Night on Earth<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>\u00a0the second Los Angeles spot from the minds behind acclaimed Echo Park cocktail bar <\/span>Thunderbolt<\/span><\/a>, opened in mid-December 2024 just off the 101 on the Cahuenga Pass, between the San Fernando Valley and the Hollywood Hills. The windowless space, long an entertainment industry haunt and home to many tenants over the last half-decade, is a \u201cclassic LA strip-mall dive bar,\u201d says owner-operator Mike Capoferri. The plain exterior belies, perhaps, the self-described \u201cspace-age cocktail party\u201d atmosphere of the recent renovations: Retrofuturist \u201880s-ish interiors by Denver\/Reykjavik-based Wunder Werkz include a speckled Formica-style bar made from post-consumer recycled plastic and lounge-y leather banquettes cast in the sexy light of blue and magenta. The design was inspired, Capoferri says, by \u201cthe neon-soaked, high-contrast visuals\u201d of films like <\/span>Blade Runner <\/span><\/i>and the work of Nicolas Winding Refn.<\/span><\/p>\n
<\/p>\n The drinks at Night on Earth are referential, too. All are based on classic \u201cparty drinks,\u201d and duly cite their sources on the menu, but with the same modern technique and lightly madcap tinkering that make its sibling bar a favorite. (Among the feats of cocktail science: The service temperature is a cool 16\u00b0F thanks to customized refrigeration, which helps them use less ice and therefore, less water.) A Pornstar Martini, for example, becomes the Bad Influencer when clarified and carbonated; the Space Crush is a heavily adapted Midori Sour made with, among other updates, real melon instead of Midori.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
Perhaps unsurprisingly, it hasn\u2019t exactly been an easy time to open in LA. \u201cJust over 1.5 months into business, things have been\u2026 interesting,\u201d says Capoferri. Between the ongoing impact of last month\u2019s wildfires and the typical January lull, he explains, the bar is only now starting to really settle into a rhythm. Give it a few more months and a weekend at Night on Earth might look very different. But on one Saturday in early February, vibey tunes emanated from the DJ booth, customers dialed in codes for international snacks and disposable cameras from the vending machine and Capoferri and his team documented the lay of the land.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
<\/p><\/div>\n \n Most popular menu drink:<\/b> <\/span> \n Most popular call drink:<\/b> <\/span> \n Most unhinged call drink:<\/b> <\/span> Busiest hour of service:<\/b> 8 to 9 p.m.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Staff shift drink:<\/b> Montucky Cold Snacks & Mezcalito<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n (Suspected) first dates:<\/b> 4<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/p>\n How have things been the first few months? Has anything differed from your expectations?
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<\/p>\nSaturday Night by the Numbers<\/span><\/h2>\n
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\n Disco Nap\u2014our Espresso Martini with chamomile-infused blanco tequila, espresso, blueberry, amaro, lemon cordial and vanilla <\/span>\n <\/p>\n
\n tequila-soda <\/span>\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cmezcal mule, no bubbles\u201d \ud83e\udd37\u200d\u2642\ufe0f <\/span>\n <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n
\n<\/b>We opened quietly on purpose to get our ducks in a row, but the wildfires and a particularly dry January made the slow start much longer than expected. We\u2019re just now starting to really get the word out about what we\u2019re doing, so business is just now picking up. <\/span>\u2014Mike Capoferri, owner\/operator<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n