Bar Ama has solid cocktails and fun if not revelatory TexMex. We usually sit at the bar. I’ll second Orsa and Winston.
El Dorado - a new cocktail joint/lounge tucked under the El Dorado lofts @ Spring and 4th.
Baldoria isn’t super close - in Little Tokyo - inventive cocktail program and a menu that makes up in taste what it lacks in focus. The draw here is the space - very sci-fi, minimalist cool. Should be a cheap Uber from your hotel.
Closest restaurants within easy walking distance of The Standard with good cocktails would be Drago. If you want to walk for about 10 minutes or so, then Broken Spanish is a good, if not, better choice for both food and cocktails than Drago.
As to a standalone cocktail venue near The Standard, try The Varnish.
You will be very close to Miro which has a whiskey bar in its basement with a truly insane selection of whiskies (not cocktails though). Some of them are not cheap. The person working the bar is very friendly and enthusiastic.
Also, don’t get the downstairs bar confused with the whiskey den. They’re both downstairs but the whiskey bar is small lounge off the main downstairs bar.
Within walking distance, I’d vote for Drago Centro as well. Quality Italian, beautiful dining room.
Seven Grand is also within walking distance, they have an extensive collection. And BS Taqueria is right across the street from Seven Grand, with great gourmet Tacos; I heard their bar program is pretty solid as well.
If you can Uber, the recs on this list like Broken Spanish, Shibumi, Redbird, etc., are worth checking out.
how is slanted door different than little sister? just wondering, since a slanted door is slated to open down here soon.
the usual advice for is to go right when they open or around 10. if the OP is looking for a Saturday dinner reservation at 7p…yeah that’s not happening.
Little Sister’s food is a casual riff on Vietnamese informed by the Chef’s time spent in LA’s Asian melting pot, the San Gabriel Valley. Vuong is a serious chef, though. He’s mastered the classic repertoire and shows the same respect for high quality ingredients as Charles Phan. But his style is bolder than Phan’s and can be more fun than Slanted Door’s precise, bordering-on-fussy style. I like both restaurants very much and definitely recommend Little Sister if you’re a fan of The Slanted Door.
Also: Shibumi is unique - nothing like it in SF as far as I know
I agree. Little Sister Downtown is more like KronnerBurger, Hopscotch, or the Ramen Shop, or for that matter Slanted Door in its Valencia Street days. Respect for tradition but not a slave to it, first-rate ingredients, precise technique, bold flavors, moderate prices with furnishings, decor, and location to match.
I second Varnish for stand alone cocktails (no food). It’s a “speakeasy” in the back of Cole’s, one L.A.'s oldest restaurants.
Tips: Go early, as it’s small and gets crowded fast. If you drink too much you can slip into Cole’s for the famous French Dip. I don’t eat it, but the Lamb Dip is supposed to be the ticket.
Ah ok, cool. To me it is a very unique spot, but I keep hearing there are places that do the same thing but much better, but no one will ever give me the names. I am never sure if it is safe to recommend the place as a unique LA restaurant or not. In my personal travels I’ve yet to encounter a similar place myself though, but would certainly be happy to.
One way it’s different is that it is worse and more of a rip-off.
Went last night in SF. They are on autopilot. “Shaking beef” was 6 (!) small cubes of beef for $41, with a bunch of onions and a sauce with no kick. Steamed rice came out dry. Short ribs were just purely sweet with no balance. A total rip off. At least Little Sister is willing to be a little daring with their flavors; Slanted Door is a straight money hole.