 ft. Even though the tiny pub has a maximum capacity of 22 patrons and barely more space than the average college dorm room, it still has all the trappings of an English pub. There are no taps, so all beers are bottled and selection varies based on what the owner picks up at the grocery store. You’ll find them in a claw foot bathtub filled with ice behind the bar. But you’re not going there for the beer selection; you’re going there to say you crammed yourself into SF’s smallest bar for a drink or two.
3. Heinold’s First and Last Chance Saloon (Oakland)
When Johnny Heinold first opened this saloon in 1883, it often was the last chance for sailors to drink before shoving off to see and the first place they visited after a long ocean voyage. Found on Jack London Square, this pub is said to have inspired scenes in that Oakland-born literary light’s novels. Even more remarkably, the building itself is made from the remains of a whaling ship and used to serve as bunkhouse for oyster fishermen.
Heinold’s retains its original gas lighting, the last pub in California to do so. Patrons will also note its extremely slanted floor, uncorrected since the damage was done by the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Those with a sharp eye will spot the saloon’s clock permanently stuck at 5:18, the time the earthquake hit.
4. Magic|Bar (Encino)
Benjamin Schrader’s popup, Monday-only, second floor saloon above Encino Commons on Ventura Boulevard is an intimate space where patrons can drink, eat free popcorn (it serves no other food) and come face to face with magicians who specialize in close-up tricks. Come in to have Benjamin pour you a handcrafted cocktail, stay for the show.
5. Mo’s House of Axe (Los Angeles)
Located in Koreatown in L.A., Mo’s House of Axe is a weird little combination of bar, barbecue restaurant and place to throw axes. If you have a competitive streak, you’ll get into matching your axe-throwing skills against those of your friends. For safety, your group will be assigned an axe master, just in case for some reason drinking alcohol and throwing deadly weapons don’t mix. Even if axe-throwing doesn’t turn out to be your thing, you can still enjoy live music from bands and DJs.
6. Silver Bar Cocktail Lounge (San Luis Obispo)
The Silver Bar is the cocktail lounge at the Gold Rush Steak House located inside the legendary Madonna Inn. Alex and Phyllis Madonna built this kitschy masterpiece of mid-century American motel culture in 1958. Keeping with the inn’s psychedelic decor, the signature color of the lounge is pink: pink bar top, cushy pink bar stools, pink floral carpet, pink wingback chairs.
Enjoy signature cocktails like the Madonna Cadillac (Hacienda Vieja Reposado tequila, Cointreau, lime juice, and sweet & sour mix with a float of Grand Marnier liqueur) or choose from local beers and ciders. The extensive wine list includes, of course, rosé.
7. Tiki-Ti Cocktail Lounge (Los Angeles)
This small tiki-themed cocktail lounge that opened in 1961 wasn’t the first kitschy Pacifica-inspired saloon in L.A., but it is remarkable for serving a whopping 94 different tropical drinks. No beer or wine muddles up the tropical cocktail menu, and this quirky retro bar with a grand total of 12 stools has a wheel to help you make up your mind if you don’t know where to start with the cocktail menu. The walls are covered with souvenirs, mostly from the bar’s regulars. One of the benefits of becoming a regular here is knowing which drink orders call for raucous yelling (spoiler alert: it’s the Uga Booga and the Blood & Sand).
LeBarEuropeen says
There us a quaint bar in Melbourne Docklands Australia, it’s 4.2 feet x 6.5ft approx 26sq feet, licenced for 4 people only.