Thunderbolt — Restaurant in Los Angeles

This is a place I WISH I liked the drinks more, but maybe got the wrong thing. Vibe was vibin' (lol, I know)-- somehow they made the ambiance cozy and moody, yet good for a casual night. Went with a friend on a Sunday night and it was the perfect place.

SEATING: they have a patio (5-6 tables), a bar area with 10-15 seats, a few standing tables for something more fluid, and then about 8 booth table seats (like 2-3 big booths then 2-4 tables in those "sections"), so plenty of room

MUSIC: somehow the music is loud but not penetrating into the conversation - makes for a great mood. Great sound system placement.

DRINKS: got 3 different ones between the 2 of us - La Frutera, Pastelito, and the canned sarsaparilla drink. -- my friend did not like the La Frutera (my drink) and I did not like the sarsaparilla drink (probably just preference, for sure). -- I think they try to be super creative with their drinks, which is super fun... but the 3 we tried I felt lacked a punch to it.

FOOD: we did share an order of chicken wings - I think it could have used more flavor/sauce. Felt air-fried, good crisp but lacked sauce flavoring.

All that being said, 100% would come back and try this place again. Parking is a bit sketch - street parking, in a gentrifying area... so just be cautious when parking and walking to your car. Great spot - had to give it a 4 because I couldn't get behind the drinks we got and that's the reason we came. Maybe I would try the negroni spin next...

Atmosphere 7/10 Atmosphere feels a bit like a drinking hall, rather than a cocktail bar. But overall, it’s cool, lofty, and very casual. The backbar is normal-looking. It’s noticeably established with a lot of custom-made “Thunderbolt” design elements. The music is something between EDM, pop, and indie - but with good volume, allowing for a conversation.

Drinks 7/10 Recommendation: Barcelonette The bar is known for its carbonated cocktails. They have a ton of special equipment to facilitate the variety of carbonated cocktails. However, I will never give the highest scores for pre-mixed drinks (e.g. Tropipop), like Thunderbolt does. Even though they put extra effort into the customized canning process. There is 0 bartender skill involved, which is part of a great cocktail bar experience. Barcelonette was mixed by the bartender and tasted great though. Decent coasters.

Service 7.5/10 I appreciate the high activity on Instagram (DMs), which allowed me to prepare for the visit. The team was very friendly and in a good mood. Water was served...

This is an unassuming place where you could easily walk past and mistake it for a casual pub, but inside the drinks would be in the top percentile of cocktail bars in the world over. There is cutting edge science and mixology in their prep before they open their doors that enables them to serve super sophisticated combinations of flavours readily when you order. The nuances of flavour can easily are supremely tricky to balance and they do it well. There are combos that are just fun, then there are the ones that make you think hard about what you're drinking with savoury ingredients like either mushroom or bittermelon for example, which I would wholeheartedly ask any discerning drinker to try. Staff are friendly, unpretentious and it's simply amazing how high the quality of drinks are hidden by this laid...