The Guide to Craft Beer in the Arts District of Downtown Los Angeles

Opened January 2016, Arts District Brewing is the first major venture in the craft brewery scene for 213 Nightlife, which operates Downtown L.A. bars such as The Varnish, Las Perlas and Golden Gopher. The brewery features a wide selection of craft brews including IPAs, Porters, Saisons, Stouts and Wheat Ambers, among others. Bites from acclaimed L.A. Chef Neal Fraser’s Fritzi Dog are also available to complement draft pours and flights. You can also play skeeball or enjoy free games like cornhole, ping pong, darts and foosball.

In a city known more for its glitz than its grit, Angel City Brewery is proud to rough things up a bit and work beneath the shiny surface. Angel City was founded in 1997 and quickly became a leader in the L.A. craft beer scene, bringing old-world, small-batch craft brewing to the new world of the expanding L.A. Arts District. Angel City is also well-known for the street art that decorates the historic building, from Colette Miller’s Angel Wings to JR’s striking portrait from The Wrinkles of the City series.  

Established in 2014 in the adjacent Little Tokyo neighborhood, Boomtown Brewery strives to be a creative local establishment, bringing artisan beer to local artists while embracing their creativity and community through events, music shows, benefits and galleries. Every label at Boomtown is designed by local artists, along with various furnishings, fixtures and structures. Old world, unfiltered, gravity fed, full flavored draft beers can be found at Boomtown.

EightyTwo is an adult (21 and over) classic arcade and full bar featuring a rotating collection of more than 45 restored, playable video games and pinball machines from the 1970s through the 1990s. Complete with a tree covered outdoor patio, nightly DJs and a craft cocktail program, EightyTwo is L.A.’s modern spin on the classic arcade. Beer offerings include a selection of draft, canned and bottled beers.

Matt Molina, Randy Clement and Joe Capella opened ERB with a subdued interior design and a bustling outdoor patio and the aim of being a true neighborhood bar. While the beverage list is a small, refined collection of drinks, there is something for every type of drinker.

Little Bear is an Arts District café featuring a changing selection of Belgian-style imported and domestic beer on draft, as well as an extensive bottle list. The kitchen offers traditional Belgian food favorites to complement the beers.

Also located in Little Tokyo, Mumford Brewing serves hoppy, locally-brewed craft beers in pints and taster-flights in a bright and airy tasting room. With tap beers such as Black Coffee Mamba (American black ale with Stumptown Coffee), El Fuego (jalapeño cream ale) and Biggums (Belgian style Dubbel), Mumford Brewing offers a variety of beers with unique flavor profiles.

Discreetly located on Hewitt Street near Urth Caffé, Resident is an expansive multi-use space that pays homage to the neighborhood’s vibrant creative community with a full bar, outdoor beer garden, DJs and live music performances. The brainchild of Jacek Ostoya, Larry Little, Paul Oberman and Tim Krehbiel, Resident evokes the spirit of the East Austin, Texas beer garden culture, accented with a high-end craft cocktail and beer program and thoughtfully curated music experience. The heart of the beer garden is a refurbished Spartan Aircraft Trailercoach that’s been outfitted as a bar, along with a custom parking space for rotating food trucks.

Urban Radish is a market and eatery with a passion for creating delicious, nutritious and responsible foods. The market’s beer connoisseurs curate a selection of must-have brews like Boulevard’s Tank 7, alongside harder to find releases from breweries like Lagunitas and Allagash and local favorite, Golden Road. Besides having a well balanced selection of four- and six-packs, the market has a large selection of single bottles available for making custom mix-and-match packs.

A self-described purveyor of exotic grilled sausages, Wurstküche serves up dozens of sausages featuring classic (bratwurst, Italian), gourmet (chicken apple and spices, mango jalapeño) and exotic (rattlesnake and rabbit with jalapeño peppers, pheasant with herbs de Provence) fillings. An extensive menu of draft and bottled American, Belgian and German beers, as well as ciders and non-alcoholic beverages, offers countless twists on the classic sausage and beer pairing.