The Dresden

The Dresden opened in 1954 on Vermont Avenue in Los Feliz and has looked more or less the same ever since. Red vinyl booths, low lighting, a long bar, and every evening a duo performing standards to a crowd that is genuinely pleased to be there. Marty and Elayne — the musical duo who became the bar's most celebrated fixture — performed here for over 30 years before Elayne's passing in 2020. Their version of old Hollywood showroom entertainment became famous beyond Los Angeles when the bar featured in the 1996 film Swingers, which introduced an entire generation to the culture of the cocktail lounge.

The drinks are traditional and priced with unusual restraint for Los Angeles. A proper Old Fashioned costs less here than in most Silver Lake cocktail bars opened in the last decade, and it is made correctly. The Bloody Mary at brunch is one of the best in the city. What makes The Dresden valuable is not just the nostalgia but the fact that the nostalgia is genuine — this is not a designed atmosphere but a preserved one, and the difference is perceptible the moment you walk in. For a fuller picture of the Los Angeles cocktail bar scene, The Dresden represents the historical anchor around which the rest of the city's bar culture has developed.

Los Feliz is one of the best neighbourhoods in LA for bar-hopping. The Dresden sits at its centre, and our guide to the best bars in Los Angeles covers the dozen or so bars worth visiting within a mile of Vermont Avenue. Those building a longer evening should consider the broader Los Angeles bar guide for the full picture of what the city offers in 2025. For something at the opposite end of the theatrical spectrum — a hidden Victorian speakeasy with a trapdoor entrance and fire performers — No Vacancy in Hollywood is the city's most dramatically presented drinking experience.