Step inside this locals’ favorite within a strip mall on the north end and you’ll feel like you’re inside an intimate East Coast-style watering hole anchored by a hand-carved wood bar with bowtie-wearing barkeeps behind it. Owner Paul O’Halloran – a New York transplant who spent decades tending bars around Manhattan — puts his spin on traditional cocktails, including his signature black Manhattan, frozen sidecar, and a Cosmo that’s actually good. The food menu includes a burger, steak frites, salmon, and nightly specials.   

Chef Engin Onural of nearby Sandfish Sushi and Whiskey is behind this stunning new cocktail den named for its focus on tailoring classic cocktails to modern times, as well as custom-making creations based on customers’ tastes. You’ll find an Old Fashioned cart for tableside tailoring, a Manhattan done with single-barrel bourbon and amaro, and originals like the Hinky Silhouette with whisky, lemon juice, and local dates. Nearly all the interior features were custom built including the black wood bar, concrete cocktail tables, powder-blue velvet banquettes, and massive glass pocket doors that open to a front patio. The small bites menu features fromage-and-prickly pear dip and snow crab deviled eggs. Reservations recommended. Currently open Thursday through Saturday.

This pretty little tiki bar located in the same space that once housed the legendary 1950s hot spot Don the Beachomber is decked out with blowfish light fixtures and velvet paintings of topless gals from yesteryear, but don’t let those distract from the drinking part. Bartenders use fresh-squeezed juices, house-made bitters, and high-end liquors to create standout cocktails served up in super fun glassware. Happy hour (which discounts beers to $3 and select cocktails to $5) runs from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. and 10 p.m. to 11 p.m. daily. 

This outpost of the North Hollywood original touts real-deal Polynesian art and wood carvings, a kitschy faux fireplace, framed menus from long-gone tiki bars, and plenty of other island-y eye candy that’ll make you want to stroll the space. Order up a one of its three specialty daiquiris, a classic dark and stormy or one of Tonga Hut’s multi-straw “bowl” drinks that can serve up to four at once.

City and mountain views abound at the Coachella Valley’s only rooftop pool bar, which sits seven stories up, at the top of downtown’s the Rowan hotel. It’s open to the public daily until 8 p.m. with bar, table, and comfy couch seating, plus lots of refreshers utilizing fresh juices and house-made syrups for poolside sipping. Try the Veveno, a tequila-mezcal-and-guava-syrup concoction. There’s also a lunch menu heavy on dips, salads, and wraps.

A solid spot for a drink and a bite, this Arenas Road go-to with its subway tile-covered bar and concrete floors serves fun cocktails, killer comfort food, and has a whiskey selection that’s several hundred strong. At any given moment, multiple members of the lively crowd are taking down the venue’s signature slaw-layered Nashville hot chicken sandwich on a buttery bun that you can pair with hand-cut fries. Also try the half sheet of loaded nachos and wash ‘em down with Blackbook’s amaro-spiked specialty marg. 

Actual flying sucks right now, so you’re better off staying grounded and hitting up this aviation-themed bar opened by two former flight attendants hidden in the back of a wine shop where you’ll get a taste of what flying was like back in the heyday, complete with good cocktails and real food. The crew procured real plane seats, wall panels, and windows from an airplane boneyard and decorated the space with retro airline ads and other memorabilia. You’ll find live music on Monday and Friday nights, and — for a sky-high dose of kitsch — there’s a Saturday night dinner show with entertainment, bubbly, and a meal served on an airline tray.

Palm Springs’s go-to wine gal Christine Soto pivoted from wine bar to bottle shop during the pandemic and has now merged both concepts together to offer on-site sipping at the bar or a table on the expanded front patio, plus shelves and a fridge stocked with bottles to-go. Dead or Alive is still focused on smaller production, natural, and biodynamic wines along with interesting craft beers, all of which you can pair with food from Gabino’s Creperie or Mexican eatery El Mirasol next door.

The Regal Beagle-esque brick-walled bar isn’t currently offering any of its once-robust lineup of entertainment ( soon, we hope!), but it’s still a groovy spot for a drink inside the Ace Hotel, which, 13 years on, can still bring in the cool kids. The place has a nice offering of craft beers and the cocktail menu is full of plays on classics, as well as one-of-a-kind drinks, like the tequila-mezcal-and-prickly pear Picante Amante garnished with avocado leaf salt.

Expect kitschy island decor, an expansive tropical cocktail menu, a super delish classic mai tai, and a few flaming drinks at this always-festive indoor-outdoor bar within the equally retro-Polynesian Caliente Tropics Resort. Every detail here — from the furniture to the art and the required no-smoking signs — are curated pieces of tiki decor. Bartenders and servers don aloha shirts and the music will make you feel like you’ve hopped a plane to Honolulu.