Izakaya & Bar Fu-Ga

111 S San Pedro Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012
213.625.1722
www.izakayafu-ga.com
twitter.com/izakaya_Fu_ga

Parking: Free parking w/ validation at lot with entrance just south of the bar
Days: Daily
Times: 5-7pm
Drink Deals: 50% off Draught Beers, $2 off Bottled Beer, Wine, Cocktails, and Sake
Food Deals: $2.99-$5.99 Appetizers

I always love visiting new spots in Los Angeles – even after nine years here, there’s still enough to see that I sometimes feel like a tourist in my own town. It’s especially nice to make new friends in these different areas of town so they can act as a tour guide. So I was happy to meet new pal, JHLA, whose downtown savvy makes for fun Happy Hour rounds – from central downtown to Little Tokyo and beyond.

It was CicLAvia Sunday and after hitting up the crowded, but awesome-looking Far Bar (whose website has mis-information about an all-day Sunday Happy Hour; they don’t have a Sunday HH) and the also-packed La Cita (that very interesting downtown spot that caters to very different crowds with its traditional Mexican singing & dancing + Hipster Heaven + Mustache Mondays (for the gays) we headed for less crowded climes, which we found at…

Izakaya & Bar Fu-ga, a swank Japanese-fusion restaurant & bar located in a basement (yes a basement bar in LA!) in Little Tokyo. I immediately loved the lit-up bar that provided most of the lighting in the bar area as well as the extensive food & drink Happy Hour menu featuring 50% off draught beers and $2 off almost all other drinks as well as appetizers from $2.99-5.99.

After having two $3 Tecates at La Cita’s “Un-Happy Hour,” I opted for the $3-priced draught Sapporo while JHLA went for craft-beer with the $6 Racer 5 IPA ($8 during non-HH). Hungry from our downtown walk, we quickly ordered several HH appetizers – the 2.99 edamame, $3.99 calamari, $3.99 California roll – and not from the HH menu, the delicious sounding $4 Aonori Flavored Garlic French Fries. The first three items were standard HH fare and tasted fine, but the fries were exceptional as they’d been tossed in dried seaweed flakes and garlic butter!

The scene wasn’t happening much when we arrived at 5:15, though there were several groups around. Luckily the new bartender was fun and helpful – letting us sample a couple of the sakes with him – hey, you gotta know your wares, right? There were also a couple big-screen TV’s projecting the days’ games – so between the cool bartender and the TV’s, we were sufficiently entertained.

All in all, this was a nice spot to Happy Hour, even JHLA who generally prefers slightly edgier and less urbane digs, recommended the spot to a couple friends in the area. Cuz for serious… who doesn’t love a good daily Happy Hour?

-- JB

Rating: 4 Martinis