The best dive bars in Los Angeles are exactly what this city needs — antidotes to the rooftop-pool-and-craft-cocktail industrial complex that has taken over every neighbourhood from Silver Lake to Santa Monica. We have been drinking in these places for years, through earthquakes and industry strikes and the particular midnight hour when Hollywood Boulevard goes quiet and the real bar-goers come out. These are the ones worth finding.
The Classic Hollywood Dive Bars
Hollywood's best dive bars have survived multiple cycles of the city's reinvention. They were here before the craft cocktail bars moved in, and they will be here after the next wave of closures. Walk in without a reservation, order something simple, and stay for longer than you planned.
01
The Frolic Room
Hollywood Blvd
$
Old Hollywood / Dark
Narrow, dim, and exactly right. The Frolic Room has been pouring drinks next to the Pantages Theatre since 1930 and has no interest in becoming anything else. The Al Hirschfeld caricatures on the wall, the cash-only policy at the back bar, and the mix of off-duty stagehands and film industry lifers give it an authenticity that money cannot manufacture. Go on a weeknight. The weekend crowd is too large.
Order: Whiskey neat with a Budweiser back
02
Boardner's
Hollywood
$
Neon-lit / Neighbourhood
Open since 1942 and still going, Boardner's is a proper neighbourhood bar that happens to sit in Hollywood. The back patio fills up early; the front bar, with its red vinyl stools and jukebox, is where the real conversations happen. The cocktail list is deliberately short and priced like it should be. Our pick for a Tuesday night when nothing else is right.
Order: Jack and Coke, no ice
03
King Eddy Saloon
Downtown LA
$
Historic / Gritty
The oldest bar in Downtown LA has been operating since 1933 — surviving Prohibition, multiple ownership changes, and the gentrification of the surrounding Skid Row-adjacent blocks. The floor is original wood. The back bar mirror is the same one that has reflected several generations of regulars. Order a beer. Do not ask for the wifi password. It is a place for drinking and for talking, in that order.
Order: Draft Pabst with a shot of rye
Exploring the full Los Angeles bar scene
Every category and neighbourhood, from cocktail bars in Los Feliz to hidden gems in Highland Park. Our complete LA guide covers 120+ listings.
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East Side Dives: Echo Park, Silver Lake & Los Feliz
The east side of LA has always had the best dive bars. Before Silver Lake became a destination for expensive coffee, it had cheap bars with good jukeboxes and regulars who came every night. Many of those bars are still there. Here are the ones we recommend without hesitation.
04
The Short Stop
Echo Park
$
Former Cop Bar / Lively
A former police bar that became a neighbourhood institution when the precinct moved out and the artists moved in. The Short Stop sits on Sunset at the edge of Echo Park and pulls a crowd that is impossible to categorise. Pool table in the back, small dance floor on weekends, and a front bar where the conversation never stops. The beer selection is modest. That is not the point.
Order: Whatever is on draft cheapest
05
Ye Rustic Inn
Los Feliz
$
Local Institution / Warm
Los Feliz's most reliable neighbourhood bar has been in business since 1959. The regulars know each other by name. The bartenders know what everyone is having before they sit down. Food runs until late — the burger is better than it has any right to be. The fireplace in the back corner runs through November into March, and in a city that gets cold enough to matter, that matters.
Order: Seasonal draft beer and the green chili burger
06
The Gold Room
Echo Park
$
Cash Only / Legendary
Echo Park's most beloved dive is cash only, opens at 6am, and has a mural of boxers on the wall. The Gold Room was a pillar of the neighbourhood before the lake became a headline and a political flashpoint. The clientele is multigenerational and multilingual. The well drinks are poured with intent. If you have to explain to someone why this bar matters, they will not understand.
Order: Michelada or a well margarita
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Beyond the Obvious: Hidden Dives Across the City
These are the bars we do not usually put in guides, because every mention brings in a week of tourists followed by three months of locals complaining. We are putting them here anyway because they deserve to be found by the right people, and the right people are the kind who read this far.
07
Tonga Hut
North Hollywood
$$
Tiki / Low-lit
The oldest tiki bar in LA (est. 1958) is technically a dive in the best sense — dark, cheap for what it offers, decorated with decades of accumulated nautical kitsch. The rum drinks are built to the original recipes, which means they are stronger than they taste. The membership club in the back, the Loyal Order of the Drooling Bastard, has been inducting regulars since the Eisenhower administration.
Order: Tonga Punch or the Trade Winds
08
Footsie's Bar
Eagle Rock
$
Neighbourhood / Unpretentious
Eagle Rock's scruffiest bar is on a stretch of Colorado Blvd that has not been touched by the neighbourhood's gentrification. The regulars have been coming since the 1980s and show no signs of stopping. Cheap beers, decent wings, and a pool table that requires exact change for the timer. The jukebox selection is unironically good.
Order: Modelo with a tequila shot
09
The Drawing Room
Los Feliz
$
Midnight Bar / Quiet
Opens at midnight, closes at 2am, and does not pretend to be anything other than a place for late-shift workers and committed night owls. The Drawing Room has been this way for decades. The lighting is low enough to be respectful of everyone's business. The bartenders are efficient and unbothered. This is the bar you go to when everything else has closed and you are not done yet.
Order: Gin and tonic, well poured
10
Hank's Bar
Koreatown
$
Karaoke Dive / Late Night
Koreatown's K-Town bar strip is better known for its private karaoke rooms and Korean BBQ, but Hank's is the neighbourhood's best no-frills dive. The back room gets loud on Friday nights when the karaoke machine comes out. The bartenders have seen everything and are impressed by nothing, which is precisely the energy a good dive bar needs at 1am on a Thursday.
Order: OB (Oriental Brewery) lager, ice cold
Looking for LA's hidden gem bars
Our curated guide to Los Angeles's most under-the-radar drinking spots — the bars the locals don't advertise.
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Our Verdict on LA's Dive Bar Scene
The best dive bars in Los Angeles survive because they are necessary. In a city where everything is performance and every bar is a set piece, these places are the relief valve — cheap, dark, and honest about what they are. Book nothing, dress down, and bring cash. The ones that have been here for fifty years will be here for fifty more.
Our top recommendation: The Gold Room in Echo Park for the purest version of what an LA dive bar should be. If you need a backup when Gold Room gets crowded, walk to The Short Stop three blocks away and start again from the beginning.
The best dive bars in New York
From Alphabet City to Bushwick — the New York dives that have earned their reputations over decades.
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