LA Drinking Will Cost You a Pretty Penny

We saw a news brief in today's Los Angeles Downtown News that caught our eye:

Also of note, the average drink in L.A. is $10.66, higher even than New York's $10.12 a beverage.

Ouch. And you mean, people elsewhere don't pay $12 for a cosmopolitan? The drinks in this town are up 11.5% from last year. Now what do we blame that on? Republicans? Gas prices and the war in Iraq? Lindsay and Paris drinking up our local stock?

Here's how other cities in the Zagat Survey fared:

- New Orleans: $6.92
- San Francisco: $9.01
- New York City $10.12
- Las Vegas, baby, was the only city where bellying up to the bar will cost you more: $11.86.

The Zagat release also mentioned the top bars in the greater Los Angeles area. When we saw the list, we're not quite sure what some of these "surveyors" were, umm, drinking. Tell us if your favorite watering hole made the list that follows: