Best LA Restaurants & Bars With Old Hollywood Glamour
Amid LA's present day apocalyptic freeway closures, celebrities with voyeuristic fame and organic veganism, there are elements of the classic, glamorous Los Angeles that were sold to preceding generations. That exclusive, lush, luxurious Hollywood lifestyle was seen as only attainable by a few, but envied by many. Luckily for those who live in LA or visit it today, traces of that old Hollywood glamour can be embraced by most, enjoyed by some, reminisced by others, and attained by all at restaurants and bars throughout the city.
Tower Bar
8358 Sunset Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90069
(323) 848-6677
www.sunsettowerhotel.com
A pianist playing a bluesy number, diners in their 40s and 50s dressed sharply in what would be considered vintage clothing if a hipster were wearing it, and the surprisingly pleasant odor of cigarettes wafting in from a terrace that overlooks a swimming pool. You've watched this exact scene in a movie, or can recall a fantasy where this is the Hollywood you've moved to Los Angeles for. This old Hollywood glamour lives on and exists, in the present, on Sunset Boulevard at Tower Bar just beyond the entrance of the Sunset Tower Hotel. Housed in Bugsy Siegel's old apartment on the ground floor, this 80-seat bar is about as old Hollywood as it gets. With its mysterious and glamorous Hollywood past, guests sip on cocktails while listening to jazz pianists. The decor will bring you back in time and have you feeling like you were actually sitting next to Bugsy Siegel.
The Parlour Room
6423 Yucca St.
Los Angeles, CA 90028
(323) 463-0609
www.vintagebargroup.com
Two-for-one drinks and $5 martinis can still be classy. Especially when showcased at a Hollywood bar with crystal chandeliers, gold framed gaudy mirrors, marble tabletops and velvet wallpaper (it begs you to touch it). Sprinkle in a dash of the new school with a touchscreen juke box that plays hits that get the doe-eyed acting students all riled up, and The Parlour Room in Hollywood becomes an enjoyable spot for a young crowd to enjoy a modern day version of vintage Hollywood.
Cleo / Redbury Hotel
1717 Vine St
Los Angeles, CA 90028
(323) 962-1711
www.cleorestaurant.com
Old Hollywood glamour meets the Egyptian Sahara at Cleo, in the tastefully throwback-themed Redbury Hotel. At this popular eatery, patrons dine on contemporary Mediterranean eats bubbling from a pizza oven as well as Old Fashioned cocktails. Add in a recipe for piquillo pepper dip scribbled on a gold-rimmed mirror, and you've got the perfect combination for a cool, understated night out in Hollywood. Take advantage of the huge photos of Marlene Dietrich or Jean Harlow in the lobby areas for a retro selfie photo opp as well. Although you're stepping into a modern establishment, you'll feel hints of old Hollywood glamour all around.
Related: Best Hotel Dining In Los Angeles
The Frolic Room
6245 Hollywood Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90028
(323) 462-5890
Old Hollywood glamour doesn't necessarily have to mean upscale fancy. It can be found in a dive bar with a sceney or downright dark and mysterious setting. Directly next door to the Pantages Theatre is one of Hollywood Boulevard's oldest dive bars, the Frolic Room. Traces of the past live on in not only its one-of-a-kind cartoon mural of celebrities including Marilyn Monroe, Frank Sinatra and Groucho Marx, but its mysterious legacy as the last place visited by the Black Dahlia. Have a seat on one of the room's many barstools, put some money in the jukebox and indulge in a historical piece of Hollywood past.
Gallery Bar / Millennium Biltmore Hotel
506 S Grand Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90071
(213) 624-1011
www.millenniumhotels.com
The Millennium Biltmore Hotel, an iconic Downtown LA hotel, houses a tourist friendly, 1920s themed bar just beyond its grand lobby. Gallery Bar takes you back to the Prohibition Era with a drink menu dedicated to numerous variations of the Manhattan cocktail and an entire page devoted to cognacs and single malt whiskeys. Cozy up on a tufted leather banquette in a dim lit corner while the trumpet of a live jazz trio briefly takes you away from the camera wielding tourists in souvenir t-shirts.
