LA bars

Wurstkuche, Little Bear LA. And there's always Yardhouse.

 

Beer Belly in KTown is also usually pretty solid, though it's not downtown proper.

 

far bar in little tokyo... great bottle and tap list... http://farbarla.com/

 

Library Bar isn't bad. http://librarybarla.com/

 

If you mean litterally downtown, then Spring Street bar is decent imo. If you have a car, then you have a lot more & better options around the county. http://beeradvocate.com/beerfly/city/9

 

Downtown: Wurstkuche (mostly euro brews), Far Bar (great selection), Spring Street, Senor Fish, Escondite, Spice Table, Spitz, Izakaya Fu-Ga, Xli-xe
KTown: Beer Belly, Biergarten

My stomping grounds is by far Far Bar. Great place.

 

I second Spice Table. Although be warned it's not really a "bar" vibe. Somewhat nicer of a restaurant. Great food, but be advised that it's not exactly cheap.

They usually have some stuff from Alesmith, The Bruery, Craftsman...

 

I third (or fourth) my local bar Far Bar. Excellent selection and they usually have a couple of events a week.

One other place I really like is Barbara at the Brewery. Technically Boyle Heights, but close enough. Great RRBC selection most of the time.

 

Also, I can't believe this hasn't been mentioned yet, but not far from downtown LA is Verdugo Bar (http://www.verdugobar.com/) and Mohawk Bend (http://mohawk.la/) (all CA beers with some out of state guest taps sometimes)

 

I'm also looking for good beer places in LA. I'll be staying in San Gabriel Hilton (apparently Chinatown area?) end of March/early April. I need help choosing 3 or so places to hit. I won't have my own car but can get someone to drive us if these places aren't too far...but I'd like a local's opinion cuz what looks close on Google Maps might actually be a huge PITA to drive to...

Eagle Rock Brewery
Lucky Baldwin's (trappiste or old towne location?)
Congregation Ale House
Dog Haus Biergarten
Haven Gastropub
Kings Row Gastro Pub
38° Ale House & Grill
Far Bar Little Tokyo (99% certain I want to check this place out)
any other recs near San Gabriel/Pasadena/Alhambra/etc

AFAIK Eagle Rock Brewery doesn't serve food but they have food carts parked outside on some nights, which sounds like fun. Food cart culture up here is still in its embryonic stage. I'm looking for good food as much as good local US craft beer that I can't get in Vancouver, BC. I love Lagunitas but would like to try more Stone, 21st Amendment, etc and hopefully good local stuff that doesn't get much exposure in Canada.

Thanks in advance!

 

Well, the San Gabriel Hilton is definitely in an "Asian" part of town, but it's not "Chinatown," which is in DTLA. From San Gabriel, I've tried (and recommend) 38º, Lucky Baldwin's (either location, they're not too far from each other) and probably Haven. Those will all be easy drives for you. The other Pasadena area bars I haven't tried, so I can't really speak for those.

In terms of LA proper, it will be a little more of a pain getting there, and that includes Eagle Rock and Far Bar. If you choose to do Eagle Rock, the best chance you have of seeing a truck outside is to go on a Friday or Saturday night. And as long as you're at Eagle Rock, you should absolutely go to Verdugo, which is practically down the street and has excellent selection. Far Bar is also great and worth it, but based on your list will also be the most PITA of a drive (and parking.)

 

It's not on your list, but Stuffed Sandwich is certainly worth a stop if you're staying in the San Gabriel area (note the somewhat restrictive days/hours listed on their website).

Best beer bar in close striking distance to you would be 38 Degrees. Great draft list and well worth hitting.

You can hit Verdugo and Eagle Rock on the same run. Food trucks will probably be at one or both if you go on a weekend.

I wouldn't call Baldwin's or Congregation the best beer bar in town, but as it goes Pasadena is a reasonable drive from San Gabriel, and you'll certainly find plenty of great local craft taps. I haven't been to the Pasadena location of Haven, but if it's anything like the Orange location, the food is delicious.

 

Sounds like you've got some great beer recs (38 is my personal fav in the area).

I don't know about the Vancouver food scene, but if you're in San Gabriel and interested in food, you'll have a ton of options (particularly if you're down to be a bit adventurous). The San Gabriel Valley is a serious hotbed of spectacular Asian food of many regions/nationalities. There are really awesome Sichuan, Hunanese, Taiwanese, Vietnamese, and Mongolian restaurants, among many others. I highly recommend a bit of reading into spots out there. The LA Weekly's (now ex-) food critic Jonathan Gold wrote a whole lot about the area, and his reviews are fun to read as well as informative.

Just to get you started here are a few places from the top of my head: Golden Deli (Vietnamese), Chung King (Sichuan), Din Tai Fung (dumplings), 101 Noodle Express (get the beef roll). There are seriously 8 million more places, but those were the ones I thought of first. Enjoy!

 

:-o I always heard we weren't supposed to talk about Stuffed Sandwich..

(from people talking about Stuffed Sandwich)

 

also check out Barbara's at the Brewery. Its in Boyle Heights east of DTLA http://www.barbarasatthebrewery.com/barbarasatthebrewery.com/Beer.html

Also definitely go to Golden Road Brewing's pub in Atwater Village

Im not 100% sure about this (Im more familiar with the central/west/south bay parts of LA) but I think the closest lucky baldwin's to you is actually the Sierra Madre location. I do not know the differences between the 3 locations since Ive only been to the old town one.

Also, Stuffed Sandwich is in San Gabriel. Ive never been there though

I love the part of town where your hotel is in though. There is a ton of incredible Chinese food in that area. Its more of a chinatown than the actual chinatown

since youre more interested in beers you cant really get in canada, the oinkster in eagle rock might be a great choice. Their tap selection is typically dominated by local (greater LA area) beers, though it is by no means a beer bar. They have good food too. Tender greens (there is one in pasadena) is not a bar or a craft beer destination by any means, but they have 2 taps that are always local as well. Since their food rules, it might be worth going to

 

Thread has gone way off topic. For downtown LA, hit Spice Table for dinner then cross 1st St to hit up Far Bar for drinks. Make sure you have Far Bar's address - you enter through an alley.

 

You can also enter from the front. They have two entrances and it's almost like three different establishments. The front restaurant area, the back bar, and the outside bar have their own feel and culture. Really interesting place.

The easiest way to find it is the giant vertical neon sign above it that says "Far East." Beware, it isn't always lit up or turned on, but it is most of the time.

 

Thanks so much guys! And sorry for the threadjack I had to ask about beer places WITH good food, cuz for me I can't drink without some decent food to go with it.

Stuffed Sandwich sounds awesome! Like a soup ****-type thing And if we can get to the Little Tokyo area, we'll definitely check out Far Bar.