Idle Hour Awards

Idle Hour Restaurant Review:

About the restaurant: The 1933 Group has thankfully revived Idle Hour, giving us a unique L.A. destination restaurant worth visiting for its "Programmatic" architecture, as much as for its craft cocktails and pleasant comfort food. This barrel-shaped North Hollywood spot first opened as a tap room in 1925, became a Flamenco bar in 1941, and in 2010 was declared "Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument No. 977." And did we even mention the whimsical, giant bulldog-shaped dining room guarding the leafy back patio?

Food & Drinks: The menu includes dishes such as slow-smoked St. Louis pork spare ribs and a mac 'n' cheese tricked out with house-cured bacon, cherry tomatoes, Gruyère and cheddar. A vegetarian option is the Sloppy Jolene made with a challah bun; a burger will satisfy traditionalists. An "adult" root beer float is the ideal dessert to sip leisurely and linger over while you appreciate being inside the barrel. Cocktails like the Copperhead (Ancient Age bourbon, Cappelletti, yellow chartreuse, grapefruit bitters, rose, Pernod rinse) and shandys are particularly enjoyable, and there are 24 craft beers on tap.