The Mandrake Bar is located in the new-ish gallery district of Culver City, on La Cienega between Washington and Venice. What bar?, you may ask - it doesn't look like much on the outside, with only a white neon sign that says Bar - but the inside is a super-cool gem of a bar, away from the madness of downtown Culver City. Because it's situated between art galleries, some may think of it as an art bar, but it's not, really. It's the hang out of art gallery workers, but that's about as far as it goes. The true focus of this bar is the house cocktails, where their creativity tends to shine.

The shortlist of cocktails is as follows, and all are made with top-shelf spirits: Tequila Sunrise (with Cazadores, chambord and soda - we told you they were creative), Mint Julep (with fresh mint from their garden), Tomato Water Martini (this is not a Bloody Mary, no matter how much you want to believe otherwise), Dark and Stormy, Moscow Mule, and Rose's Garden, a fine and fancy cucumber and mint martini. If you're not really in the mood for any of this, or are an intern at the galleries, they have a veritable wellspring of Pabst. 

2692 S La Cienega Blvd, Los Angeles