Places Bars/Clubs Crown Bar - Los Angeles, CA

The Place:
Crown Bar

The Scene:
If you're an LA-native, you undoubtedly know the location, formerly home to ever-struggling Tempest that tried everything from happy hour buffets to gothic-theme nights to stay alive. Always up for a bit of trashy-club reinvention, Andy Fiscella and GQ editor Chris Huvane (who previously took a seedy gay after-hours club and created Winston's) debut another velvet-rope social lounge in a slightly grittier Hollywood neighborhood of $15 prostitutes and Russian mobsters.

The facade looks remarkably similar to before, albeit with a fancy coat of paint, with front patio of newly landscaped shrubbery and confusing alleyway. Instead of trying to lure people who have no intention on eating in your bar, the owners cleared the space and placed a circular bar surrounded by shimmering chandeliers and loads of banquette seating that will inevitably require a reservation for most of 2008. There's still a limited food menu of upscale pub grub like charcuterie plates