Westside Tavern

(Credit: Barbara Davidson/Los Angeles Times )

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As Angelenos look for added value in a night out, restaurants anchored by well-developed bar concepts (or vice versa) are being crowned king. Places such as Craftbar and Cole’s draw, and keep, customers for a long evening of drinking and dining.

The newest contender to emerge in this sensible landscape is West Los Angeles’ Westside Tavern. Opened about a month ago by chef and partner Warren Schwartz (Saddle Peak Lodge, Patina, Whist at the Viceroy), the sprawling Midcentury Modern restaurant (it seats 220) welcomes diners with a 50-foot walnut bar touting ingeniously creative and classic cocktails created by well-respected mixologist Ryan Magarian.

The division between the bar and the restaurant is minimal, with a waist-high wooden divider the only indication of shifting space. Polished wood is everywhere: in the floors, tables, slatted ceilings and thick support beams (Schwartz calls it masculine and materialistic, but to me it feels like an upscale ski lodge). The space is tucked into the side of the Westside Pavilion with giant picture windows overlooking a pedestrian-friendly portion of Pico Boulevard, and it makes for an ideal place to meet for drinks before heading over to the neighboring Landmark Theatre.

At the bar, all juices are fresh-squeezed daily, a defining detail of the city’s exploding craft cocktail scene.

Thick, earthy carrot juice makes a carrot and cilantro caipirinha sing, and the lip-pursing tang of grapefruit juice adds a pleasing zing to a vodka rickey.

Just as bringing back classic cocktails like the Corpse Reviver No. 2 and the Sazerac is the hallmark of modern mixology, using locally sourced ingredients is the de rigueur choice of chefs everywhere. And Schwartz is no exception: He says that more than 70% of the restaurant’s produce comes from within 300 miles of the building.

He describes the restaurant as a “grill, tavern, pub, even Jewish deli on some level.” His goal is to deconstruct modern California cuisine into a sort of gourmet but bare-bones rusticity. He calls it California tavern cuisine.

Noteworthy dishes include a savory James Ranch lamb French dip sandwich with caramelized onions, horseradish cream and rosemary au jus (it’s messy but worth it); a spit-roasted lemon and mustard chicken; and the hot smoked salmon filet with creamy dill yogurt, fried capers and bagel crisps.

All of the specialty cocktails at the bar run $9, which is a steal for involved, handcrafted cocktails that will set you back nearly $15 at many other farmers’ market-focused bars, including Copa d’Oro in Santa Monica.

Another selling point for Westside Tavern is its stellar soundtrack. It’s impossible to place too much of a premium on the volume and quality of music played in a bar or restaurant, and Schwartz had a musician friend put together a list of tunes that you’ll be hard-pressed to find at any comparably classy joint. The Afghan Whigs, Modern Lovers and the Pixies are just the start, and all played at a volume that won’t interfere with your digestion.