California / Los Angeles
The Varnish
A dark-paneled room behind a century-old French dip sandwich shop, one of the bars that helped drag downtown LA's cocktail scene back to life.
Getting in
Through the unmarked door at the back of Cole's French Dip.
Order this
Old Cuban
Your passport
Hidden Door rooms like this one are catalogued across the trail — see every hidden door bar.
Keep the night going
Nearest doors
4.5The Walker Inn
Koreatown · Los Angeles, CA · 3.1 mi
A tasting-menu approach to cocktails in a room the size of a living room, tucked behind a Koreatown diner counter.
4.2La Descarga
East Hollywood · Los Angeles, CA · 5.0 mi
A rum-soaked Cuban fantasy behind a fake storefront, complete with a live rumba band and cigar rollers most nights.
4.3Good Times at Davey Wayne's
Hollywood · Los Angeles, CA · 5.7 mi
A front room styled like a 1970s rec room hides a backyard patio party through a working refrigerator door.
4.6Smuggler's Cove
Hayes Valley · San Francisco, CA · 347.9 mi
Three floors of shipwreck theming and the deepest rum library on the West Coast, built by people who treat tiki as serious anthropology.
The Gear Room
Drink like The Varnish at home
Death & Co: Modern Classic Cocktails
The East Village room on the trail, in book form. 500 recipes and the reasoning behind them.
Regarding Cocktails — Sasha Petraske
From the man behind Milk & Honey, the room that became Attaboy. Spare, exact, opinionated.
Nick & Nora Glasses (set of 4)
The stem that made the coupe look loud. Named for the most functional drunks in film.
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