L.A. is a city where nightlife thrives on the convention of exclusivity. Unfortunately, it’s also a place where being exclusive often equates to forking over a few hundred bucks for a bottle of Grey Goose and a place to sit. A more cost effective route to insider drinking is simply to snag a spot at an extremely small bar. You can’t help but feel special while sipping cocktails in a space the size of your living room.
SIZE: S -- Laurie Mulstay (Magnolia, Chloe) is a master of putting sumptuous, comfortable lounges into pocket sized spaces. With a capacity roughly the size of the Jolie/Pitt family, Mulstay's the Bar is a doll size venture that maintains a massive hipster following while remaining a no-hype neighborhood place heavy on strong drinks and classic rock.
SIZE: S -- The wine bar in Silverlake’s Café Stella offers multi-faceted intimacy. The dim lights and trendy French vibe give the place a romantic date night ambiance, and the sliver of a bar –12 stools, three booths—is so small that you can’t avoid getting a little action as you bump into fellow wine enthusiasts while trying to maneuver to a spot from which to order Bourdeaux and truffle fries.
SIZE: XXS -- This itsy bitsy wine bar connected to Delancey charms its dozen maximum patrons with a rotating selection of fine wines, artisan cheeses and purple velvet lined walls. The hyper-intimate wine room feels more like private quarters fit for a prince—or Prince—than a bar.
SIZE: S -- Don't let The Dime's dim red lighting fool you into thinking the bar is bigger than it seems. It ain't. In fact, the only thing large about this casually hip neighborhood lounge is its Red Bull and Goldschlager cocktail, a drink they call the Big Red.
SIZE: S -- The Harbor Room has a mini-capacity (30) but a huge sense of generosity when it comes to the strength of your drink—you’ll stumble out. This casual, divey bar is usually populated with local regulars, but rarely fills up, so there’s just enough space for an ad-hoc dance floor on which to get down to the Cash, Merle Haggard and Beach Boys coming from the jukebox.
SIZE: S -- By putting its size right in the name, this Miracle Mile beer and wine bar doesn’t front about its petite stature. But, in true little guy complex fashion, the place compensates for its below 50 capacity with big time partying. Little Bar packs in a rowdy neighborhood crowd that favors huge mugs of beer and the tiniest route to drunkenness, shots, all of which are mixed with various flavors of Soju.
SIZE: S -- Tiki-Ti is as famous for its minimal square footage as it is for its massive selection of fruity, tropical cocktails. There are so many options in so many assorted neon hues that every person in the bar could simultaneously sip something different and bright blue concoctions would remain unordered. Larger groups get in faster by breaking up into pairs; just don’t let the epic hodgepodge of crap on the walls make you feel claustrophobic once you enter.
Katie Bain is contributing editor for Metromix Los Angeles.
What other people are saying...
TheCHIMP.net from Sunset Strip - March 05, 2009 at 12:58 PM
This should have been written in 5pt font
Report This CommentTrey from Culver City - February 25, 2009 at 4:14 PM
I almost can't read your articles anymore, b/c one I don't have enough money to go to ALL these bars and two I don't think my liver could handle it.
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