The Best Steakhouse Cocktails in Los Angeles
Los Angeles is a city that appreciated a refined cocktail. For a place with such a ritzy, stylish reputation, it’s no wonder its residents extend that same passion for potables. It’s also a city that appreciates a quality steakhouse, so naturally it’s safe to expect that the City of Angels has some of the best steakhouse cocktails in the nation. Here’s some proof:
Cut: At Wolfgang Puck’s immaculate, world-famous steakhouse, you can match your bone marrow flan with cocktails that are just as photogenic and precise as the meticulous meats. There’s also a ton to choose from, with drinks divvied into a range of categories by spirit. These include gin options like the Pins and Needles with cucumber, lemon and rosemary; vodka sippers like Show Me Love, with St-Germain, lime and lychee; whiskey drinks like Locked and Loaded, with Woodford Reserve bourbon, maple syrup, lemon, Carpano Antica; the rum- and passion fruit-based Hello Kitty with orange, ginger and chili; and Pepino’s Revenge, a tequila drink with Japanese cucumber, lime and basil leaves. There are also mocktails and barrel-aged cocktails, aged for six weeks in-house, including Negronis, Old Fashioneds and Sazeracs.
STK: All over the country, STK is revered as having some of the best cocktails of any steakhouse chain. The contemporary, stylish brand does a nice job of keeping things fresh and unique at every outpost, too, so as to better blend with the local communities where they operate. In Los Angeles, this results in zesty, verdant drinks like the Green Intensity, a vodka cocktail with fresh lime, jalapeño and basil; The Daqilroy, with rum, pineapple juice and lime; the Barreled Negroni, with Jameson Black Barrel, Aperol and vermouth; and the Cucumber Stiletto, with Ketel One Citroen, St-Germain, muddled cucumber and mint.
Bourbon Steak: Any restaurant with “bourbon” in the name is bound to have a knack for cocktails. True to form, Michael Mina’s revered Bourbon Steak is just as talented with bourbon as it is with beef. Adhering to the same standards and philosophies as the kitchen, with an eye for modernizing classic flavors, the bar program emphasizes fresh-squeezed juices, housemade infusions and syrups and small-batch spirits. The result is an immersive, deep cocktail list that runs the gamut from simple combos like the Two Guns (bourbon, pomegranate juice, lemon, basil) to charcoal-infused My Dark Summer, which has mezcal, Creme de Pamplemousse, True Roots smoked ginger syrup and lime. For something sweet, tart and frothy, try The Japanese Take Out, a mix of Japanese whisky, yuzu, lemon, maple and egg white; or there’s also a large-format offering designed for two, called Winter is Here, which blends two kinds of rum with Orange Curacao, oregeat and Licor 43.
The Royce Wood-Fired Steakhouse: In Pasadena, there’s one steakhouse getting crafty with the likes of olive oil mist and duck fat-washed whiskey. The Royce Wood-Fired Steakhouse, a stunner of a steakhouse, definitely skews modern, and that’s evident in its drinks program as well. That olive oil mist lends a fruity essence to the Langham Sour, a vodka-Chartreuse medley with rosemary and lemon, while duck fat enriches the whiskey in Old Mallard, along with creme de cassis and Aztec chocolate bitters. Pomegranate and Serrano pepper play nicely together in the Winter is Coming, providing a tart and spicy balance amidst vodka and ginger.
Chianina Steakhouse: Tucked away inside Long Beach’s Chianina Steakhouse is one of the area’s best hidden gems for cocktails. The Cow is a high-end cocktail bar inside the restaurant, which thinks way outside the box when it comes to standard steakhouse mixology. See (and sip) for yourself with drinks like Mortimer’s Cocktail, a table-side preparation that consists of WhitlePig 10-yr whiskey, maple syrup, coffee, Punt E Mes, bitters and smoked cherrywood. The Rabbit’s Fix, meanwhile, blends notes of the tropics with a bit of heat via Suerte Blanco, Ancho Reyes chile verde, coco liqueur, lime, pineapple and Peychaud’s bitters. The Secret Handshake makes for a nice nightcap, with its Fernet Branca base, Montenegro and orange bitters.
