Broken Shaker

Broken Shaker began in Miami Beach, where it won a following and a James Beard nomination for a bar built on homemade elixirs and fresh, slightly unhinged ingredient combinations, and the Los Angeles outpost sits on the roof of the Freehand Hotel at Eighth and Olive in the Historic Core. Time Out describes it as a James Beard nominated rooftop bar concept where trendy clientele and youngish Angelenos from all over flock to a quirky, colorful and palm-laden rooftop, with eclectic, moderately priced cocktails, equally colorful garnishes, great finger food and excellent sunset views of Downtown. There is a pool on the deck, DJ sets on Friday and Saturday nights, and the whole thing sits eleven floors above one of the densest bar districts in the city.

Alcohol is very much the main event, and the house cocktails run $17 to $18. What earns the listing is that the LA menu treats the alcohol-free drinks as a named part of the programme rather than a courtesy. There is a whole menu tab headed Beer, Wine and Spirit Free, and within it a Mocktails section at $14 - a real price for a real drink, notably not the two-dollar soda pricing that signals a bar is not trying. Three sit on the current list. The Verbena Spritz is the fruit-and-herb one: tangerine, lemongrass, lime leaf and lemon, long and sharp. Violet Thems, flagged on the menu as non alcoholic, is built on Ritual's tequila alternative with a lavender butterfly-pea orgeat, vanilla and a spritz, and it is the most visually theatrical thing on the list. Call Me Mother uses Ritual's gin alternative with guava, rose water, house-made lemonade and quinine, which gives it the tonic bitterness that makes a long drink read as a bar drink rather than a squash.

Two practical notes worth having before you go. First, the rooftop is inside a hotel, so access is via the Freehand lobby and the lift, and it can be busy with hotel guests as well as walk-ins on weekend evenings. Second, the venue's own menu page currently lists narrower hours than its Google listing does, with an evening-only schedule Thursday to Sunday; the pool deck and the bar keep different clocks, so check on the day if you are making a special trip rather than passing through Downtown.