Night time on Earth,  the second Los Angeles spot from the minds behind acclaimed Echo Park cocktail bar Thunderbolt, opened in mid-December 2024 simply off the 101 on the Cahuenga Go, between the San Fernando Valley and the Hollywood Hills. The windowless house, lengthy an leisure trade hang-out and residential to many tenants over the past half-decade, is a “basic LA strip-mall dive bar,” says owner-operator Mike Capoferri. The plain exterior belies, maybe, the self-described “space-age cocktail get together” environment of the latest renovations: Retrofuturist ‘80s-ish interiors by Denver/Reykjavik-based Wunder Werkz embody a speckled Formica-style bar produced from post-consumer recycled plastic and lounge-y leather-based banquettes solid within the horny gentle of blue and magenta. The design was impressed, Capoferri says, by “the neon-soaked, high-contrast visuals” of movies like Blade Runner and the work of Nicolas Winding Refn.

The drinks at Night time on Earth are referential, too. All are primarily based on basic “get together drinks,” and duly cite their sources on the menu, however with the identical fashionable method and evenly madcap tinkering that make its sibling bar a favourite. (Among the many feats of cocktail science: The service temperature is a cool 16°F thanks to personalised refrigeration, which helps them use much less ice and subsequently, much less water.) A Pornstar Martini, for instance, turns into the Dangerous Influencer when clarified and carbonated; the Area Crush is a closely tailored Midori Bitter made with, amongst different updates, actual melon as a substitute of Midori. 

Maybe unsurprisingly, it hasn’t precisely been a straightforward time to open in LA. “Simply over 1.5 months into enterprise, issues have been… fascinating,” says Capoferri. Between the continued influence of final month’s wildfires and the standard January lull, he explains, the bar is simply now beginning to actually settle right into a rhythm. Give it a couple of extra months and a weekend at Night time on Earth may look very totally different. However on one Saturday in early February, vibey tunes emanated from the DJ sales space, clients dialed in codes for worldwide snacks and disposable cameras from the merchandising machine and Capoferri and his crew documented the lay of the land. 

Saturday Night time by the Numbers

Hottest menu drink:
Disco Nap—our Espresso Martini with chamomile-infused blanco tequila, espresso, blueberry, amaro, lemon cordial and vanilla

Hottest name drink:
tequila-soda

Most unhinged name drink:
“mezcal mule, no bubbles” 🤷‍♂️

Busiest hour of service: 8 to 9 p.m.

Employees shift drink: Montucky Chilly Snacks & Mezcalito

(Suspected) first dates: 4

How have issues been the primary few months? Has something differed out of your expectations?

We opened quietly on function to get our geese in a row, however the wildfires and a very dry January made the sluggish begin for much longer than anticipated. We’re simply now beginning to actually get the phrase out about what we’re doing, so enterprise is simply now choosing up. —Mike Capoferri, proprietor/operator

A month or two in, are there any kinks in service that also should be labored out?

So many kinks nonetheless. Principally little stuff—the place every little thing is saved, setting prep pars, the right way to break up up sections on the ground, and so forth. By the three-month mark, we’ll actually have the place operating like a well-oiled machine. —Capoferri

What was the spotlight of this Saturday evening service?

A simple, completely positioned shot glass slide down the bar that landed proper in entrance of the meant visitor centimeters from one other glass. —Wes Meyn, head bartender 

What was the lowlight of this Saturday evening service?

Can or not it’s two? A/C went down with a full room and carbonation rig sprung a leak. —Rachel Carr, bartender

How would you describe the general “vibe” of the evening?

A constant stream of inconsistency. —Kayla Garcia, bartender 

Favourite overheard line of the evening:

“IF I WAS A MULTI-MULTI-BILLIONAIRE THIS WOULD BE MY MAN CAVE.” —Man on the bar

Favourite drink on the menu proper now:

Swamp Factor: our milk punch model of a Swamp Water with inexperienced Chartreuse, pineapple, clairin, cocchi, sencha, lime, coconut. —Capoferri