Best Bars for a Date in Highland Park in Los Angeles

Sam's Place is a Highland Park restaurant and wine bar with a mellow mood, low light and a room that feels like a 1970s basement. The dim light and intimate setting make it an easy place to linger over a glass together. Ben Jones cooks each dish to order, while Scotty Cantino chooses additive-free wines, mostly from growers working their own grapes.

Highland Park Bowl is a bowling alley and bar with a steampunk-style look, so a game of bowling comes with a setting worth looking at together. The 1933 Group restored the building and exposed its original facade and interior, which gives the lanes plenty of character to take in between frames.

Across the way from Highland Park, Hermon's turns out refined American comfort food in a stylish bar and grill. Tables take a little planning, since reservations release two weeks ahead at 10am.

La Cuevita is a grotto-style Mexican bar where agave spirits made the traditional way take center stage. Dim red lighting gives the room a cozy, moody feel, which gives the two of you a low-key corner of Highland Park for a drink together. Happy hour runs until 8pm daily, which makes an early start easy.

Gold Line is a Highland Park bar where about 7,500 vinyl records, on loan from Stones Throw founder DJ Peanut Butter Wolf, line the shelves. Highballs lead the cocktail list, with a few classic cocktails, natural wine and a small beer list behind them. Settle in for a highball together while the shelves of records set the scene.

Good Housekeeping is a classic cocktail lounge in Highland Park. Dim lighting and a live DJ give the room a disco energy, and weekends bring a bigger crowd.

The Hermosillo is a York Boulevard wine bar that pours local craft beer alongside dozens of wines from small producers, all by the glass. It is the taproom of Highland Park Brewery, with beer brewed on site. Pairing a local pint with a glass from a small producer lets the two of you taste your way through the list together.

The Offbeat brings alt rock and live DJ sets to York Boulevard, so a night here leans on music and energy. Drinks are simple: an old-fashioned built on well bourbon and finished with a maraschino cherry. Pair the old-fashioned with the music and make an easy night of it together.

Barcade has more than 70 games, including 12 pinball machines. It is in a 1923 masonry building with two separate bars and a large collection of rare pinball and arcade machines. With a drink from either bar in hand, you can move from game to game together. Sundays from noon to 5pm are Family Day and kid-friendly, so plan a later start.

Walk past the working barber shop at Blind Barber Highland Park and you reach a speakeasy bar. The modern 1970s-style bar has wood paneling, an egg-shaped lounge and retro lighting, and it turns sultry after sundown. Settle into the lounge beside the fish tank, beneath the egg dome painted like a sunset. Signature cocktails mix inventive and classic mixology, and the bites include grilled cheeses, hummus, truffle popcorn and salads.