The Best Bar in The Valley, Los Angeles

Drinking an old fashioned inside a whisky barrel-shaped bar might seem gimmicky, but Idle Hour, which opened back in 1941 on the outskirts of NoHo, is actually a history lesson in SoCal architecture. As the car became king and people stopped walking in L.A. as the song says, businesses turned to programmatic architecture, where structures take the form of their product or service, to grab attentions as they whiz by. Most of these are long gone but 1933 Group, known for their era-themed establishments and preservation projects, restored the cask, installed another programmatic example—a pipe-smoking bulldog—on a great patio, added a kitchen to pump out stick-to-the-ribs food (like burgers, tenders, and sloppy tots), and stocked up on quality craft beers.