Fans of Lou, the unassuming wine bar tucked into a strip mall at the corner of Melrose and Vine, got the sad news yesterday via a blog post from owner Lou Amdur that he is closing up sometime in the next few weeks. more ›

Having built it with his own two bartending hands, 30-year-old Oklahoma native Dustin Lancaster has created a polished yet rustic ambience he calls “flea market chic” with his new hit Los Feliz wine bar, Covell. On any given night, it is packed with locals, celebs, and those who have driven to Los Feliz exclusively to enjoy its latest hip, but attitude-free drinkin’ spot. Covell's momentum hasn't slowed since its July 2nd opening, with some patrons frequenting the delightful wine bar up to 4 times a week -- talk about alcoholism....er, I mean, customer loyalty. more ›

A party was held last night in Downtown at the Farmers & Merchants Bank to raise money in support of the employees of The Must, the wine bar that was subject to an unexpected eviction last weekend. more ›

It only took a few hours for the "new owners" of what was The Must to clear out the furnishings and stock from the property this weekend, but it will take much, much longer for the fate of the Downtown wine bar to be decided. Those decisions are largely in the hands of the law, according to Blogdowntown, who have been following the saga closely. more ›

Sometimes, as the saying goes, everything old is new again. In Los Angeles, where our buildings, and, in turn, memories, are turned over with a sometimes alarming frequency, something new can spring up somewhere old, and, with luck, get it right. more ›

Operators of The Must, a popular Downtown wine bar, were doubly surprised this holiday weekend when what they thought was a robbery turned out to be an allegedly unexpected eviction. more ›

Controversy spilled throughout the downtown community over the weekend after The Must, a popular wine bar in the Historic Core, was suddenly closed following an apparent surprise business deal over the space's lease. The end result left The Must stripped of furniture and its wine stock. more ›

Come Wednesday (there's a soft launch Tuesday), the restaurant-dense Venice Fishing Pier area on Washington Boulevard will have a new wine bar, says Yo! Venice. In late January, the owners of Naked Sushi (they also own Mercedes Grill) shut it down so they could change it into Bin 73. No word on the menu yet, but regular hours are posted: 4 to 10:30 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and until 11:30 p.m. on weekends. more ›

Last week we took a glance inside The Mercantile's opening soiree, which inspired a post-opening visit to check out their wine bar and dinner menu last night. more ›

Bodega Wine Bar is all about making wine as unpretentious as possible. The owners opened the bar after searching high and low for "a casual place to grab a glass of wine...somewhere that didn't require us to be wine experts, spend a lot of money, or even talk about wine much (if at all)" but found nothing. Ah - a wine philosophy this wine novice can get behind entirely! So, of course, I had to check it out. more ›

One of the most recent additions to the panoply of nightspots in Los Feliz is Sgt Recruiter, located on the stretch of Hollywood Boulevard that I think of as Wacko-Adjacent. Split off from Cobras & Matadors (it was the private room on the left when you entered), also under Steven Arroyo’s management, and named in homage to a wine bar in Paris, Sgt Recruiter has room for patrons to sit at 14 comfortable stools lined up along the length of the place. more ›

MUSIC: CalTech isn’t just about nerdy rocket scientists. They have glee clubs, too! All kidding aside, tonight's concert will feature traditional holiday favorites as well as the Women's Club taking on Porpora’s Magnificat, written in the 1730s. 8 pm // Dabney Lounge at California Institute of Technology // 1200 East California Blvd., Pasadena // Free. DANCE: From CalTech, we’ll head over to CalArts in Valencia. The Sharon Disney Lund School of Dance is holding its... more ›

My brother is a wine snob. What I love about him though, with all his tattoos and his refusal to wear anything other than shorts and flip-flops regardless of weather, is that he isn't a real snob. He knows good wine. He seeks it out. But he's all about finding the best wine at a great price. When he's in town, he wants to visit every wine bar, wine boutique and wine warehouse in LA.... more ›

Sometimes it seems like the only people who actually eat at Taix are the musicians. Taix is kind enough to actually give the performing bands drink and meal tickets. I've never even eaten in the restaurant itself, but I've spent a lot of time in the homey wine bar, where I can listen to local bands while I dine. Whenever I cozy up in the warm brick-interior listening to the edgy jazz, I wonder... more ›

Núñez represents downtown Los Angeles, to the south of, and East LA in the state assembly. It is rumored he wants to run for Mayor. It is not like Democrat Fabian Núñez, Speaker of the California State Assembly, is some bogus politician with bad intentions and total self-serving motives. I am not going to argue with him for looking into universal preschool, high speed rail and global warming solutions for California; in fact, I... more ›

Could it be? Did someone finally out ArcLight the ArcLight? If one of The Standard hotels built a theater, it would look like the new Landmark. The most accurate way of describing it is “boutique”. The Landmark is all about the visual angles; sloping fixtures light the theaters and give a completely different feeling of space than you would expect for a “mall theater”. Angled walls line the hallways, and an angled ceiling compliments... more ›

So the saying goes, "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas." But what happens when Vegas is actually in Santa Monica's Barker Hangar? more ›