But its presence adds to the fun, throwback atmosphere. This is actually a recreation of another historic LA eatery, the Bulldog Café, and is now used as an event space. If you walk through the building, you find a cozy back patio with scattered tables as well as an enormous pipe-smoking bulldog bearing signage for tamales and ice cream.
When you walk in, the wooden curved walls, bar and booths give it not just an old LA feel, but really almost a sense of the old west, which is fitting given that it stands in the San Fernando Valley, where various old Western TV shows and movies were filmed.
Having stood empty for three decades, it was recently restored to its former glory and reopened in 2015. The old Los Angeles practice of “programmatic architecture”–a building in the shape of something else, often emblematic of whatever it is offering inside–certainly works here, where you can tell at a glance that you can walk inside and sate your thirst.īut it’s extra special because this 1940s gem is one of the last standing examples of what was once the all the rage in LA. And when you do walk into Idle Hour in North Hollywood, you’re greeted with something that feels simultaneously kitschy and comfortable a little piece of history without any pretension. When you come across a building shaped like an enormous wooden barrel, you just know you have to go in and get a drink.
