Where to drink in Los Angeles for $5 or less

Please note that this article was published on November 7, 2025. By the time you read this, prices may have increased and establishments may have closed down.

I’ve been drinking for a long time, and it’s easily my favorite pastime. Unfortunately, drinking with friends, neighbors, and strangers has fallen out of style since the 2020 pandemic, and it seems to get worse by the day. The number one excuse I hear for not wanting to go out anymore is cost. “Minimum wage in Los Angeles is $17.87 an hour, and that barely covers one drink and a tip,” people tell me. Not surprisingly, the ones who say this usually think going out for a drink means going to Tower Bar or a nightclub. They’ve never been regulars at their neighborhood watering hole. They don’t even know that’s an option.

I’ve talked about this for hours on end with different bartenders throughout LA, and we’ve all noticed the same thing: regulars in their 20s are a rare and dying breed. The idea of a local bar where drinks are cheap, the same patrons show up every day, and bartenders and regulars know each other’s names exists only in fiction for a lot of young adults. Some say it’s because so many of them were locked down in their houses during late high school and early college—the most formative years of their lives—during COVID, so they’re all socially fucked up. They don’t know how to drink, don’t know how to start a conversation, don’t know how to end a conversation, can’t look strangers in the eye, and panic at the thought of talking to anyone they don’t already know, especially if they didn't have the opportunity to stalk some sort of profile where they can see the person's interests, hobbies, age, education, and music taste beforehand.

It’s a shame because I’ve met most of my best friends at neighborhood bars. My wildest adventures started in bars. The best conversations of my life have been with strangers at bars. More people should know this reality actually exists and is still out there waiting for them. You can go to the same place a few times a week on your own, talk to the bartenders and regulars, and before you know it, you’re a neighborhood fixture. You’ll gain new friends you’ll keep for the rest of your life. You’ll stop in without telling anyone in advance, and someone you know will already be there, ready to hear your latest terrible take on how the world is going to hell and everyone younger than you is a dumb loser. This is how strangers become friends and neighbors. It’s the basis of community. And you can still do it without spending an hour of minimum wage on a single drink and tip.

Here are my favorite spots where you can buy a 12-ounce drink for $5 or less (before tax and tip).

The Escondite (Skid Row/Little Tokyo) – A 12-ounce bottle of Miller High Life is $2 every Saturday from 3 to 4 PM. It’s called the Power Hour special. It used to be $1 until one day a legend came in and drank… a lot of them. Any other time, it’s $5. They also offer a 16-ounce can of Hamm’s for $6. And sometimes they run the craziest wings deal in the city: five wings for $2.50. I recently spent an afternoon there watching kung fu movies, listening to Little River Band on the jukebox, and talking for hours with a guy sitting at the bar about everything from Huey Lewis to how Royal Crown Cola is the superior American cola. He informed me that the cola on tap was RC. When I asked how he knew, he told me he was the owner and had purposely Chicago-coded the whole place, from the Cubs gear on the wall to the Malort bottles on the shelf to the RC Cola in the soda gun.

https://www.instagram.com/theescondite/ 

The Kibitz Room (Fairfax District) – A 12-ounce glass bottle of Pabst Blue Ribbon goes for $5. When I first became a regular, it cost $8, so I stopped coming. When I returned later and discovered it had dropped to $5, I liked to pretend it had something to do with me, but it definitely didn’t. Most of the nighttime bartenders are surly Irish guys from the East Coast, which is perfect for a bar attached to one of LA’s most famous Jewish delis (Canter's). I’ve spent some of my best nights here loading the jukebox with Springsteen and the Clash, adding questionable commentary to whatever movie was on TV with other patrons, trading hyperlocal gossip with the bartenders, and finishing the night with hot pastrami on rye with coleslaw and a Cel-Ray soda. 

https://www.instagram.com/kibitzroombar/

Uncle Ollie’s Penthouse (Skid Row/Little Tokyo) – Right above the Escondite, this spot is huge and packed with random shit everywhere: arcade cabinets, a stripper pole, fiberglass horses, and gilded framed photos of Burt Reynolds. You can get a 16-ounce Montucky Cold Snack for $4, a 24-ounce PBR for $8, and a 16-ounce basic mixed drink for $8. Every customer gets a red plastic cup upon entry, keeping with the house party theme.

https://www.instagram.com/uncleolliespenthouse/

The Prince (Koreatown) – During happy hour, most drinks (or possibly all drinks) are 50% off. A Miller High Life runs $7 regular, so it's only $3.50 during happy hour. This place has my favorite decor in LA, and it’s no surprise that so many movies, TV shows, and commercials are filmed here. The wood, brass, and red velvet interior is a time machine. The Irish hunting-lodge vibe is a disguise, though; the Prince is actually a Korean chicken restaurant with great food. Don’t trip down the stairs on your way in, especially when you’re coming in on a bright, sunny day. You’ll understand what I mean if it happens. 

https://www.instagram.com/theprincela/

Stories (Echo Park) – Yes, it’s a bookstore, but the cafe inside sells beer. You can get a 16-ounce Pilsener for $5.50 after browsing the books and zines. Next time you want to hang out with friends, tell them to meet you here. Buy a book and a beer. Sit in the backyard patio and talk about literature and your current creative endeavors. It’ll be great.

https://www.instagram.com/storiesbooksandcafe/

Mic’s (West Hollywood) – During the 4 to 8 PM happy hour, a 12-ounce PBR is $5. The 16-ounce Hamm’s is also $5. If you’re feeling lucky, you can pay $5 to spin the wheel or roll dice and win whatever drink you land on. A friend once asked if this was a gay bar, but honestly, I wasn’t sure. It’s definitely in the gayborhood, and there are definitely gay people drinking there, but I’d describe it more as a bar where lots of gay people drink rather than a gay bar. This conclusion was not based on any particular science or reasoning.

https://www.instagram.com/micsbarla/

The Golden Gopher (Downtown) – The 12-ounce PBR and 12-ounce Miller High Life both go for $5. During happy hour, several beers on tap are also $5 per pint. The Golden Gopher is one of the oldest bars in the city, and thanks to the location, it’s perfect for meeting friends before a fashion show or a show at a nearby venue. Lots of locals have a couple drinks here to get buzzed before grocery shopping at Whole Foods.

https://www.instagram.com/goldengopherla/

Cafe Triste (Chinatown) – A 12-ounce glass of Budweiser is $4, though this is technically a wine bar, so you might be the only beer drinker around. The space is small, dark, and candlelit, and the front patio has a great view of the Royal Pagoda Motel across the street. I recently spent a couple hours here splitting pitchers with two strangers before we ended up running off on an impromptu Chinatown adventure. 

https://www.instagram.com/cafetristela/

The Douglas (Echo Park) – A pint of Viking Blonde Ale from Trademark Brewing is $5, and a 16-ounce PBR is $6. There are plenty of other pints and cans in the $6 - $7 range. Most of the crowd consists of neighborhood Dodgers fans, since the stadium is only a few blocks away, so expect it to be busy during baseball season.

https://www.instagram.com/thedouglas.la/

Crane’s (Downtown) – During happy hour, most canned basic beers are $5: PBR, Tecate, Hamm’s, Miller Lite, and so on. It’s inside a basement bank vault, so you will not see natural light here. Based on their flyers advertising comedy shows, DJ nights, and other bullshit, I assumed the place would suck. But the first time I came on a weekday with no event happening, they were playing the Promise Ring on the stereo. I’ve popped in occasionally ever since, and I’ve always had a good time talking about 90s indie, emo, and grunge with whoever is behind the bar.

https://www.instagram.com/cranesbardtla/

Honorable mention: Lotus Lounge (East Hollywood) – People tell me they pass this place all the time but are too scared to go in. I don’t know why. The first time I came, I ordered a Mickey’s and the bartender asked, “Do you drink a lot?” I said yes, and she told me a single beer was $6, but if I paid $33 upfront, I’d get six beers of my choosing in an ice bucket. That’s a 50-cent savings per beer. I told her I’d only have one and then leave. Huge mistake. I ended up having such a good time talking to the regulars and bartenders about buffets, Stax Records, buying documents at MacArthur Park, and petty crime that I stayed longer than intended and paid full price for six beers. After three hours, the bartender laughed and said, “I knew it! You should have bought the bucket!” I learned my lesson, so every time I go, I pay for the bucket. They give you a little piece of paper and tally up your drinks so you can actually drink three for the day, then come back the next day (or whenever) and drink three more as long as you still have the slip. The Lotus Lounge is just an honorable mention because the bucket deal comes out to $5.50 per beer, not $5, but the cast of regulars is so good that I had to include it.

Lots of people think that $5 for a drink is still a lot because they can buy a 6-pack for $8 and drink in their houses alone, but that's not what this list is about. Going to the bar is about meeting your neighbors, making friends, and talking to people. And drinking a 6-pack by yourself, alone in your house, is very sad and unhealthy.