Situated on a quiet corner smack dab in the center of Downtown’s Fashion District, Pattern Bar is a chic retreat serving up couture cocktails, tailor-made tapas and sweet beats to fashionistas and Angelenos in the know. Just a block away from bustling Broadway, it’s close to the rest of the action but off the main grid enough to feel like a destination. Inside, you’ll find a stylishly simple interior decked out in a sleek black and white motif, with tiled, mirrored columns lending the space a classic metropolitan vibe reminiscent of New York or Paris. Drinks named after famous designers and vintage sewing machines pay the most obvious homage to the bar’s fashion inspiration, but beyond that, the references are kept subtle. After all, as they say in the industry, less is more.
Vitals
Good for: Pattern Bar has multiple personalities depending on the time you visit. During the day, it’s an ideal refuge for a boozy lunch break between shopping sample sales. By early evening, its mellow, candlelit ambiance makes it a suitable stop for a dinner date, professional rendezvous or the jump-off point for a DTLA bar crawl. After 10pm, guest DJs take over the decks and it becomes an all-out dance party. House is the genre of choice, and a sign over the turntables politely reminds patrons that there are no requests—so don’t even try it.
The scene: The vibe of Pattern Bar is decisively more inclusive without the faintest air of pretension. That doesn’t mean you won’t see your fair share of glamorous industry types: models, photographers and even the odd celebrity are as likely to drop in as the average 30-something office worker.
Drink this: The cocktail menu reads like a program from Paris Fashion Week, with liquid interpretations of fashion’s finest in regular rotation. One staple that stays at the top of the list is The Chanel ($14), a surprisingly spicy take on a margarita with Reposado, orange liqueur, lime, serrano pepper and a bright burst of cilantro that tastes distinctly like summer in LA. We also liked The Cartier ($13), a tart, blood red concoction of whiskey, muddled blackberries, lime and ginger beer; and The McQueen ($13), a fragrant and feminine mélange of gin, elderflower and passion fruit. Last down the runway was The Hermes ($14), a rum drink our bartender recommended for people who don’t like rum drinks. After sampling the balanced blend of dark rum, apricot, Campari, grapefruit bitters and lemon peel, we couldn’t disagree.
Our tip: In addition to “Fashionable Hour” from 5 to 7, stop in during lunch hours for a cheeky $10 “lunch break cocktail” or $5 sangria and craft beers.