https://rollcall.bar/stories/venues/Stories of the venues worth knowing and the people who made them, plus practical columns for the people running the room.en-UShttps://rollcall.bar/stories/venues/vandell/https://rollcall.bar/stories/venues/vandell/Sat, 10 Oct 2026 01:07:00 GMTThe 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.https://rollcall.bar/stories/venues/the-troubadour/https://rollcall.bar/stories/venues/the-troubadour/Sat, 10 Oct 2026 01:06:00 GMTJoni 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.https://rollcall.bar/stories/venues/daisy-margarita-bar/https://rollcall.bar/stories/venues/daisy-margarita-bar/Sat, 10 Oct 2026 01:05:00 GMTThe 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.https://rollcall.bar/stories/venues/lapaba/https://rollcall.bar/stories/venues/lapaba/Sat, 10 Oct 2026 01:04:00 GMTTwo 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.https://rollcall.bar/stories/venues/tiki-ti/https://rollcall.bar/stories/venues/tiki-ti/Sat, 10 Oct 2026 01:03:00 GMTRay 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.https://rollcall.bar/stories/venues/musso-and-frank-grill/https://rollcall.bar/stories/venues/musso-and-frank-grill/Sat, 10 Oct 2026 01:02:00 GMTIt 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.https://rollcall.bar/stories/venues/pacific-electric/https://rollcall.bar/stories/venues/pacific-electric/Sat, 10 Oct 2026 01:01:00 GMTBen 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.https://rollcall.bar/stories/venues/broken-spanish-comedor/https://rollcall.bar/stories/venues/broken-spanish-comedor/Sat, 10 Oct 2026 01:00:00 GMTRay 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.https://rollcall.bar/stories/venues/philippe-the-original/https://rollcall.bar/stories/venues/philippe-the-original/Sat, 10 Oct 2026 00:59:00 GMTSince 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.https://rollcall.bar/stories/venues/lugyah/https://rollcall.bar/stories/venues/lugyah/Sat, 10 Oct 2026 00:58:00 GMTAlfonso "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.https://rollcall.bar/stories/venues/the-dresden/https://rollcall.bar/stories/venues/the-dresden/Sat, 10 Oct 2026 00:57:00 GMTWhite 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.