Best Places To Grab A Drink In The Los Angeles Airport
All kinds of activities can be found at Los Angeles International Airport, known around the world as LAX (the aviation code for our main airport). However, sometimes all you want as a traveler about to fly off on an adventure or as a friend or family member there to greet a passenger coming back home is a good, stiff drink. For those in that category, below are five places on the LAX premises to find the perfect fit in the form of alcoholic beverages.
Daniels Bistro + Bar
Tom Bradley International Terminal, Arrivals
www.danielsbistroandbar.com/
If organic certified coffee, served at this new outpost at LAX's only international terminal, just isn't going to give you enough kick, order a heartier drink from this fun-loving bar with its many imaginative and memorable libations. Cases in point include The Pineapple Express, including Grey Goose vodka, a mixture of jalapeno, cilantro and lime, and a giant dash of pineapple juice and the Great Dame, served on the rocks and containing a blend of Jack Daniels, amaretto and a secret sour mix.
B Grill by BOA Steakhouse
1 World Way W., Terminal 7
This smaller outpost of the popular Santa Monica steakhouse operating in United's terminal 7 is ripe for early birds ready to get on their flight but needing to pass some time before that happens. Although primarily a chop house, the newly opened B Grill operates a full bar run by a keen barkeep who knows what it's like to want to drink and run. Yes, the prices are as stiff as the drinks, but this is an airport outlet and that's typically the name of the game in such places. Still, convenience is a known and welcome quantity for those leaving Los Angeles in a hurry. May the adventures begin.
Daily Grill Bar
Tom Bradley International Terminal, Food Court
(310) 215-5180
www.dailygrill.com
This branch of the Beverly Hills mainstay is about as good as it gets for drinks in whatever time zone you think you happen to be in. The Daily Grill's barkeep is a keeper, for sure, as are the libations, which are made from the best quality products found in any drinking den in this or any other big city where having a drink at the right time of day can mean anything and everything to the person on hand to drink. For special cocktails that thrill, ask for the Arnold Palmer. And, if you can't stomach the hard stuff before taking off, try a draft on tap. This great LAX restaurant has dozens.
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Gladstone's at LAX
Terminal 3
www.sbe.com/gladstones
Sometimes all it takes to quench your thirst at LAX is the perfect margarita. You'll find that at this version of Gladstone's, located between gates 34 and 35 in Terminal 3. The classic Mexican cocktail is the house special and priced at a soothing $9. Not interested in a mixed drink of the margarita kind? A variety of concoctions are available as are quick bites (like fish and chips), all on tap at this small seafood outlet that came out of the of the larger, legendary one found in Malibu and popular all year round.
The Encounter Cocktail Lounge
Theme Building
209 World Way
Los Angeles, CA 90045
(310) 215-5151
www.encounterlax.com
If you spy a building that looks like a flying saucer as you enter the lower level of LAX, don't shy away. Instead, take time to make a fly by in order to get in a drink or two before heading to your designated terminal. No doubt this pit stop will be well worth the adventure, especially if atomic architecture is your thing. Indeed, The Encounter was erected in 1961 as an Austin Powers-style plethora of lively libations in an intergalactically themed building that will have you literally whirling. That's because this space-age edifice consistently turns on a rotating wheel to provide 360-degree views that aren't in your imagination -- something that might seem possible after sucking up enough of The Encounter's out-of-this-world cocktails, like the Milky Way, the Jet Set and the Blue Moon, all available at the top of this groovy LAX landmark.
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