cute bar for socializing, music is very rooftop chic, drinks are good, not made for dancing
Victoria R.
This place is the Fyre festival of Los Angeles establishments. No seating even with a reservation, a 5% surcharge to pay their shitty restaurant's rent, rationing water amongst 8 people after being forgotten about for two hours, receiving my one and only cocktail about an hour and a half after sitting down, horrible service who will make you feel like you don't belong there, and aioli that was essentially just sour cream. As someone who's worked in the restaurant industry for years, I always am kind and understanding to service workers, it's not an easy job and is often overlooked. But when someone's service makes you feel like you are not worthy of being there and are less than them, that's when I have a problem. Don't go here and just go across the street to Mama Shelter which is far better (s/o to the mama fries!!), you'll have a way better experience. Also shoutout to the food runners who actually did make an effort rather than our own waiter, I hope they get tipped well because they are the real MPVs that keeps this place running.
Tori B.
I was very excited to finally try Bar Lis but was unfortunately very disappointed by my experience here. Despite having reservations, they did not have a table large enough for our group so we we were sat in a lounge area that couldn't even accommodate the food we ordered. After taking our initial drink orders, we barely could get our waitresses attention. Half our drinks came out promptly, and half took over an hour. We couldn't even get water refilled more than once despite being there for 3 hours. The food was okay but overpriced for what it was. There were also strange 5% surcharges on our bill that we found out were to cover the rent? Overall the drinks and ambiance were good but the food and service were not worth the price and I don't plan on returning or recommending.
Lacee B.
Two words: Utter incompetence. Service: 0/5 Food: 3/5 Cocktails: 3/5 (though they will charge an arm and leg for well liquors) Ambiance: 4/5 (amazing views! They need it to distract from the lack of service you will receive) Note: You will be charged a 5% surcharge for the "rent to the hotel". Would've thought the overpriced food and drinks would cover that. Nonetheless I don't ask you to cover my rent so please elaborate as to why I should pay for yours? I recommend you go to Mama Shelter instead, which is just next door! Same amazing views, incredible drinks and servers that actually want to facilitate an unforgettable night!
Carolyn S.
It's very rare that I actually want to go out of my way to write a review, especially a negative one. We went to Bar List to celebrate a friend's birthday and it was one of the worst experiences I've had to a bar/restaurant. We had booked a reservation for eight and arrived before there was any sort of crowd. We were seated on a comfy bench with two small coffee tables between us all. This was surprising for a place that serves full meals such as pasta. We tried to get reseated but there was nothing that would fit our party, drinks and food well. I would highly suggest to them that if you are going to take reservations and serve meals, you should reduce the max number of people on a reservation or provide comfortable seating for dining. Service was a complete farce. Our waitress took our drink orders quickly after we arrived but rarely came back to fill waters. Only half of our group was served those first drinks in a timely manner. Several drinks came out well over an hour after being ordered and this was only because we reminded them that we were still pending orders. We were given the excuse that they were understaffed, though the restaurant was not crowded and on several occasions we observed our waiter standing around chatting with the bartender. That being said, the runner who brought our food over saw that our table was too small for us and took it upon himself to make us more comfortable. He was really the light in the whole situation. The food itself was strange. Several of my friends got the pasta which they seemed happy with, but the hot wings tasted like they were spritzed with lavender perfume, which was not appetizing. The biggest offender was the "aioli" served with the fries. It tasted less like aioli and more like sour cream mixed with lemon. That description doesn't really do a service to how off it tasted from our expectations (and this is coming from someone who loves any sort of aioli). We were lucky that they served ketchup with the fries too. I want to emphasize that everyone at our table empathizes with how difficult serving can be, but we only saw our server around three times even though we were a large table. If we didn't have to wait as long as we did, we would have happily gotten more drinks. The level of neglect and the fact that gratuity was built in made us feel like we needed to speak up. Our waitress could do nothing to discount the drinks that were late so we called over the manager. He took down our information so we could receive a refund which we are still waiting on. One last thing to be warned about: there is an additional 5% charge on the bill. This charge is apparently to cover rent. Why this can't be covered by cost of a $500 bottle of Jameson ($20 at your local store) I do not know. I truly hope that Bar Lis can make some changes because the venue, ambience and drinks have a lot of great potential, but at this point I cannot recommend this place to anyone.
Janet C.
Got two phones stolen here. Such great security!! Cherry was the only good part of tonight. Look at all the 1 star reviews
Diana Z.
It had a nice ambiance and service. Wish they had more on their menu but to have some good drinks and have a lounge feel is nice.
Kyle W.
This is a pretty solid rooftop bar in terms of views. Here, if you request outdoor seating, you could see, from a fair distance, the Hollywood Sign! It may be hard to get it as a picture with drinks, but you can easily see it through the window nonetheless. The outdoor seating faces the view north, so sunset still has some color but not as vibrant as if you sat facing west. We made reservations just in case, but it wasn't busy at all when we went around 6pm on a Thursday, around the time of golden hour. We requested outdoor seating and we were granted that with views facing the Hollywood Sign. We budgeted additional time for parking since valet is like $30 but you can find street parking without much issue if you budget 15-30 minutes circling around the neighborhood, as it is around the highly trafficked area of Hollywood. We tried the Bang Bang and Summer Spritz cocktails, both of which were $20 before tax and tip. Price is fairly high for the quality of drinks, but the drinks were not bad in any manner. It's just that compared to other rooftop bars, let alone regular bars, the quality misses the mark. However, the drinks do look kind of pretty, and the ambience is excellent. Service is okay as it takes a while to get requests from a server, which was a bit strange given it was not busy. Overall, this could be a nice spot for drinks for a date or to socialize and catch up with friends, but don't really expect excellent quality cocktails for a bar.
Kordilia Foxstone
Great view! You come here for the view and view alone. Awesome atmosphere, and good music. The food is okay, but the servers were a bit rude to us throughout the night.
Went for the bar on a Friday night, empty af, bartenders were rude. Asked for a menu and they lied about not having one. Ordered drinks on the first floor bar then later found a literal menu sitting one of the tables. 0/10. Would be negative if not for the nice interior. Never coming back again!
Sat at the bar and was somewhat memorized watching the cocktails being made. Got the Burrata with butternut. It was a little over powered buy a soy sesame kinda flavour but it was still really good. Cocktails and custom mocktails were on point. Pretty place.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 5
Rachael Layden
Waitress was inattentive, we never even got to order apps or our dinner. The next time we saw our waitress we were handed the check for our first round of drinks nearly 2 hours after we sat down. Waitress then told us the kitchen was closed and we couldn’t order food. Night life seemed fun but would not recommend for dinner and drinks as a sit down place.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 1
Service: 1
Laurie H.
We headed to Bar Lis with no reservations on a Tuesday night, Feb 13. Got there around 7pm knowing there was some kind of mardi gras concert that night (it was Matthew Grant) but not having actually explored the interwebs ahead of time, we didn't manage the process correctly. Had we asked the hostess when we arrived how it worked for the concert portion, we likely could have made that work....there's a table minimum...it was really high...but your dinner counts towards it so we could have met it, no problem. Sadly we asked as were finishing dinner, so would have had to start anew with the minimum. But they were super sweet and walked us in to show us where they had a table (shared...think Yoshi's in Oakland...) and we decided to pass because we can't drink that much to meet the minimum lol. Anyway, that snafu (our fault) explained...the service was very good all night. We went into the regular courtyard portion of the restaurant and had a nice seat...albeit not near the glass where the views are better (again...no reservations so that's on us). I didn't see a drink concoction speaking to me on the menu, so I asked our server to have the bartender make a rum drink that I had googled up - an Old Cuban. He did well. What I really want to call out here is my meal - the sea trout with roasted farro, butternut squash, arugula, and romesco. It was the best meal I had while in LA. And that includes my Valentine's Day dinner at Redbird. And frankly, I can't think of a better dish I've had anywhere else in quite some time. I was super surprised because we knew literally nothing about this restaurant. It was close to our hotel, had a rooftop bar, and that was enough to give it a go. Hubby liked his as well...I think it was a meaty meat meat meat cuz that's what he always gets...but I'm too focused on mine to care. The atmosphere was fun because they were amping up for the mardi gras concert so people came in wearing very stylish, LA garb and mardi gras girls in states of undress came to hand out flyers or something and they were fun to watch too. Anyway, loved it here and I'm saying I'd come back for the food...and possibly a concert because that room was even more awesome!
Danielle Sheridan
Very slow service, exorbitant prices and mediocre food. I ended up getting food poisoning from this place. The only thing it has going for it is the view!
cute bar for socializing, music is very rooftop chic, drinks are good, not made for dancing
This place is the Fyre festival of Los Angeles establishments. No seating even with a reservation, a 5% surcharge to pay their shitty restaurant's rent, rationing water amongst 8 people after being forgotten about for two hours, receiving my one and only cocktail about an hour and a half after sitting down, horrible service who will make you feel like you don't belong there, and aioli that was essentially just sour cream. As someone who's worked in the restaurant industry for years, I always am kind and understanding to service workers, it's not an easy job and is often overlooked. But when someone's service makes you feel like you are not worthy of being there and are less than them, that's when I have a problem. Don't go here and just go across the street to Mama Shelter which is far better (s/o to the mama fries!!), you'll have a way better experience. Also shoutout to the food runners who actually did make an effort rather than our own waiter, I hope they get tipped well because they are the real MPVs that keeps this place running.
I was very excited to finally try Bar Lis but was unfortunately very disappointed by my experience here. Despite having reservations, they did not have a table large enough for our group so we we were sat in a lounge area that couldn't even accommodate the food we ordered. After taking our initial drink orders, we barely could get our waitresses attention. Half our drinks came out promptly, and half took over an hour. We couldn't even get water refilled more than once despite being there for 3 hours. The food was okay but overpriced for what it was. There were also strange 5% surcharges on our bill that we found out were to cover the rent? Overall the drinks and ambiance were good but the food and service were not worth the price and I don't plan on returning or recommending.
Two words: Utter incompetence. Service: 0/5 Food: 3/5 Cocktails: 3/5 (though they will charge an arm and leg for well liquors) Ambiance: 4/5 (amazing views! They need it to distract from the lack of service you will receive) Note: You will be charged a 5% surcharge for the "rent to the hotel". Would've thought the overpriced food and drinks would cover that. Nonetheless I don't ask you to cover my rent so please elaborate as to why I should pay for yours? I recommend you go to Mama Shelter instead, which is just next door! Same amazing views, incredible drinks and servers that actually want to facilitate an unforgettable night!
It's very rare that I actually want to go out of my way to write a review, especially a negative one. We went to Bar List to celebrate a friend's birthday and it was one of the worst experiences I've had to a bar/restaurant. We had booked a reservation for eight and arrived before there was any sort of crowd. We were seated on a comfy bench with two small coffee tables between us all. This was surprising for a place that serves full meals such as pasta. We tried to get reseated but there was nothing that would fit our party, drinks and food well. I would highly suggest to them that if you are going to take reservations and serve meals, you should reduce the max number of people on a reservation or provide comfortable seating for dining. Service was a complete farce. Our waitress took our drink orders quickly after we arrived but rarely came back to fill waters. Only half of our group was served those first drinks in a timely manner. Several drinks came out well over an hour after being ordered and this was only because we reminded them that we were still pending orders. We were given the excuse that they were understaffed, though the restaurant was not crowded and on several occasions we observed our waiter standing around chatting with the bartender. That being said, the runner who brought our food over saw that our table was too small for us and took it upon himself to make us more comfortable. He was really the light in the whole situation. The food itself was strange. Several of my friends got the pasta which they seemed happy with, but the hot wings tasted like they were spritzed with lavender perfume, which was not appetizing. The biggest offender was the "aioli" served with the fries. It tasted less like aioli and more like sour cream mixed with lemon. That description doesn't really do a service to how off it tasted from our expectations (and this is coming from someone who loves any sort of aioli). We were lucky that they served ketchup with the fries too. I want to emphasize that everyone at our table empathizes with how difficult serving can be, but we only saw our server around three times even though we were a large table. If we didn't have to wait as long as we did, we would have happily gotten more drinks. The level of neglect and the fact that gratuity was built in made us feel like we needed to speak up. Our waitress could do nothing to discount the drinks that were late so we called over the manager. He took down our information so we could receive a refund which we are still waiting on. One last thing to be warned about: there is an additional 5% charge on the bill. This charge is apparently to cover rent. Why this can't be covered by cost of a $500 bottle of Jameson ($20 at your local store) I do not know. I truly hope that Bar Lis can make some changes because the venue, ambience and drinks have a lot of great potential, but at this point I cannot recommend this place to anyone.
Got two phones stolen here. Such great security!! Cherry was the only good part of tonight. Look at all the 1 star reviews
It had a nice ambiance and service. Wish they had more on their menu but to have some good drinks and have a lounge feel is nice.
This is a pretty solid rooftop bar in terms of views. Here, if you request outdoor seating, you could see, from a fair distance, the Hollywood Sign! It may be hard to get it as a picture with drinks, but you can easily see it through the window nonetheless. The outdoor seating faces the view north, so sunset still has some color but not as vibrant as if you sat facing west. We made reservations just in case, but it wasn't busy at all when we went around 6pm on a Thursday, around the time of golden hour. We requested outdoor seating and we were granted that with views facing the Hollywood Sign. We budgeted additional time for parking since valet is like $30 but you can find street parking without much issue if you budget 15-30 minutes circling around the neighborhood, as it is around the highly trafficked area of Hollywood. We tried the Bang Bang and Summer Spritz cocktails, both of which were $20 before tax and tip. Price is fairly high for the quality of drinks, but the drinks were not bad in any manner. It's just that compared to other rooftop bars, let alone regular bars, the quality misses the mark. However, the drinks do look kind of pretty, and the ambience is excellent. Service is okay as it takes a while to get requests from a server, which was a bit strange given it was not busy. Overall, this could be a nice spot for drinks for a date or to socialize and catch up with friends, but don't really expect excellent quality cocktails for a bar.
Great view! You come here for the view and view alone. Awesome atmosphere, and good music. The food is okay, but the servers were a bit rude to us throughout the night.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 3
Service: 2
Recommended dishes: Hummus Crudites, Truffle Fries
Went for the bar on a Friday night, empty af, bartenders were rude. Asked for a menu and they lied about not having one. Ordered drinks on the first floor bar then later found a literal menu sitting one of the tables. 0/10. Would be negative if not for the nice interior. Never coming back again!
Restaurantji Recommends
Sat at the bar and was somewhat memorized watching the cocktails being made. Got the Burrata with butternut. It was a little over powered buy a soy sesame kinda flavour but it was still really good. Cocktails and custom mocktails were on point. Pretty place.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 5
Waitress was inattentive, we never even got to order apps or our dinner. The next time we saw our waitress we were handed the check for our first round of drinks nearly 2 hours after we sat down. Waitress then told us the kitchen was closed and we couldn’t order food. Night life seemed fun but would not recommend for dinner and drinks as a sit down place.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 1
Service: 1
We headed to Bar Lis with no reservations on a Tuesday night, Feb 13. Got there around 7pm knowing there was some kind of mardi gras concert that night (it was Matthew Grant) but not having actually explored the interwebs ahead of time, we didn't manage the process correctly. Had we asked the hostess when we arrived how it worked for the concert portion, we likely could have made that work....there's a table minimum...it was really high...but your dinner counts towards it so we could have met it, no problem. Sadly we asked as were finishing dinner, so would have had to start anew with the minimum. But they were super sweet and walked us in to show us where they had a table (shared...think Yoshi's in Oakland...) and we decided to pass because we can't drink that much to meet the minimum lol. Anyway, that snafu (our fault) explained...the service was very good all night. We went into the regular courtyard portion of the restaurant and had a nice seat...albeit not near the glass where the views are better (again...no reservations so that's on us). I didn't see a drink concoction speaking to me on the menu, so I asked our server to have the bartender make a rum drink that I had googled up - an Old Cuban. He did well. What I really want to call out here is my meal - the sea trout with roasted farro, butternut squash, arugula, and romesco. It was the best meal I had while in LA. And that includes my Valentine's Day dinner at Redbird. And frankly, I can't think of a better dish I've had anywhere else in quite some time. I was super surprised because we knew literally nothing about this restaurant. It was close to our hotel, had a rooftop bar, and that was enough to give it a go. Hubby liked his as well...I think it was a meaty meat meat meat cuz that's what he always gets...but I'm too focused on mine to care. The atmosphere was fun because they were amping up for the mardi gras concert so people came in wearing very stylish, LA garb and mardi gras girls in states of undress came to hand out flyers or something and they were fun to watch too. Anyway, loved it here and I'm saying I'd come back for the food...and possibly a concert because that room was even more awesome!
Very slow service, exorbitant prices and mediocre food. I ended up getting food poisoning from this place. The only thing it has going for it is the view!
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 1
nice place for socializing with people!
Atmosphere: 5
Service: 5