The Happiest Hour

Clifton's

One of the famous 35 cent cocktails at the Edison

By Gillian Singletary

The best happy hours Downtown has to offer

Some people insist that drinking and bars are only for nighttime. We want nothing to do with those unadventurous and dangerously sober nobodies. That's why we'd like to introduce you to Downtown L.A.'s best spots for starting out your night right, whether you just got off of work or you just finished a quality session on the Kinetic.

Complain About the Boss Happy Hour: Bar 107


The reason that happy hour is so happy is because you're off work. You loosen your tie (I think people still wear ties) and throw back a beer with the one or two co-workers you can stand. The dark, often musty, enclave of Bar 107 is a Downtown shortcut to this post-work state of mind. From 3-8pm you'll get discounts on the already cheap drinks (the specials themselves vary) and often there will be someone from the bar grilling up free burgers out front. Bar 107 is decidedly low key and anything but pretentious with a downtown, unwashed hipster ambience. Though this may mean that you'll get a dirty look if you order a drink that requires a cocktail shaker, it also means that you probably won't run into your boss there – unless she's really cool.

Get the Most Out of Your Work Outfit Happy Hour: The Edison

 

Falling within the elegantly scalloped shadow of the Disney Concert Hall, First and Hope advertises itself as a "supper club," which is code for "you, sir, are going to be paying 10 dollars for that mac and cheese." The menu tends toward the higher range of what one could reasonably expect to pay for fashionable soul food, but when these excesses reach their apogee, it's nothing short of genius. The Dr. Pepper Duck is just such an elegant aberration. Served between slices of bleu cheese focaccia, the "duck" of the sandwich's moniker is marinated in Dr. Pepper, then accented by red-onion cherry jam and baby arugula. It is a thing to behold, a perfect mix of the restaurant's twin obsessions with down-home, Southern cooking and Jazz Age New York refinement.

Pre-Date Happy Hour: Caña Rum Bar


Of course, it will be a great help if your date has a penchant for rum because that's all you'll find at this out of the way "rum society." In the space that used to be occupied by the ultra-exclusive Doheny, you can now visit the less exclusive (but still members only) Caña Rum Bar. After ponying up the yearly membership fee of $20 you'll have unlimited access to their tropical happy hour, weekdays from 6-8pm. Freshly made mojitos and traditional daiquiris, made with Matusalem Platino rum, lime juice, and sugar, are only $6 and any other specialty drink is $2 off. It's a perfect pre-date spot to cozy up with something refreshing and sweet…and buy her a daiquiri.

One Night Only Happy Hour: Checkers Downtown "Four"


In a perfect world, happy hour would be every night. In an even more perfect world, happy hour would be every night, all night, and no one would have to get up for work in the morning – and every Internet date you met would end up looking like Orlando Bloom or Katy Perry, but we don't live in a perfect world and you'll probably end up with someone closer to Jonah Hill. One of Downtown's best happy hours is only offered one night a week, at Four at Checkers Downtown. Every Thursday they offer up 4 Signature Cocktails and 4 Small Plates from Chef David Baker for only $4. Yes, everything from a glamorous Nick and Nora Cocktail (Oxley gin and Lillet Blanc with freshly squeezed grapefruit and lime juice and a homemade cardamom-infused simple syrup) to a Warm Brie and Cucumber Crostini for a few measly dollars. Though the word "Hilton" might conjure something less than classy, you can bet your bottom dollar (or four) that this happy hour comes with a happy ending (no, not that kind).


ADVERTISEMENT