You don’t have to don your finest and strut the red carpet at the Dolby to enjoy this year’s Academy Awards—of course, if you’re looking for a red carpet moment, some of L.A.’s top restaurants and bars have you covered. They’ve also got you covered with themed cocktail menus, special dinners, movie-and-a-meal screenings of the nominees, and plenty more. Here’s where to watch the Oscars in L.A. this year, and where to be well-fed in the process.
Ever Bar
Ever Bar’s annual Oscars viewing party is back in a big way, and you’d better believe they’ve got their Academy Awards cocktails already queued up. This year’s roster, inspired as ever by the year’s Best Picture titles, includes the likes of a paintbrush-topped tipple (a nod, of course, to The Irishman’s “I heard you paint houses”); a cherry-blossom–tinged ode, served in a canteen, to one of the more peaceful scenes in 1917; and a bottle of High Life served beside a Campari-packed negroni for Ford v Ferrari. Feeling fancy? There’ll even be a red carpet, for all your photo ops; the party begins at 4:30pm.
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Four Seasons LA at Beverly Hills
Up for dinner and a show? Now through February 8, the Four Seasons will be showing Best Picture nominees in a flashy screening room during its $59 dinner-and-a-movie deal. Each night, enjoy a three-course dinner at Culina beginning at 6pm then move into the screening room for the evening’s film, beginning each night at 8pm. On February 6, catch Jojo Rabbit; on February 7, enjoy Joker; and on February 8, snag a plate at the $35 lunch buffet at noon, and then a screening of Ford vs Ferrari at 2pm. Call 310-860-4000 to reserve your spot. On Oscars day, find the ceremony screening in the bar, the lounge and on the patio.
MiniBar
Whiskey fanatics, this one’s for you: Women Who Whiskey will be hosting their third annual Oscars party in MiniBar Hollywood, which involves, of course, some top-notch whiskeys in an array of sips. Each $25 ticket includes a welcome cocktail, plus a dram of each of Rabbit Hole’s four whiskeys, not to mention early admission, getting you in at 4pm while non–ticket-holders can enter starting at 5pm. If you’re still thirsty or not springing for a ticket, there’ll be cocktails (and bites) available à la carte, plus an Oscars pool where the winner takes home a special bottle. After the ceremony, stick around for an all-vinyl jazz DJ set and more revelry and sips.
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The Polo Lounge
One of the city’s most glamorous destinations is a perfect pairing for one of the world’s most star-studded events: The Beverly Hills Hotel is celebrating the night with a special cocktail menu—running now through February 9—so you can taste your way through nominees such as the Ford v Ferrari Duel, whose order comes with both a negroni, repping Italy, and an American boulevardier sporting Bruto Americano. For the Academy Awards themselves, find a viewing party while feasting on a champagne-studded prix-fixe menu that includes the likes of black truffle cavatelli, prime beef filet, crab cake, oysters, risotto Milanese, a crab-and-caviar tian and more; seatings occur at 5 and 5:30pm, and cost $150 per guest, and can be reserved by phone at 310-887-2777.
W Hotel Hollywood
How does seeing stars on a 30-foot screen sound? The W Hotel’s alfresco Hollywood hideaway is bringing the larger-than-life event onto an enormous screen for their Sunday viewing party, which comes complete with food specials and cocktails inspired by the likes of The Irishman and Jojo Rabbit. The fun starts at 5pm.