RollCall
Stories
The places worth knowing, and the people who made them.
Each story covers one venue that does something nobody else does: the room, the history, the people, the thing regulars swear by.
Newest first.
Vandell · Los Feliz, Los Angeles
The team behind Donna's opened Vandell on Hillhurst in December 2025. Within four months it had a five-star Time Out review and a spot on North America's 50 Best Bars extended list. Here is what to drink and how to get a seat.
The Troubadour · West Hollywood
Joni Mitchell, James Taylor and Buffalo Springfield played some of their early shows here, and Elton John made his American debut on its stage in 1970. Nearly seventy years on, it is still an independent room of about 500 people.
Daisy Margarita Bar · Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles
The team behind Mírate opened a margarita-only cantina on Ventura Boulevard in April 2025. A year later it entered North America's 50 Best Bars at No. 44. Here is how the menu works, what to order and what is opening upstairs.
Lapaba · Koreatown, Los Angeles
Two Osteria Mozza alumni opened an Italian-Korean pasta counter on Western Avenue in early 2026. By June the Michelin Guide had named it a Bib Gourmand. Order the corn agnolotti.
Tiki-Ti · Los Feliz, Los Angeles
Ray Buhen poured at the original Don the Beachcomber before he opened his own bar in a violin repair shop in 1961. His family has kept the twelve stools, the ninety-odd drinks and the rituals going ever since.
Musso & Frank Grill · Hollywood, Los Angeles
It opened as Frank's Café in 1919. More than a hundred years later the same family still owns it, the 1934 bar is still in use, and much of the original menu has never changed.
Pacific Electric · Chinatown, Los Angeles
Ben Lovett of Mumford & Sons opened a renovated brick warehouse on Naud Street in March 2026, with L-Acoustics sound, a garden courtyard and a secret Indian food window. Here is what to know before your first show.
Broken Spanish Comedor · Los Angeles
Ray Garcia closed Broken Spanish downtown in 2020. In October 2025 he came back in an old A-frame on Washington Boulevard, looser and cheaper, and Bon Appétit put it on its 2026 Best New Restaurants list.
Philippe the Original · Downtown, Los Angeles
Since 1908 this downtown counter has served its dipped sandwiches, and for most of that time it has argued with Cole's about who invented them. After Cole's closed in 2026, Philippe's is the last claimant still serving.
Lugya'h · West Adams, Los Angeles
Alfonso "Poncho" Martinez and Odilia Romero turned their tlayuda pop-up into a counter at the new Maydan Market, and the Michelin Guide named it a Bib Gourmand in its first year.
The Dresden · Los Feliz, Los Angeles
White leather booths in the dining room, brown leather and faux rock walls in the lounge, and a piano that a husband-and-wife act played for decades. The Ferraro family has run the Dresden since 1954.
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