Discover the Downtown LA Party District
When the sun goes down, the Entertainment Capital of the World lights up in the excitement of wild crowds and party music. While it’s Hollywood that attracts most of the audience, in recent years, Downtown Los Angeles or DTLA (and the “Downtown LA Party District“, to be more precise), has become the hottest spot to experience Los Angeles’ vibrant and colorful nightlife.
Brimming with the coolest clubs, cocktail lounges, and bars, downtown Los Angeles offers the perfect after-dark experience for party-goers! But the fun and frenzy of LA don’t stop there, as the downtown district also boasts numerous cultural attractions, from historical museums and galleries to hip theatres that guarantee you have the best time. Whether it is a fine dinner that you’re looking for or drinks with your buddies, downtown Los Angeles has the most amazing places at every corner.
Downtown Los Angeles’ numerous art walks and street festivals also make it a beautiful suburb to spend time in. To add the cherry on top, Downtown Los Angeles is one of the most pedestrian-friendly districts in the city and can easily be accessed by Metro.
Fascinated by the trendy and authentic vibe of Downtown Los Angeles, we have put together the best places to experience the city’s magical buzz and have the time of your life. Ready for an exciting Los Angeles vacation? If “yes”, then check out our Downtown LA Party District selections and plan your next escape.
The Rooftop Bar at The Standard
Located at 550 S Flower Street, the Rooftop Bar at The Standard is probably every party-goer’s favorite spot. The popular, glitzy Los Angeles club is always filled with energetic crowds sipping cocktails and letting loose to the sound of electric music. The Rooftop Bar is notorious for its beautiful heated pool (though always filled with guests) and the stunning panoramic views of the city it offers.
This bar includes an expansive lounge area with sofas, waterbeds, and pods alongside the fireplace for you to relax with your friends and revel in the beautiful skyline with chilled, tailor-made margaritas. For the more avid partiers, The Rooftop is the best spot to frolic and dance around to the funky EDM and disco tunes of DJs or enjoy live acts by guest performers.
The Rooftop offers the best open-air pool parties in Los Angeles and is known to have hosted top DJs and performers such as Peaches, Justice, and Hot Chip. The Rooftop Bar also serves the most delicious tempuras, teriyakis, and soothing drink specials on-demand to quench your thirst.
Some important things to note, though, are that reservations require a 48-hour window and you must be 21 or over to enter. The entrance is at the discretion of the management, so make sure to dress to the nines with your favorite tops and blazers. The Rooftop is open every day and though there is usually no cover-charge, on busier weekends a charge of $10-20 is applied. Most cocktails cost $15 and beer costs $10. Not to forget that Saturdays are ideally the best time to catch the complete hip club vibe!
The Conga Room – at the Heart of Los Angeles
One of the most happening places in Downtown Los Angeles, the Conga Room is the best place to lose yourself to the sound of deafening hip hop beats and electric Latino vibes. The buzzing club, owned by A-listers such as Jennifer Lopez and Will.i.am of the Black-Eyed Peas, is a hotspot for celebrity performers and promises the best experience for party-goers.
Revel under the strobe lights with wild raving Angelenos as the DJ spins your favorite Hip Hop, Salsa, and Spanish EDM. Coupled with the Conga Room is Boca- a premiere traditional Spanish restaurant that serves the spiciest and most luscious Pan-Spanish food with live entertainment. Enjoy the stunning modern ambiance with your favorite drinks and boisterous bands performing hits!
The Conga Room offers elite VIP bottle service which can be booked before visiting from their website (mind you, the tequilas have a hefty price-tag!). Some important things to note before visiting the Conga Room are that it applies a cover charge on Friday and Saturday nights and only people 21 and over may attend. All those visiting must also wear “upscale, trendy and fashionable attire”, and tracksuits and sportswear are frowned upon! As it is part of the few elite downtown LA clubs, it is common for The Conga Room to have famous performers and celebrity guests looking to let loose, so keep an eye out for any familiar faces!
The Edison
Take a trip back to the 1920s as you enter the gritty, charming Edison club through red-brick walls. Situated on 108 W 2nd Street in downtown Los Angeles, the Edison is an old-school favorite which is always buzzing with energy on open nights.
Giving off major steampunk vibes, the nightclub offers some of the most delicious food, ranging from parmesan mac and cheese to prawns and flatbread pizzas, and is famed as one of the coolest bars in Downtown Los Angeles. Dance around with friends and dates to breath-taking live jazz performances and seductive burlesque shows or indulge in one of the many delicacies on the menu, the Edison has a lot to offer for anybody looking to relax.
Although the vintage cocktails on the menu can be quite pricey, thankfully for many of us, happy hour prices from 5:00 – 7:00 PM are super low. The Edison is open from Wednesdays to Saturdays, but the real party begins on the weekend. Bedecked with a huge screen that mostly projects black and white films, The Edison is the perfect romantic stop for anyone looking to unwind and enjoy the ambiance. The Edison also boasts numerous game rooms, relaxation lounges, and beautiful live music stages.
Party-goers must be warned though, The Edison is very particular about sophisticated attire, and anyone donning baggy, rugged jeans or any form of athletic wear is turned away instantly. With its stunning speakeasy setting, the Edison is a Downtown Los Angeles icon, which attracts large crowds to its charming, intimate club nights.
Skyslide
The Skyslide at OUE Skyspace in Downtown Los Angeles is situated on 33 W 5th Street. A thrilling, one-of-its-kind forty-five-foot long ride, the Skyslide along with an observation deck at Skyspace offers the most stunning panoramic views of Los Angeles city and its towering skyscrapers. The Skyslide is a unique, exhilarating experience for outdoor lovers who love to catch the best views of the city from 1000 feet in the air.
With special mats that protect riders from slide burns and induce speed, riders experience the thrill of sliding over Los Angeles with screams and smiles. Tickets for adults to enter the Skyspace begin at $28, while one ride on the Skyslide costs $8, and guests are supposed to be at least 4 years old to take the daunting slide over Downtown Los Angeles. The Skyslide operates 7 days a week and runs from 10 am to 9:30 pm.
An accompanying Skyspace Bar also provides delicious snacks to munch while enjoying the stunning views of Downtown Los Angeles and its sky-reaching buildings.
One thing to keep in mind when visiting though is the long lines that one must stand through to get the taste of the ride, which can often be a bummer. Visitors are recommended to visit early to get the best experience on the Skyslide.
Perch Bar and Bistro
Situated on 448 S Hill Street in Downtown Los Angeles, perched atop the 15th floor of the towering Pershing Square Building, Perch is a terrace bar and bistro.
With stunning 360-degree views of the Los Angeles skyline, Perch offers visitors an experience of their lifetime. Rest on the many relaxing lounges in the Perch’s outdoor patio, alongside the warmth of fire pits with dates and friends or enjoy the melodious symphonies of live music, the Perch will not disappoint. The terrace bar is known for its spectacular food, specializing in French varieties and delicacies including delicious Melange, succulent pork bellies, and tasteful Mussels, alongside a breath-taking view atop the building.
While weekdays at the Perch offer peaceful evening and brunches, the party scene is amped up on weekends with live jazz music to dance to all night with chilled cocktails in the open-air bar. The dress code visitors must follow for the rooftop bar is upscale casual, and gym and tracksuits are to be kept home. The price for most entrees ranges from $31 to $50 and the well-crafted cocktails can also be pricey for visitors. Perch is open all week and offers a major party vibe for serial party-goers on weekends when DJs blast music at the rooftop bar.
The Teregram Ballroom
Another great venue in downtown Los Angeles, which attracts many A-list rock and indie musicians is the Teregram Ballroom. Situated on 1234 West 7th Street, the glitzy buzzing space is the hottest spot in Downtown LA to experience breath-taking live music and bounce your head at packed concerts.
Only a few blocks from Staples Center, the concert space is constructed on a spot that once housed a Hollywood movie place. The spacious Teregram Ballroom is the go-to spot for Angelenos who dance their night away to popular live-music while enjoying their favorite drinks. Ticket prices to shows vary and can be checked on the Teregram Ballroom’s website.
Shows at the Telegram Ballroom start at night and the headlining acts usually show up at 10 pm to packed raving crowds. LA party-goers frequent the Teregram Ballroom to enjoy the hip ambiance and spend the night with their friends and dates losing themselves to their favorite beats and live band music.
The LA Live
Situated on 800 W Olympic Boulevard, and perhaps one of the hottest and hippest spots in Los Angeles, LA Live is a huge entertainment complex in Downtown Los Angeles which sprawls over 5.5 million square feet. Offering the best of everything be it movies and theatre shows, raging concerts, or delicious food, LA Live is always the go-to spot for Angelenos looking to spend their night away from the troubles of fast-paced city life and unwind to the best performances.
Adjacent to the Staples Center, which houses the LA Lakers Basketball team and the LA Kings hockey team, and the LA Convention Center, this bright and buzzing space offers numerous entertainment spaces. The Lucky Strikes Lanes and Lounge is a multiplex inside this space that offers the best bowling alleys and nightclubs to spend time with friends and dates, either shaking your leg to the latest pop hits while drinking mojitos or indulging in a fiercely competitive game.
Another famed attraction within the complex is the Grammy Museum, which houses several exhibits on Grammy winners, as well as a complete history of the coveted awards and past victors. Tickets to the museum range from $13 to $15, and while the museum remains closed on Tuesdays, it is open from 10:30 am-6:30 pm from Sundays through Thursdays and 10 am- 8 pm on Fridays and Saturdays. The museum takes visitors through an interactive, fully immersive experience across several music genres.
The museum is a must-go for music-lovers to experience first-hand many historical artifacts, costumes, and instruments from famed singers such as Katy Perry and Michael Jackson. Outfits donned by Grammy winners such as Rihanna, JLO, and Kanye West are also put on display for fans to admire. Exhibits on many other singers are also put weekly on rotation every few weeks.
To fill your appetite, LA Live has the finest selections of cuisine from casual cafes to fine dining and wine bars dotting every street. Visitors can dine in Fleming’s Fine Steakhouse and Wine Bar enjoying the many options of steaks and over 100 different wines at request, Sushi at the hip sushi restaurant Katsuya, prime ribs and oven-fresh pizza at Lawry’s, or just a simple Starbucks coffee. With endless possibilities, LA Live promises to fulfill all your cravings.
For more convenience, LA Live also hosts a string of luxury hotels including the JW Marriot and the Ritz Carlton LA which offer premium quality rooms and service. While parking for Staples Center and the LA Convention Center is pretty expensive, however, many private lots nearby can offer parking as low as $3 to make sure you don’t spend excessively on your visit to LA Live!
Downtown Los Angeles (DTLA) Club Crawl – The Complete Nightlife Experience
Although Downtown Los Angeles offers numerous options for party-goers to spend the night dancing to the grooviest beats and funkiest tunes, probably the perfect Los Angeles experience is offered by a hosted Downtown LA Party District Club Crawl.
While it’s no lie that the perfect City of Angels’ clubbing experience is often marred by the never-ending queues and hefty admission charges, a club crawl can often get you on the frontlines as a VIP invitee. Usually starting from $22, a club crawl offers serial party people the best tickets and the best drinks. Club crawls are usually in groups of 5-10 people that visit a string of nightclubs one after another to drink and rave and forget their woes.
To top it all off, club crawlers are often waived the overhead cover fee and surcharges one may have to experience on busy nights at Los Angeles’ hip clubs and hot spots. Club crawls can last from 1-6 hours and involve the most avid partiers drinking and dancing to curfew hours with full amenities. Angelenos are known to party hard and party often, and regularly organized club crawls guarantee they get the best of it all.
Most groups frequenting downtown LA club crawls hop from the hippest clubs in the suburb while dancing to the live spinning records of celebrated DJs and performers. Some clubs that are most visited include the Mayan, the Conga Room, and the Sound nightclub. Since entry at all clubs is for those aged 21 and over, club crawls also follow the same guidelines.
Of the hottest spots mentioned above, the Sound nightclub is something of a clubber’s favorite. With a special patio for smoking and the indoor floor that lights up to the sound of EDM and house music, the Sound nightclub is the go-to spot for anyone looking to dance their night away. Drinks are moderately priced, and parking is relatively cheaper than most high-end downtown Los Angeles clubs. The club offers both VIP services and bottled servings to club crawlers and those who request it.
Conclusion
Downtown Los Angeles although often outshined by the Hollywood district boasts a unique set of entertainment options that range from hip, raging clubs, and spectacular all-night bars to quaint speakeasy-turned-cafes and mammoth museums that offer visitors the time of their lives. Whether you are a party-goer that frequents vibrant and buzzing spots to roll with the crowd or a sucker for charming indie concerts looking to enjoy a romantic time singing along with a date, the Downtown LA Party District is the place to be. So, what are you waiting for?
Put on your hottest trendiest outfit and head out to DTLA’s party district to enjoy your favorite cocktails against the sound and vibes of Pop music.