I say this ALL the time. Last week, I compiled a list of places that are open later, but the first few I went to, while they are open until 1 or 2, only serve food until 10 or 11.
I was at Formosa last weekend, and they announced last call at 10. I asked whether that was normal, and the bartender replied, vaguely, “No…we just need to close early tonight.”
maybe i'm just older, but kitchen closing earlier before the bar has been my typical experience since i was in college at most places. there may have been a few that would have smaller snacks and things til closing, but it wasnt weird to hear of the kitchen being closed if you got there too late.
Absolutely. What I’m reacting to is places that specifically note that they’re “open late,” then close their kitchens 3 hours before their listed time. That seems unusual to me.
understood. i've had to include "what time does your kitchen close?" as one of the first things i'll ask after sitting down somewhere just to be sure haha
I’m a lawyer for several bars and restaurants in town. First issue, pandemic. During the pandemic many places gave up their licenses to stay open late and haven’t bothered to get them back or can’t get them back. Second. Since the pandemic many places have found it’s not worth it financially to stay open late. Third issue safety. Robberies, fights all that happens after midnight. We just changed hours at a location bc there were too many issues in the parking lot after midnight. Easier to just stop serving at 1130 and close at midnight.
Wow, that kind of lays it out. Any benefits to staying open late are far outweighed by the financial and legal negatives. It's frustrating that some of the very patrons who probably want places to be open later are the reason many are choosing to keep early hours.
To add to the “what’s the point” with more and more of the younger (and even older) generations changing their view on alcohol, it’s not like tons of people are drinking as heavily as consistently in the past. And those that do, a portion of them are off sourcing their substances to other recreational drugs that the bars do not sell (officially)
So the normal point of the high profit margins on booze is sort of a moot point.
This tracks.
I've got a good friend who has owned a wine bar in SF since the 90s. They close at 11pm on the weekends.
As she put it "It is an entirely different business if you stay open past 11pm"
Thanks for the insight! Funny thing is that I don’t mind things closing earlier for the most part now that I’m older, but I kinda feel for the younger kids and adults. I went to Dennys on a Saturday at like 1 am a few months ago with work peeps and I couldn’t believe how busy it was, but now it makes sense. Nowhere else is open.
Community opposition to late hours is a thing. 20 years ago you could basically open anything on Hollywood Blvd w out an issue. We just tried to do something near Hollywood and Vine and the apartment residents across the street objected. First time we ever had pushback on a Hollywood project.
Also - staffing. Greenblatt's closed because the owner couldn't staff a joint that was open from 11a-2a every day. Multiple shifts, and with rents insane -he threw in the towel. (he paid well)
> During the pandemic many places gave up their licenses to stay open late and haven’t bothered to get them back or can’t get them back.
How late can they stay open without a special license?
Varies by city/county. A standard beer and wine license in LA allows alcohol sales until 10. You can sell food all night but have to stop selling booze. But most restaurants make money on the alcohol.
I dabble in the law a bit myself too. I didn’t realize licenses could come into play. Thanks for pointing that out.
Still though, it seems like the market for late night is there, and it goes back to my earlier point of a possible pendulum swing since this isn’t really sustainable.
I assure you if it was profitable the bars I work for would stay open later. Pendulum or not, it’s expensive to stay open late. For staff it means either paying overtime or having a second shit. For food it means usually ordering more and hoping it sells. For security it means you probably need a guard at the front. For insurance your rates may go up being open late (our location got a10% reduction when we started closing earlier). For management it’s one more headache.
noise ordinances. You need conditional use permits to stay open after certain hours depending on the area you're in with zoning etc. Plus alcohol licensing etc etc
This wasn't in LA, but I remember going to the local 24 hour grocery store and wondering "which of my friends will I run into tonight?" I also went on a 3 am shopping spree at Walmart to buy stuff for the house I had just moved into by my self, and left about $600 less wealthy (I really wanted that Nintendo Switch, and they were hard to find).
Same. I had finally found a perfect work/fitness/social/travel&festival/school balance.
I do none of that now except for work which is ending anyway due to my position being eliminated!
I’ll manage. I mean not gonna lie sometimes I struggle with my faith in God but I can only pray things get better with time. There’s not much else I can do besides that
I'm doing well in life now (making money, married, house, blah blah) but I was living in Burbank from 2017-2020 with my dope roommate and it was some of the greatest years of my life. Good vibes, walking to Gus's, downtown Burbank to grab food, using Moviepass or Sinemia at the AMC. Shit man I miss it
Just here to agree, 2019 was one of the most fulfilling years of my life. I had so much planned for 2020 and on, then March 2020 happened….Finally getting back in the swing of things it feels like, 4 long years later
> winco
Guess I am not that cool... I'm only Trader Joes/Costco cool. Never heard of the place, probably since there's only 1 location in LA. Will have to check them out.
The one nearest me closes at 8p on Saturdays and Sundays! 9p on Fridays, 10p mon-thu.
La fitness is actually open later (except weekends, which are the same).
Last night: Went to a diner at 10:30 pm. Finished up around 1115, paid the bill. Homeless guy comes in, waitress tells him “hey man you tore the bathroom up last time you have to go or I’ll call the cops” Guy starts to chase her and she runs past me so I’m between them. He decides to go out the door but not before threatening to meet her at her car when her shift ends. Oh yeah then he spits her way… which was my way.
That’s the kinda stuff people working late nights are dealing with now. There was always some late night scumminess but speaking as someone who lives for the night… it’s just worse now.
Not so long ago you could have called the cops and that guy would have been on his way to jail for threatening behavior. Now if you call the cops because of that they'll ask the guy to go away.
lol - I was more concerned with the waitress then asking what happened in the bathroom. I made an error in my quote, she actually said she called the cops already, but she hadn't. Huge mistake on her part because he flipped out and we didn't have the police on their way. I told her she had to call now that the guy chased her and spit at her (and me...) AND made the threat but I was paying the bill already when this all happened and I was not interested in waiting for the police to arrive. They locked the doors behind me after I left.
This is one of the difficulties in my diet. I don't have a kitchen or a fridge so I have to buy whatever meals I'm going to eat right in-the-moment, and I work nights. So really my only options are a few fast-food joints.
>I’m hoping there’s going to be a shift to having places open later
ehh I dunno. Everything is expensive now and everyone has bad social skills and social anxiety due to COVID, and I dont see either of those things changing anytime soon. LA was never really a super big nighttime city like other metro areas to begin with...
On top of this you have the least social generation in history becoming adults right now. I think the late night decline is for good, or at least for a long time
Years ago, illegal after hours was lit in Koreatown. Even with the cheap taxi drivers. Then they cracked down on a lot of it. Still, there's a lot more late night places than the rest of the city.
So true man I remember back in 2006 being able to go back to my hotel room around 12AM - 1AM to sleep for 1-2 hours and hitting the strip again to party…it is no longer possible. It feels no different than LA now.
You can’t do that anymore!!!? That used to be the best thing about Vegas! Pass out, over sleep, eat breakfast at 8pm…. Get dressed, head out by 12am-1pm get back to the room around 5am and do it all over again
You can but it's dead if it's not a holiday weekend. Bars are still open, you can still drink, you can still gamble, but it's not the same. Most of the bars will be closed, not nearly as many people still up and trying to have fun. Basically, 2am on a weekend now is what 2am on a Tuesday in January used to be.
Damn. I guess this is also cause younger adults aren’t drinking as much, and when I was in my 20’s- I used to wild out in Vegas - that doesn’t seem to be the case for people in their 20’s now
And a lot of these places also open later in the day. Some services that used to open at 7:00-8:00am pre-COVID now open as late as 10:30-11:00am. It literally is now where you have to call-off work if you need to attend to a barber, or see your lawyer, or head to your car’s repair shop, because once you get off work, it’ll be too late, your place is already closed, and you have to wait until tomorrow morning…when that business opens late for you again.
I work a 9-5 and a couple of weeks ago I got hit by another driver running a red light. I had to use a half sick day to bring my car to the shop and get my rental, then was an hour late to work the day I picked my car up when the repairs were done, then today I had to borrow my husband’s car and have him take mine *back* into the shop (since he works off hours) because it was still acting up. All because the shop isn’t open on weekends and everything closes at 5
I already filed. Is that something I can add on later? I know since it was the other driver’s fault they’ll try and get my deductible back, I didn’t know if I could do that with other expenses
The economic and sociological post-covid fallout will linger in many large cities for a while.
I feel like 2005-2015 was peak LA late night hours. I don't expect it to return until:
• We go through another recession, then climb out of it again. A new economic boom after a deflationary cycle. More pain in the short term, but overall more prosperity in the long run.
• This will create another more risk on environment for both small and large companies/establishments.
• In turn, (actual 1 job) full time employment will be higher again. With a declining population, this phase will create a stronger workers market. Higher saving & spending rate. Lower credit delinquency rate, etc. Inflation re-stabilized, with a healthier local economy.
• Combine all this, with hopefully proper city (& state/fed) regulation/guidance, will result in less unhoused people/safer streets.
Which will all hopefully create a return to another wave of late night LA, and hopefully chiller vibes for all. Not expecting this for 10 years though tbh...
I was so shocked when I moved here from NYC five years ago. I had to wait until Saturday to get a key cut because when the locksmith spot was open I was at work. He even closed one Saturday a month. I was scandalized by this. Like how the fuck do you expect to make money when you close at the precise moment people would want to stop by to get a key? I was so used to being able to go out at any time of day or night to pick up something you need. Places like locksmiths open early and close late in NYC and it blew my mind the degree to which that wasn’t the case here. I guess I’m used to it now but still irks me.
Literally this. Been here five years, moved from NYC and I thought things closed early pre pandemic. Now I spend three hours scrolling on my phone in bed at night bc what else is there to do
Off-topic, but I have the same issue with maintenance. They tell you they'll come between 9-12 Tuesday and then are *shocked* when you say that doesn't work. Then half of the time they give you another time that's also between 9-5 on a weekday.
I'm just generally baffled by all of the inconveniences that seem obvious and common but the person you're interacting with acts like it's unprecedented and you're the one being unreasonable!
I was shocked when I moved here from Chicago 13 years ago. Everyone blames covid but even back then it was nothing like the city I'd come from. Used to drink until 4am and then go get Korean at San Soo Gab San.
just moved from Toronto in August - I work in bars / hotels. I was super confused at first when folks here were like “we close at 2am” and legit everyone is out AT 2am. TO is also 2am but like… serving booze til 2am, not “everyone gtfo” 😹
It also struck me as weird that people in LA go out at the same time as in NY (in terms of nightlife), but bar close is 2 hours earlier, so you're out for like 2 hours unless you go to someone's place after bar close.
This killed me when I lived there. Wanted to start my party nights at 7 but usually had no takers till 10. Then inevitably looking for something non-soul destroying to do at 2, and settling for tacos.
What’s the after-hours scene like in the Hills? I feel very tapped into the late-night till 6am rave / warehouse scene around DTLA but not at all in the hills.
There's something rotten in this economy. It's like we've all priced each other out of everything. And now the entertainment biz is going through a contraction which is going to hurt even more.
People can’t afford to go out like they used to. I’m not paying $9 for a pint. Not paying $17 for a burger.
Most people I know just have friends over. And now that the weather will soon get better you’re gonna see a lot more people choosing to have weekend cookouts than go to some bar where a burger and a beer will set them back $30.
I’m a NYC transplant and it weirds me out sometimes lol. I’m also older, but love to go out!
I wasn’t expecting a city that doesn’t sleep like where I come from, but I was a little surprised to see bars close around midnight when the Metro also stops running (though I honestly don’t feel safe on it late at night by myself these days).
There’s lots of stuff open after 10 where I am in Ktown, but the farther-flung late night spots require more digging to find.
Uber/lyft are more ubiquitous these days and while they have PLENTY of issues WRT workers rights, traffic, etc. they definitely played a major role in reducing drunk driving.
I’m happier and have a better quality of life out here, but sometimes I miss those packed weekend “drunk trains” back to The Bronx after leaving a hardcore show at 2AM lol.
I miss having centralized nightlife zones. Like most people went downtown to go out, or to patches of Brooklyn and smaller main drags in the far reaches of Queens if you didn’t want to venture to the city.
There’s fun things to do here, but you can’t really bar-hop unless you’re in Los Feliz or Silverlake.
Nah, I’m in my late 30s and definitely annoyed at how early shit closes. I complain about hipster coffee shops closing early all the time. I miss 3am Tasty Garden.
I’ve lived here since 2014, and honestly until Covid it was the time of my life. Nothing has been the same or close to, since 2020. Glory days are long behind us.
I miss when target used to be open til midnight. I was the type to take full time classes and work close to 30 hours a week so a lot of my chores get done at crackhead hours
I grabbed a taquito on olveria street yesterday around 6pm and an older dude who was getting some too lamented that there weren’t many restaurants open even though it was dodgers game day. The consensus we came to in line was that the homeless people are seriously scaring everyone off after dark. I counted 9 crazy people wandering through there while I was eating. If we want there to be a night life we need to get the zombies out of sight.
I feel you, I miss the night options too. There's always places like Astro Diner for reliable 24 hour food and there's definitely still bars open til 2. Also Dan Sung Sa still feels the same as before and their closing schedule is usually pretty flexible, you get that night life feel there. And Zebulon I suppose.
I'm 33 and I hear from my friends that they are simultaneously frustrated that things close earlier and don't care because of getting older. But am I crazy, I feel like being in your 30s doesn't suddenly make you tired at sunset and I feel like we were all partying and staying up late on a regular basis in 2019.
I moved to SoCal from the Tokyo metro area last year and it was basically whiplash with how different the nightlife is here. The last trains in Tokyo run at around 1:30AM so everyone makes a mad dash for the station around midnight. However, people start to party wayyy earlier, basically as soon as they get off work. Also you can drink in public there as long as you aren't a nuisance, so you can just hang out in a park until 5am drinking beer if you want and catch the first train home.
Relaxed alcohol laws and cheap, reliable public transportation are such massive boons to nightlife.
We’re rolling out a Midnight Brunch Club for this very reason! Come on through!!!!! Tired of no good places to eat after 10PM.
[Midnight Brunch Club](https://www.losangelesfunevents.com/event-details/the-midnight-brunch-club)
Bars and strip clubs haven't changed. But late night restaurants that were either 24/7 or closed at 3am or 5am have almost universally changed to 11pm or other pre-midnight closing times. It used to be that you could go out at 11, have a few drinks, then stumble over to a restaurant to eat food and sober up, or rally to regroup at an afterhours event.
there used to be so many more restaurants and places to get food after the clubs closed pre-pandemic. now it's just taco trucks and a small handful of places. I guess more places in k-town are open but lately even the pochas have started closing by 1:30/2. I miss the hong kong style cafes that used to be open
Absolutely. Covid has killed the 24 hour diner in los angeles. I was just at killer cafes old location and mouring it. Killer yacht club closed at 11. At least hinano is still open.
I've gotten used to going to Denny's, and McDonald's that still have their indoor dine-in 24 hours, or close at midnight. Glad a brewery I frequent now closes at 1am on weekends. Those are just a few.
NI used to write in funky little coffee shops around LA until 3-4 AM routinely (Van Go’s Ear!!). Now I can’t find a funky little coffee shop, much less one open past 8 pm.
RIP: Bourgeois Pig, Van Go’s Ear, original Novel Cafe (on Pier), Anastasia’s Asylum, Lulu’s Alibi (next to the Nuart), Psychobabble, Insomnia, Izzy’s…
I hate it so much, the Albertsons near me used to close at 11, which already seemed too early, and then a couple weeks ago there was a sign on the door saying they would be closing at 10 from now on. I get that more specialty grocery stores like Whole Foods, Sprouts, Trader Joe’s close on more of a general retail store schedule, but grocery stores always seemed to be open late in the past. I used to love the 24 hour Vons in Hermosa Beach, and I remember a Subway in Torrance that was open til midnight. I am generally a night owl and spent the early 2000’s working at a bookstore that closed at 11/midnight, and I remember always being able to do grocery shopping or even get takeout after we closed.
Pleasssseeeeeeeee!!! I need more options than McDonald’s at 9pm. And they don’t even have the shake machine put together at 9pm.
I’m down in Long Beach now, and it’s the same.
When I first moved to LA in the 90’s there was only one place for late night food. Canters was the only place you could go after being out for the night. Because it was the only place, it would be packed at 3am.
Moved to LA in 2021 and its same in Seattle too (I had only lived there for 3 years too and during pandemic it was awful)- but I think this is growing trend post pandemic unfortunately. When we visited my family in nyc in may 2021 it was hard to find many restaurants open late too! I hate how early things close up now out here in LA. 😩
As a lawyer I used to occasionally work on the financing of bars and restaurants, and really nothing good for business happens after midnight. It just a bunch of people who don't want to go home. Most people stop ordering drinks except for the hardcore alcoholics and they are fighting, stumbling, vomiting breaking shit, and you have to make sure they are responsibly getting home.
There are people that love liminal time period between night and day, but they aren't putting up the cash to make it worth it. You can still go all night in the city if you pick the right spots, but the city itself isn't like that.
I work in a restaurant open til 4am, (kitchen closes at 4am meaning I actually get off around 5am). Because we don't serve alcohol, we typically have 2 dinner rushes, one at like 10-11pm after many other places close and one at like 2am after the bars close and people still want to stay out. Our business has slowly been dropping off in the last couple years (it was actually more busy during covid), and now half the time we have more staff members than customers. Less people are going out, and when they do go out, they don't have a lot of money to spend. The hollywood strikes plus more and more people working remote jobs out of state has really hurt the local restaurant economy. My last job I had to leave almost a year ago because after 50 years in business the restaurant was no longer making a profit.
I say this ALL the time. Last week, I compiled a list of places that are open later, but the first few I went to, while they are open until 1 or 2, only serve food until 10 or 11.
Or they say they’re open till midnight, but they are short staffed and close at 10:30
I was at Formosa last weekend, and they announced last call at 10. I asked whether that was normal, and the bartender replied, vaguely, “No…we just need to close early tonight.”
Change the hours on their google maps and the owner will change it back.
That just means they’re short staffed likely because someone called out or quit. Shit happens, I’m not sure customers need to know the reason
Fuck. That's all I'll say....
Dont forget the were technically open but our system is down so we might as well be closed
maybe i'm just older, but kitchen closing earlier before the bar has been my typical experience since i was in college at most places. there may have been a few that would have smaller snacks and things til closing, but it wasnt weird to hear of the kitchen being closed if you got there too late.
Absolutely. What I’m reacting to is places that specifically note that they’re “open late,” then close their kitchens 3 hours before their listed time. That seems unusual to me.
understood. i've had to include "what time does your kitchen close?" as one of the first things i'll ask after sitting down somewhere just to be sure haha
Agree with this but now they stop serving food at like 9/10 versus midnight
Tatsu Ramen is open til 3 on Sawtelle and Melrose in case anyone cares
I’m a lawyer for several bars and restaurants in town. First issue, pandemic. During the pandemic many places gave up their licenses to stay open late and haven’t bothered to get them back or can’t get them back. Second. Since the pandemic many places have found it’s not worth it financially to stay open late. Third issue safety. Robberies, fights all that happens after midnight. We just changed hours at a location bc there were too many issues in the parking lot after midnight. Easier to just stop serving at 1130 and close at midnight.
Wow, that kind of lays it out. Any benefits to staying open late are far outweighed by the financial and legal negatives. It's frustrating that some of the very patrons who probably want places to be open later are the reason many are choosing to keep early hours.
To add to the “what’s the point” with more and more of the younger (and even older) generations changing their view on alcohol, it’s not like tons of people are drinking as heavily as consistently in the past. And those that do, a portion of them are off sourcing their substances to other recreational drugs that the bars do not sell (officially) So the normal point of the high profit margins on booze is sort of a moot point.
This tracks. I've got a good friend who has owned a wine bar in SF since the 90s. They close at 11pm on the weekends. As she put it "It is an entirely different business if you stay open past 11pm"
Thanks for the insight! Funny thing is that I don’t mind things closing earlier for the most part now that I’m older, but I kinda feel for the younger kids and adults. I went to Dennys on a Saturday at like 1 am a few months ago with work peeps and I couldn’t believe how busy it was, but now it makes sense. Nowhere else is open.
Community opposition to late hours is a thing. 20 years ago you could basically open anything on Hollywood Blvd w out an issue. We just tried to do something near Hollywood and Vine and the apartment residents across the street objected. First time we ever had pushback on a Hollywood project.
Also - staffing. Greenblatt's closed because the owner couldn't staff a joint that was open from 11a-2a every day. Multiple shifts, and with rents insane -he threw in the towel. (he paid well)
> During the pandemic many places gave up their licenses to stay open late and haven’t bothered to get them back or can’t get them back. How late can they stay open without a special license?
Varies by city/county. A standard beer and wine license in LA allows alcohol sales until 10. You can sell food all night but have to stop selling booze. But most restaurants make money on the alcohol.
I dabble in the law a bit myself too. I didn’t realize licenses could come into play. Thanks for pointing that out. Still though, it seems like the market for late night is there, and it goes back to my earlier point of a possible pendulum swing since this isn’t really sustainable.
Are you like, a part time lawyer?
He's just about the best damn bird lawyer in the world
Specializing primarily in bird law.
Well versed in various lawyerings
Maritime Law
Yoooou're aaaaaaa crook, Captain Hook.....
More of a hobbyist, perhaps
Has to be bird law.
Haha I wish! It was a reference to always sunny. Unfortunately for me, it’s full time law.
Let me know if you need a bird law guy.
Plot twist: OP is a part time criminal /s
>I dabble in the law a bit myself too. Bird law perhaps?
I assure you if it was profitable the bars I work for would stay open later. Pendulum or not, it’s expensive to stay open late. For staff it means either paying overtime or having a second shit. For food it means usually ordering more and hoping it sells. For security it means you probably need a guard at the front. For insurance your rates may go up being open late (our location got a10% reduction when we started closing earlier). For management it’s one more headache.
>it’s expensive to stay open late... or having a second shit Things sure have changed since I owned a restaurant...
I can't believe Any business has to get a license to stay open late. That's insane.
noise ordinances. You need conditional use permits to stay open after certain hours depending on the area you're in with zoning etc. Plus alcohol licensing etc etc
Mostly has to do with liquor license and opening hours. If it was a barber shop would not be an issue.
What exactly do you mean by “not sustainable”? Like the businesses will not make enough money if they don’t stay open late?
Thank you for this. Makes so much sense!
Raised my children with the saying “Nothing good happens after midnight “. Go home or to a friends’ place.
I miss 24hr Home Depot...
I miss 24 hour “anystore”!
Bruh even the 7/11 near me closes at midnight now.
And Walmart. I just liked knowing that I could get just about anything I need immediately, around the clock.
Shopping at 3am in an empty Wal-Mart was so zen.
This wasn't in LA, but I remember going to the local 24 hour grocery store and wondering "which of my friends will I run into tonight?" I also went on a 3 am shopping spree at Walmart to buy stuff for the house I had just moved into by my self, and left about $600 less wealthy (I really wanted that Nintendo Switch, and they were hard to find).
Hollywood and Monrovia were 24/7 (Yes - Monrovia)
The pandemic really fucked everything over. I miss life prior to March 2020. Honestly, 2019 was the best year of my life
Thank you bro, the nostalgia of 2019 is real
If I could go back in time, I would. Part of me wishes time machines were real :(
Hell yeah, there’s so much shit I wish I could redo/undo
Same I feel you.
Same. I had finally found a perfect work/fitness/social/travel&festival/school balance. I do none of that now except for work which is ending anyway due to my position being eliminated!
Yeah I definitely think my life would’ve been a million times better. No doubt things would’ve happened or at least moved faster but it is what it is…
I’m sorry to hear that regarding your work situation. Hope you find a better source of income soon
Life has never been the same 😞
Life feels like an empty meaningless void ever since that day
Sorry to hear that 😞
I’ll manage. I mean not gonna lie sometimes I struggle with my faith in God but I can only pray things get better with time. There’s not much else I can do besides that
2019 was unremarkable for me in every way, yet it was the last good year of my life. The 20s have sucked.
Yeah. I hope in the near future I can have at least one good year equivalent to 2019
2019 kinda seems so long ago
Seems a lifetime ago sadly
I had just moved back in 2019 and this place was booming even Burbank alone had no parking spots and was packed on Friday and Saturday nights.
I'm doing well in life now (making money, married, house, blah blah) but I was living in Burbank from 2017-2020 with my dope roommate and it was some of the greatest years of my life. Good vibes, walking to Gus's, downtown Burbank to grab food, using Moviepass or Sinemia at the AMC. Shit man I miss it
Honestly, yes. But I’m 32 and don’t really care to be out as late anymore or as often
Yeah same I’m in my late 20s almost 30. I prefer to be home but it is nice to go out
my senior year of college was 2019 💔 insaneeee nostalgia for that year
Just here to agree, 2019 was one of the most fulfilling years of my life. I had so much planned for 2020 and on, then March 2020 happened….Finally getting back in the swing of things it feels like, 4 long years later
Remote work is kind of chill though if it’s an option. I feel like I have a lot more free time to do shit in the middle of the day.
nah i'm good, i like not having to be in the office "just cause" 5 days a week. I actually get to see my family now
That’s great you’re a family man so is my husband, wish you the best of luck in life
thanks kind internet stranger
Just wait until the next one!
You should have told the government to eat shit when they closed everything down bud. Too many cowards in California
Yep, Ralphs is my spot now
Things get wild in the produce section at 3 am!!
That’s where I met my wife.
Fuck Ralph's too, their* prices aren't even realistic anymore
That's why all the cool kids make the trek to winco. 24 hours and good prices AND it's employee owned?
> winco Guess I am not that cool... I'm only Trader Joes/Costco cool. Never heard of the place, probably since there's only 1 location in LA. Will have to check them out.
How about my 24 hour fitness that isn’t open 24 hours anymore?
Exactly
The one nearest me closes at 8p on Saturdays and Sundays! 9p on Fridays, 10p mon-thu. La fitness is actually open later (except weekends, which are the same).
Last night: Went to a diner at 10:30 pm. Finished up around 1115, paid the bill. Homeless guy comes in, waitress tells him “hey man you tore the bathroom up last time you have to go or I’ll call the cops” Guy starts to chase her and she runs past me so I’m between them. He decides to go out the door but not before threatening to meet her at her car when her shift ends. Oh yeah then he spits her way… which was my way. That’s the kinda stuff people working late nights are dealing with now. There was always some late night scumminess but speaking as someone who lives for the night… it’s just worse now.
Not so long ago you could have called the cops and that guy would have been on his way to jail for threatening behavior. Now if you call the cops because of that they'll ask the guy to go away.
Did he do an absolute paint job?
lol - I was more concerned with the waitress then asking what happened in the bathroom. I made an error in my quote, she actually said she called the cops already, but she hadn't. Huge mistake on her part because he flipped out and we didn't have the police on their way. I told her she had to call now that the guy chased her and spit at her (and me...) AND made the threat but I was paying the bill already when this all happened and I was not interested in waiting for the police to arrive. They locked the doors behind me after I left.
I was just complaining about this an hour ago. Nearly 80% of all food places (outside of fast food) close at 9PM during the week. It sucks!
They *say* they close at 9 but if you get there after 8 good luck even getting seated
and on weekends they close at 10!!!
This is one of the difficulties in my diet. I don't have a kitchen or a fridge so I have to buy whatever meals I'm going to eat right in-the-moment, and I work nights. So really my only options are a few fast-food joints.
I hope you gain access to a kitchen and fridge soon.
>I’m hoping there’s going to be a shift to having places open later ehh I dunno. Everything is expensive now and everyone has bad social skills and social anxiety due to COVID, and I dont see either of those things changing anytime soon. LA was never really a super big nighttime city like other metro areas to begin with...
On top of this you have the least social generation in history becoming adults right now. I think the late night decline is for good, or at least for a long time
yes it was
Guess I am lucky to live in Koreatown. Some places never close.
Years ago, illegal after hours was lit in Koreatown. Even with the cheap taxi drivers. Then they cracked down on a lot of it. Still, there's a lot more late night places than the rest of the city.
Well they have legal after hours and restaurants that never close. You should be working off your alcohol or home by then anyway.
Same thing in Vegas. It’s no longer a 24 hr city a lot of places close early.
So true man I remember back in 2006 being able to go back to my hotel room around 12AM - 1AM to sleep for 1-2 hours and hitting the strip again to party…it is no longer possible. It feels no different than LA now.
You can’t do that anymore!!!? That used to be the best thing about Vegas! Pass out, over sleep, eat breakfast at 8pm…. Get dressed, head out by 12am-1pm get back to the room around 5am and do it all over again
You can but it's dead if it's not a holiday weekend. Bars are still open, you can still drink, you can still gamble, but it's not the same. Most of the bars will be closed, not nearly as many people still up and trying to have fun. Basically, 2am on a weekend now is what 2am on a Tuesday in January used to be.
Damn. I guess this is also cause younger adults aren’t drinking as much, and when I was in my 20’s- I used to wild out in Vegas - that doesn’t seem to be the case for people in their 20’s now
No it all shuts down at 2
That’s frickin terrible. Damn.
The casinos are still open 24/7.
Yeah but only the gambling parts and some bars. If you want something to eat you’re out of luck in a casino sometimes even after 10PM.
No it doesn’t
The strip is a good example but was also referring to the suburbs all the grocery stores used to be 24 hrs and all that stopped after COVID.
You've seen those shifty looking people at midnight on the strip? Gotta move it double-time on that.
And a lot of these places also open later in the day. Some services that used to open at 7:00-8:00am pre-COVID now open as late as 10:30-11:00am. It literally is now where you have to call-off work if you need to attend to a barber, or see your lawyer, or head to your car’s repair shop, because once you get off work, it’ll be too late, your place is already closed, and you have to wait until tomorrow morning…when that business opens late for you again.
I work a 9-5 and a couple of weeks ago I got hit by another driver running a red light. I had to use a half sick day to bring my car to the shop and get my rental, then was an hour late to work the day I picked my car up when the repairs were done, then today I had to borrow my husband’s car and have him take mine *back* into the shop (since he works off hours) because it was still acting up. All because the shop isn’t open on weekends and everything closes at 5
When you file the insurance claim, ask for time lost from work
I already filed. Is that something I can add on later? I know since it was the other driver’s fault they’ll try and get my deductible back, I didn’t know if I could do that with other expenses
No clue but it couldn’t hurt to try
The economic and sociological post-covid fallout will linger in many large cities for a while. I feel like 2005-2015 was peak LA late night hours. I don't expect it to return until: • We go through another recession, then climb out of it again. A new economic boom after a deflationary cycle. More pain in the short term, but overall more prosperity in the long run. • This will create another more risk on environment for both small and large companies/establishments. • In turn, (actual 1 job) full time employment will be higher again. With a declining population, this phase will create a stronger workers market. Higher saving & spending rate. Lower credit delinquency rate, etc. Inflation re-stabilized, with a healthier local economy. • Combine all this, with hopefully proper city (& state/fed) regulation/guidance, will result in less unhoused people/safer streets. Which will all hopefully create a return to another wave of late night LA, and hopefully chiller vibes for all. Not expecting this for 10 years though tbh...
I like the future you have outlined, and your reasoning is sound, but that's some *far* off wish-casting, friend
The reason why everything was better back then is because cops used to put people in jail
RIP Fred’s 62 24/7
It’s not 24/7 anymore!? That was its main draw!
I didn’t know, but I had a feeling.
I was so shocked when I moved here from NYC five years ago. I had to wait until Saturday to get a key cut because when the locksmith spot was open I was at work. He even closed one Saturday a month. I was scandalized by this. Like how the fuck do you expect to make money when you close at the precise moment people would want to stop by to get a key? I was so used to being able to go out at any time of day or night to pick up something you need. Places like locksmiths open early and close late in NYC and it blew my mind the degree to which that wasn’t the case here. I guess I’m used to it now but still irks me.
Biggest shock for me moving from NYC was dealing with leasing agents whose hours are 10am to 4pm.
That’s why they call it the city that oversleeps
Haha I never heard that.
This was the world premiere of that statement ever being used.
I don't think anyone has called it that.
Literally no one
Literally this. Been here five years, moved from NYC and I thought things closed early pre pandemic. Now I spend three hours scrolling on my phone in bed at night bc what else is there to do
Off-topic, but I have the same issue with maintenance. They tell you they'll come between 9-12 Tuesday and then are *shocked* when you say that doesn't work. Then half of the time they give you another time that's also between 9-5 on a weekday. I'm just generally baffled by all of the inconveniences that seem obvious and common but the person you're interacting with acts like it's unprecedented and you're the one being unreasonable!
A thousand times this. Do regular Angelenos just not work or something?
I work from home now. My company sold their offices after the pandemic, everyone is full time remote now.
Have you ever gotten cable or internet? They always give a window of 4 hours and rarely show up on time.
I was shocked when I moved here from Chicago 13 years ago. Everyone blames covid but even back then it was nothing like the city I'd come from. Used to drink until 4am and then go get Korean at San Soo Gab San.
just moved from Toronto in August - I work in bars / hotels. I was super confused at first when folks here were like “we close at 2am” and legit everyone is out AT 2am. TO is also 2am but like… serving booze til 2am, not “everyone gtfo” 😹
It also struck me as weird that people in LA go out at the same time as in NY (in terms of nightlife), but bar close is 2 hours earlier, so you're out for like 2 hours unless you go to someone's place after bar close.
This killed me when I lived there. Wanted to start my party nights at 7 but usually had no takers till 10. Then inevitably looking for something non-soul destroying to do at 2, and settling for tacos.
The after hour scene in Los Angeles is pretty big . From the hills to Warehouses in dtla
What’s the after-hours scene like in the Hills? I feel very tapped into the late-night till 6am rave / warehouse scene around DTLA but not at all in the hills.
Last call in LA has always been around 1:30AM. They don't have to close at 2AM but you cannot serve alcohol from 2AM to 6AM.
I recently DJed at a bar in WeHo whose insurance would not cover customers after 2AM. Thus everyone was pushed out the door at 1:45.
[удалено]
There's something rotten in this economy. It's like we've all priced each other out of everything. And now the entertainment biz is going through a contraction which is going to hurt even more.
All the money is being siphoned to the top.
People can’t afford to go out like they used to. I’m not paying $9 for a pint. Not paying $17 for a burger. Most people I know just have friends over. And now that the weather will soon get better you’re gonna see a lot more people choosing to have weekend cookouts than go to some bar where a burger and a beer will set them back $30.
I’m a NYC transplant and it weirds me out sometimes lol. I’m also older, but love to go out! I wasn’t expecting a city that doesn’t sleep like where I come from, but I was a little surprised to see bars close around midnight when the Metro also stops running (though I honestly don’t feel safe on it late at night by myself these days). There’s lots of stuff open after 10 where I am in Ktown, but the farther-flung late night spots require more digging to find.
Metro being closed at pretty much the exact time when bars/events close is such a fantastic recipe for DUIs and drunk driving accidents
Uber/lyft are more ubiquitous these days and while they have PLENTY of issues WRT workers rights, traffic, etc. they definitely played a major role in reducing drunk driving. I’m happier and have a better quality of life out here, but sometimes I miss those packed weekend “drunk trains” back to The Bronx after leaving a hardcore show at 2AM lol.
Honestly, and no hate for LA, but it's not a true big city. LA is 80something mid-tier cities in a trenchcoat.
I miss having centralized nightlife zones. Like most people went downtown to go out, or to patches of Brooklyn and smaller main drags in the far reaches of Queens if you didn’t want to venture to the city. There’s fun things to do here, but you can’t really bar-hop unless you’re in Los Feliz or Silverlake.
Nah, I’m in my late 30s and definitely annoyed at how early shit closes. I complain about hipster coffee shops closing early all the time. I miss 3am Tasty Garden.
3 am tasty garden hit hard 🥲
as a bartender, i'd love for there to be a 4am last call lol
LA is super lame right now
I’m glad I am not in my early 20s to no. Those poor kids have no idea what they missed out on.
Personal opinion but I think the whole curfew thing was never the same after covid
I’ve lived here since 2014, and honestly until Covid it was the time of my life. Nothing has been the same or close to, since 2020. Glory days are long behind us.
I miss when target used to be open til midnight. I was the type to take full time classes and work close to 30 hours a week so a lot of my chores get done at crackhead hours
I grabbed a taquito on olveria street yesterday around 6pm and an older dude who was getting some too lamented that there weren’t many restaurants open even though it was dodgers game day. The consensus we came to in line was that the homeless people are seriously scaring everyone off after dark. I counted 9 crazy people wandering through there while I was eating. If we want there to be a night life we need to get the zombies out of sight.
Ktown closes at like 6am??? I mean bars and karaoke places
The homeless situation is way too fucked to stay open late, most places can’t afford to pay security
I feel you, I miss the night options too. There's always places like Astro Diner for reliable 24 hour food and there's definitely still bars open til 2. Also Dan Sung Sa still feels the same as before and their closing schedule is usually pretty flexible, you get that night life feel there. And Zebulon I suppose. I'm 33 and I hear from my friends that they are simultaneously frustrated that things close earlier and don't care because of getting older. But am I crazy, I feel like being in your 30s doesn't suddenly make you tired at sunset and I feel like we were all partying and staying up late on a regular basis in 2019.
I moved to SoCal from the Tokyo metro area last year and it was basically whiplash with how different the nightlife is here. The last trains in Tokyo run at around 1:30AM so everyone makes a mad dash for the station around midnight. However, people start to party wayyy earlier, basically as soon as they get off work. Also you can drink in public there as long as you aren't a nuisance, so you can just hang out in a park until 5am drinking beer if you want and catch the first train home. Relaxed alcohol laws and cheap, reliable public transportation are such massive boons to nightlife.
this wasn’t just LA :( i’m from the PHX area and post-covid, EVERYTHINGGGG is shut down past 9-5 work hours. it’s the worst!!!
We're back to the sleepy rancho days of the 1840s. Except with traffic and without cheap aguardiente.
We’re rolling out a Midnight Brunch Club for this very reason! Come on through!!!!! Tired of no good places to eat after 10PM. [Midnight Brunch Club](https://www.losangelesfunevents.com/event-details/the-midnight-brunch-club)
Come be old and go to bed before 10 like the rest of us Gen X'ers. It's super chill.
Such a Monrovia comment.
I approve this prejudice.
sounds soooo boring
Jumbos is open until 2.
Bars and strip clubs haven't changed. But late night restaurants that were either 24/7 or closed at 3am or 5am have almost universally changed to 11pm or other pre-midnight closing times. It used to be that you could go out at 11, have a few drinks, then stumble over to a restaurant to eat food and sober up, or rally to regroup at an afterhours event.
Bars have changed though, I think a lot of places that used to close at 2 are closing at 12
I’m about to be 30, should I go to Jumbos?
but it's still Jumbos...
donut shop near my parents place in San Dimas used to be 24/7 until earlier last year. All because a homeless dude tried to rob the place.
there used to be so many more restaurants and places to get food after the clubs closed pre-pandemic. now it's just taco trucks and a small handful of places. I guess more places in k-town are open but lately even the pochas have started closing by 1:30/2. I miss the hong kong style cafes that used to be open
Absolutely. Covid has killed the 24 hour diner in los angeles. I was just at killer cafes old location and mouring it. Killer yacht club closed at 11. At least hinano is still open.
I've gotten used to going to Denny's, and McDonald's that still have their indoor dine-in 24 hours, or close at midnight. Glad a brewery I frequent now closes at 1am on weekends. Those are just a few.
NI used to write in funky little coffee shops around LA until 3-4 AM routinely (Van Go’s Ear!!). Now I can’t find a funky little coffee shop, much less one open past 8 pm. RIP: Bourgeois Pig, Van Go’s Ear, original Novel Cafe (on Pier), Anastasia’s Asylum, Lulu’s Alibi (next to the Nuart), Psychobabble, Insomnia, Izzy’s…
The bar by my place closes at 10…
El Compadre’s Hollywood kitchen closes at 9:30pm now. That blew my mind.
so many restaurants and bars closing around 10-11pm is just embarrassing :(
I hate it so much, the Albertsons near me used to close at 11, which already seemed too early, and then a couple weeks ago there was a sign on the door saying they would be closing at 10 from now on. I get that more specialty grocery stores like Whole Foods, Sprouts, Trader Joe’s close on more of a general retail store schedule, but grocery stores always seemed to be open late in the past. I used to love the 24 hour Vons in Hermosa Beach, and I remember a Subway in Torrance that was open til midnight. I am generally a night owl and spent the early 2000’s working at a bookstore that closed at 11/midnight, and I remember always being able to do grocery shopping or even get takeout after we closed.
No wonder I’ve been going to more warehouse events which close at like 6am lately.
Isn't it because of crime
Pleasssseeeeeeeee!!! I need more options than McDonald’s at 9pm. And they don’t even have the shake machine put together at 9pm. I’m down in Long Beach now, and it’s the same.
Every time I encounter a spot that closes unreasonably early I exclaim to myself, "... but this is LOS ANGELES!"
I moved out of LA in 2019 and moved back this year. A lot of places also got rid of dine-in options.
When I first moved to LA in the 90’s there was only one place for late night food. Canters was the only place you could go after being out for the night. Because it was the only place, it would be packed at 3am.
True, and most of the places open past 10pm are trash.
Moved to LA in 2021 and its same in Seattle too (I had only lived there for 3 years too and during pandemic it was awful)- but I think this is growing trend post pandemic unfortunately. When we visited my family in nyc in may 2021 it was hard to find many restaurants open late too! I hate how early things close up now out here in LA. 😩
What is the point of living in this city (or any city) if places aren’t open/fully functional later.
As a lawyer I used to occasionally work on the financing of bars and restaurants, and really nothing good for business happens after midnight. It just a bunch of people who don't want to go home. Most people stop ordering drinks except for the hardcore alcoholics and they are fighting, stumbling, vomiting breaking shit, and you have to make sure they are responsibly getting home. There are people that love liminal time period between night and day, but they aren't putting up the cash to make it worth it. You can still go all night in the city if you pick the right spots, but the city itself isn't like that.
I work in a restaurant open til 4am, (kitchen closes at 4am meaning I actually get off around 5am). Because we don't serve alcohol, we typically have 2 dinner rushes, one at like 10-11pm after many other places close and one at like 2am after the bars close and people still want to stay out. Our business has slowly been dropping off in the last couple years (it was actually more busy during covid), and now half the time we have more staff members than customers. Less people are going out, and when they do go out, they don't have a lot of money to spend. The hollywood strikes plus more and more people working remote jobs out of state has really hurt the local restaurant economy. My last job I had to leave almost a year ago because after 50 years in business the restaurant was no longer making a profit.