The 10 Best Bars in Silver Lake

By Paul T. Bradley Thu., Feb. 14 2013 at 4:00 AM

Orly Olivier

4. Red Lion Tavern
It's really the only place in L.A. to get Teutonically tippled. Encased in an earnest German-style Gasthaus, Red Lion is three great bars in one: a lively tavern, a dark stone drinking hole and a vine-covered outdoor beer garden. The garden terrace hosts your classic drinking, smoking and stein-crashing crowd above a middle-floor hole of quiet quaffing. Downstairs, however, hosts a regularly bizarre cadre of off-beat lounge acts most nights. Think of any singer that might open for Tony Clifton at an organ, playing distorted or mumbled Beatles tunes. Yeah. It's that strange and wonderful. 2366 Glendale Blvd. LA; (323) 662-5337

Orly Olivier

3. Cliff's Edge
With a perfect clash of class and cache making it an ideal first date bar, it's no wonder many post Cliff's Edge conversations end in awkward parking-lot necking and heavy petting. With an eclectic high-end cocktail menu and competent mixologists, each drink is a delicious step closer to a future messy break-up. And with Criteron Collection movies projected silently on the wall -- set to great post-post punk and legit indie tunes -- you can return alone and tastefully mope into another half-dozen moscow mules. 3626 W. Sunset Blvd. LA; (323) 666-6116

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Stagger Rex

hey guys, whats going on over here? can i play too?

Johnny O's

1 Like

you mean 10 best gentrified bars serving the incoming wannabe hipster yuppies

LA Weekly

I appreciate the feedback on my careless phrasing. It's great reminder to watch my words. Thank you!

Paul T Bradley

I'm curious, where in the post -- under my byline -- do I refer to Silver Lake as the East Side? And Julian, buddy, while I respect your facility with a thesaurus, I question your people pre-judgement skills and bong-belched pseudo-philosophy. I don't edit the LA Weekly's Facebook posts, a very nice over-worked and underpaid person does. Aaron, relax man, it's a beautiful day out there.

Aaron Mendoza

It's what u want to be at ur middle- aged u bumb

Paul T Bradley

What's a hipster?

Milko Rivera

only out of town transplant hipsters think silverlake is east LA. To a native angeleno, calling silverlake or echo park the "east side" just makes you look like a clueless ignorant prick who is scared to venture out of your little gentrified bubble.

Julian David Segovia

A cross-eyed cartographer with myopic diffidence would better understand that the Eastside of Los Angeles begins nowhere near Echo Park/Silver Lake, but in fact > EAST of the L.A. River... relative to the greater history of Nuestra Senora La Reina de Los Angeles. Respectfully speaking, geometro revisionism from East Coast transplants such as Paul T. Bradley does nothing more than a disservice to the citizens of Los Angeles and to those reading from far-flung liquid crystal displays around the world. Writing and publishing misinformation infects the ignorant en viral masse and devitalizes our collective culture like a plague, which given enough time through repetition… a lie eventually becomes a truth. Mr. Bradley is most likely an affable human being with no malicious intent to disinform the unsuspecting cyberliterati . 7____7 Nevertheless, Paul T. Bradley’s expertise in journalism should be a philosophical reminder that he shouldn’t unwittingly or otherwise inadvertently sow the seeds of division between those whose antecedents in Los Angeles span the greater legend of truth. Sincerely, Julian David Boyle Heights Flats/East Los City of Angels… EastSide. Over & Out

Aaron Mendoza

La Weakly staff are a bunch of LA implants

Andreissz Kunningham

eastside? wtf. I'm going to unsubscribe

Chris Zippert

don't come to silverlake tonight, multiple DUI checkpoints.

Dan Ortiz

Silver Lake is the East side? Hmmm... someone needs to look at a map!

Nicholas Pell

Yeah, I'm sort of amazed that this slipped through.

Mario Carrera

Somebody like Salty food

Bebe Castellanos

yay for chachas! :)))

Bob Gomez

Eastside? Get a compass! What next, North Central?

Luis Saldivar

Someone at LA Weekly is smoking some bad stuff.... or they are just not from L.A.... or maybe they mean East Hollywood? LOL!

Osvaldo Javier Mendoza Gonzalez

Silver Lake is Not the Eastside!

Eder Herrera

It's pretty odd how silver lake is considered the "east" side haha.

RowenaHills

No, no, and no. This is a terrible list. If you turn it upside down it's better, but still no. I do have to admit I'm smarting from the lack of historical knowledge or any acknowledgement of how many of these nite spots started their existence as--or were until quite recently--lesbian or gay or Latino, or alloftheabove, hangouts. But still, and again, no. Just no.

Motor27

The venues shouldn't be included on this list, because, lets be honest, their bars and bartenders SUCK. Edendale is incredible and isn't even included! Whoever wrote this article, didn't do their research, or the writers are trying to protect their own favorite bars from the masses.