The Best Bars to Look Good Networking at in L.A.

Get out of your house or apartment and join the hustle.

Being a successful entrepeuner is only part of the battle in LA. Getting out of your apartment, meeting your new people, and schmoozing with industry people is the other, far more difficult part. Also, sometimes (most of the time) you just need a really strong drink after a day of pouring your blood sweat and tears into a venture. And while plenty of bars offer fancy cocktails and cheap Happy Hours in this town, not all are great for meeting the person who will give you your next job. Here are the some of the best places in L.A. to do just that.

Eveleigh

$$$$$ / American In West Hollywood

Most people are at Eveleigh for the same reason you are: to meet someone who will help them get their next job. This place is a full restaurant, but you don’t need to bother with the food - just get a spot on the patio and drink a few strong cocktails.

Forman’s Tavern

$$$$ / Burgers in Toluca Lake

If you spend any time in the Valley, you’ve heard of Forman’s, the bar of choice for almost every Burbank studio person. It feels a bit more like a hunting lodge than a bar in here (that massive buck’s head is definitely staring into your soul), and the whiskey drinks are strong enough to ease your nerves that you’re talking to the person who could get your next big client.

Gracias Madres

$$$$ / Mexican in West Hollywood

We can’t endorse the food here, but this very sceney and very vegan restaurant in West Hollywood is exactly where you want to be drinking. The cocktails are excellent (get the house margarita) and the side patio is one of the nicest in the city. It’s also large enough that you and your connect can have some peace and quiet amongst the blogger apocalypse that surrounds you.

The Fat Dog

$$$$ / American in Fairfax

Fat Dog is that place you go to when a girl you barely remember from high school messages you that she just moved to LA and wants some tips on building her network. The prime Fairfax location means it’s probably convenient for anyone you’re meeting, there’s free parking in the basement, and a daily 4-7pm Happy Hour that gets you $3 beer, $4 house wine, and $5 well drinks. Plus, it’s not some overwhelming scene that’ll trap you on a patio for three hours. Grab a drink, give your made-up advice, and get home to your couch where you’re polishing off your next big investment deck.

Paley

$$$$ / American in Hollywood

Paley is the ground-floor restaurant in the massive Columbia Square complex in Hollywood, and it’s built entirely for people to work their way up the entertainment ladder. The space is large and attractive (in a Beverly Hills hotel restaurant kind of way) and the food is solid. But that’s irrelevant - you’re there because other people who are far more important than you are there. Also, their daily Happy Hour from 3-6pm with half-off house wines and seasonal cocktails is a shockingly great deal.

Melrose Umbrella Co

$$$$ / West Hollywood

When you’re an actor and he’s a music video director, chances are that you’ll both be free for drinks at 2pm on a Wednesday. Melrose Umbrella Company is a good option for middle of the day meetings that require alcohol. This cocktail bar on Melrose is pretty small, but during the day getting a table near the big front windows shouldn’t be an issue.

Chateau Marmont Restaurant Patio

$$$$ / American in West Hollywood

If you don’t know what Chateau Marmont is by now, you probably shouldn’t have bought that one-way ticket to LA in the first place. The landmark hotel on the Sunset Strip has pretty much been the epicenter of all things Hollywood networking since the 1920’s, and its restaurant is a full-on celebrity convention. The food is great and the cocktails at the bar are as expensive as the parking ticket you’re getting right now, but it doesn’t matter. That’s Amy Adams right over there and that feels good.

E.P. & L.P.

$$$$ / Fusion in West Hollywood

At the end of the day, rooftops always impress. And when you need a place with a view that will keep the Co-Head of a major startup happy at all times, EP & LP is your spot. The massive space along La Cienega can admittedly become a tornado of Euro-bros on weekends, but weeknights are far more calm (and you can actually get in). Drinks aren’t cheap, but no one cares because the sun is setting and the smog is doing that thing where it turns the Hollywood hills purple for like 45 minutes…