{"id":305646,"date":"2026-05-08T07:54:15","date_gmt":"2026-05-08T07:54:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/305646\/"},"modified":"2026-05-08T07:54:15","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T07:54:15","slug":"los-angeless-bar-problem-is-sprawl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/305646\/","title":{"rendered":"Los Angeles\u2019s Bar Problem Is Sprawl"},"content":{"rendered":"

A version of this story originally appeared on May 7 in our Kang Town newsletter. Esther Tseng is an Eater Los Angeles contributor and the academy chair of the USA West region for the World\u2019s 50 Best Bars. The organization released its list of North America\u2019s 50 Best Bars in 2026<\/a> in late April.<\/p>\n

On a recent trip to New York City, I noticed something about the city\u2019s best bars. In Greenwich Village, Angel\u2019s Share<\/a> is one block away from Employees Only<\/a> and four from Sip & Guzzle<\/a>. Bar Snack<\/a> and Schmuck<\/a> are separated by one block. It\u2019s just a short jaunt north to Martiny\u2019s<\/a> or a few blocks south to Superbueno<\/a> and Double Chicken Please<\/a>. These bars all lie within one square mile, and all \u2014 plus some more for a total of 13 in New York \u2014 were just named in North America\u2019s 50 Best Bars for 2026, including four spots in the top 10.<\/p>\n

For a Los Angeles-based writer who loves her city and whose beat includes bars, it\u2019s hard to describe this concentration of lauded NYC watering holes with anything other than envy. Just two Los Angeles bars, M\u00edrate<\/a> in Los Feliz (No. 28) and Daisy<\/a> in Sherman Oaks (No. 44), made the list this year, and they\u2019re operated by the same group.<\/p>\n

All of the bars on the list have stellar cocktail menus and captivating atmospheres, but it\u2019s undeniable that \u201clocation, location, location\u201d is important too \u2014 especially when it comes to recognition by awards bodies. In Mexico City, which had the second-highest number of spots on the list, all seven winning bars were located in or near one neighborhood, Roma Norte. The winners in Toronto, Chicago, and Vancouver, which each had four, weren\u2019t so close to one another, but they did surround their respective downtowns.<\/p>\n

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In Los Angeles, we have so many wonderful third spaces at which to imbibe all over the city. Their cocktail programs compete among the best in the country. We have drinks by some of the most creative bartenders at the top of their game, who utilize ingredients from arguably the best farmers markets in the world.
Yet they fly under the radar because of our sprawl. Car culture and prohibitively expensive rideshares make bar-hopping impossible for all but the wealthy. Tourists \u2014 and visiting bar industry folks who vote for awards and lists \u2014 face huge challenges navigating and understanding the city. Downtown Los Angeles has been especially hit hard by office vacancies due to COVID, wildfires, writers\u2019 strikes, and the downturn of the entertainment industry, contributing to the closure of bars like the award-winning<\/a> Varnish<\/a>.<\/p>\n

If you look at 50 Best\u2019s extended list of bars ranked 51 to 100<\/a>, newcomer Vandell<\/a> (No. 68) and Thunderbolt<\/a> (No. 92) are walking distance (or a short car ride away) from M\u00edrate. Like closely packed bars in other cities, these spots help generate interest and recognition for each other by sharing spillover traffic and creating a strong, local community based around good drinks.<\/p>\n

But take Damn, I Miss Paris<\/a> in West Adams, a cozy bar with immaculate vibes paired with impeccable classic and signature cocktails that pay homage to SoCal. Or Not No Bar<\/a> in Santa Monica, which offers a host of market-forward drinks paired with pizza and vinyl. And Bar Next Door<\/a> in West Hollywood (No. 100<\/a> on last year\u2019s list), which serves up balanced but unexpected drinks with a side of Hollywood history. They all offer innovative beverages in inviting spaces, but they don\u2019t get the same kind of overflow from other craft cocktail bars nearby.<\/p>\n

\"Martini<\/a><\/p>\n

Martini from Firstborn. Wonho Frank Lee<\/p>\n

Sprawl isn\u2019t the only thing holding bars back. Another issue is that a lot of LA\u2019s top-notch cocktail programs are located inside restaurants, like Morihiro<\/a>, Kato<\/a>, Pasjoli<\/a>, Firstborn<\/a>, and Darling by Sean Brock<\/a>. But their identities as restaurants overshadow the drinks, often causing customers and awards voters to overlook them.<\/p>\n

In my experience, Los Angeles bars also tend not to host guest shifts from visiting bartenders as much as bars in other cities. This kind of cocktail cultural exchange is a critical part of building recognizable brands and close relationships, which boost bars to the top of award lists. Guest shifts are costly, but bars elsewhere have accepted them and worked them into marketing budgets (often supplemented by brand sponsorships). Thankfully, I\u2019ve been seeing them more on the West Coast in recent years, and hopefully it\u2019ll increase visibility for the bar scene.<\/p>\n

These issues aren\u2019t just important for awards or tourists. They\u2019re also obstacles to creating local community and engagement with LA\u2019s third spaces, dampening interest among Angelenos in visiting new spots or consistently patronizing neighborhood businesses. Amid all the closures Los Angeles has been bombarded with, bars need all the support they can get.<\/p>\n

So visit your favorite bars more often during the week (and try nonalcoholic drinks on nights where you prefer to stay sober). Check out guest bartenders from out of town. Go during DJ nights or other special events. Hit a second stop for an aperitif before dinner out or a nightcap after. Los Angeles\u2019s bar culture has so much to offer, and it\u2019s up to us to keep it alive \u2014 world rankings be damned.<\/p>\n

Note: Esther Tseng\u2019s opinions are entirely her own. She does not speak on behalf of the World\u2019s 50 Best Bars organization.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A version of this story originally appeared on May 7 in our Kang Town newsletter. Esther Tseng is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":305647,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[48,118403,52,51,47,50,49],"class_list":["post-305646","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-la","tag-la-drink-news","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305646","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=305646"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305646\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/305647"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=305646"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=305646"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=305646"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}