Boardner's

Boardner's is on North Cherokee Avenue, a quiet side street off Hollywood Boulevard, and the bar has been at 1652 N Cherokee Ave since 1942, when Steve Boardner lost his lease at Crossroads of the World and moved it here. The building is older still. The venue's about page dates the Cherokee Building to 1927 and names Norman Alpaugh as its architect, and the city now lists Boardner's as a Los Angeles Legacy Business.

There are really three rooms. The main bar holds 100, with black velvet high-back booths, low light and a fireplace. Behind it, a covered patio fills the old Spanish courtyard around a Moroccan tile fountain, with its own bar and a stage wired for live sets or a DJ. The nightclub is the big one: a 500-capacity hall with a dance floor, a DJ booth, a VIP mezzanine and floor-to-ceiling murals of stained glass and tombs from the Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris. The centerpiece bar came out of the Biltmore downtown. All told, the venue runs four full bars plus a kitchen.

The weekly calendar is promoter-driven. Club Decades takes Fridays and Bar Sinister takes Saturdays, with Blue Mondays, Wenzday's Party on Wednesdays and bands or guest nights on Tuesdays filling the rest of the week. Boardner's itself charges no cover. When a promoter sets an admission price, that's their call, so check the night's listing.

Hours are simple: the bar is open 5 PM to 2 AM every day, with happy hour from 5 to 8 PM Monday through Saturday and all day Sunday. Check the event listing for the night's age limit before you go. There's street parking right out front and two lots next door, and the venue is ADA accessible. If the place looks familiar, it has been a film location for Swingers, L.A. Confidential and Gone Girl, among many others.