Apotheke Los Angeles

Apotheke Los Angeles is the West Coast room of the New York cocktail bar of the same name, and the same operator runs it alongside two Manhattan locations. The address is 1746 N Spring St, a few blocks up Spring Street from Los Angeles State Historic Park on the east side of Chinatown. The venue's site calls it a botanical cocktail lounge, and the house drinks are listed as "Apotheke Formulas." The bar notes two awards on its own page: Time Out's "Most Stylish Bar" and a German Design Award for its interior architecture.

It's a bar first. The dance nights here come from promoters who book the room for a set, so expect a DJ in a cocktail bar rather than a nightclub with a big floor, and expect the drinks menu to be the point of the evening for most of the people around you.

Hours are posted on the venue's page: Thursday and Sunday from 7 PM to midnight, Friday and Saturday from 6 PM to 1 AM. The bar asks for sophisticated attire and says entry is at the host's discretion, so leave the gym clothes at home. It doesn't publish an age policy, and promoters set their own, so check the event listing before you go. Paid parking sits on Naud Street, directly behind the bar. Table reservations run through the operator's site, and private buyouts go through its events team, which describes them as a cocktail reception with passed bites or a family-style seated dinner.