The gay bar scene is coming back to L.A. after remaining dormant for years. With places like Precinct and Red Line opening in the past year, Bar Mattachine is ready to up the ante with some terrific crafted cocktails when it opens officially this coming Friday. Helmed by Down & Out's (and the now closed Bar 107) Vee Delgadillo, Jigger Mercado, and 1886 barman Garrett McKechnie, this two-story space sits in a perfect slot along 7th street, right in the former Silo Vodka Bar.
Designed by McKechnie and Charlie Campbell with mostly dark colors and flashy accents, it's a brooding, sleek ambiance that'll work for the urban environs. Opposing the entrance is a striking painting from Andrew Campbell, a prominent gay artist (there's also a photo of a very large penis on the second floor).
McKechnie creates a solid list of craft drinks that's surprisingly approachable. Consider a bourbon peach smash (originally designed by Marcos Tello), or a Strawberry Banke Fizz with gin, lemon juice, egg white, strawberry honey syrup, and soda in a classic fizz style. Mattachine is named after a society created in the 1950's as one of the earliest gay rights organizations in the U.S. So while Bar Mattachine is part of a growing crop of gay bars in Downtown, all are welcome, like the historical organization's motto: "you are welcome to join us or do whatever you would like."
Hours will run 5 p.m. to 2 a.m. daily.
Bar Mattachine
221 West 7th Street
Los Angeles, CA 90014
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