Zero Lounge

Zero Lounge is a themed bar on Hudson Avenue, half a block off Hollywood Boulevard, and the theme is the early 2000s executed without irony or restraint. The Infatuation covered it in February 2025 and was clear-eyed about what it is: neon-lit, Furby-decorated, playing Ke$ha remixes, with a DJ booth designed to look like a teenager's bedroom, and in the reviewer's words pure absurdity and absolutely not for everyone. That is a fair warning and also, for a certain kind of night out, the entire appeal. The programming leans social rather than reverent - trivia, karaoke, DJ sets - which tends to suit groups where not everyone is drinking, because there is something to do besides drink.

The bar is licensed and the cocktail list is the main one, but the menu carries a named Mocktails section rather than burying non-alcoholic options in a footnote. There are three. Tamagotchi Tea is the simplest and the best-balanced: green tea with hibiscus syrup, lemon and agave, tart rather than sweet. The Saved By the Bell-ini is the one built like a cocktail, using Ritual's non-alcoholic gin with peach puree, agave and soda water - a bellini in shape, with the botanical bite the fruit needs. Slime Time is lime juice, agave, cucumber, mint and ginger, which is a mojito-adjacent long drink and the most refreshing of the three. The bar also notes on its own menu that the seasonal cocktail list rotates and is posted to its Instagram, so the mocktail line-up is worth checking before you build an evening around a specific drink.

A few practical points. The bar is closed Monday and Tuesday and does not open until 7pm on any day, running to midnight on Wednesday, 1am on Thursday and 2am Friday through Sunday. Happy hour is 7pm to 10pm daily, though the posted happy-hour prices cover beer, wine, well drinks and a spritz rather than the mocktails, which stay at menu price. It is walkable from the Hollywood and Highland Metro B Line station, which matters more than usual here: this is a part of Hollywood where parking is expensive and the surrounding blocks are busy late.