The Edison

Being the oldest attendee at the Los Angeles TravBuddy Meetup gave me a different perspective of the lounge. I actually recognized some of the original items retained from the days of the power plant that once was home here. But today it has seen a very profound change. This very upscale lounge has tried to bring back the best of the “Speakeasy”. At the door you are met by a gentleman in a black suit, black shirt, tie, and even a twenties style brimmed hat, who “looks you over” to make sure you are properly attired before letting you in. The waitresses, who I might add were extremely excellent, were attired in flapper style attire. They have done a wonderful job of turning this elderly building into a wonderful lounge, and although I wouldn’t recommend eating here, they do offer several items and of course their bar offers a wide variety of drinks to satisfy every taste. They even have several girls who do a Charleston dance routine on stage throughout the evening. Don’t try to go before they open, this is not in the best part of town and is quite hard to locate off the street and down the alley. I never did see a sign. Parking is easy in the very close parking garage.

I usually go out on the west side, but I'm glad I got to check out The Edison in downtown L.A. for a TravBuddy meetup! The bar/club/restaurant is hard to describe in words and it is completely different from any other clubs I have been to in L.A. The staff is actually friendly, the crowd is elegantly dressed yet unpretentious, and overall the vibe was just really good. The venue itself is quite amazing (the building used to house the first private power plant in LA) and I had a blast. Would recommend getting here early (even before 8PM) if you don't want to wait in line!

food review:
I had a burger for dinner. It was better than most bar food, but not amazing. Definitely not Father's Office! Probably better off eating before coming here!

this is were we had our LA TRAVBUDDY MEET & GREET. all 22 of us hung out here. tracy ordered the "edison" lavender-honey infused liqueur, fresh squeezed pear nectar, and pear liqueur. we both shared a mac and cheese with black truffles. that was awesome. anything with black truffles is always good. this was a fun place to hang out. i enjoyed the ambiance.

every thursday is 35 cents martini night. who's coming?!?!?!?!

later that evening, 5 flapper girls came on stage near we were standing and started dancing the charleston and they were dressed in 1920's costume.

With the opening of Andrew Meieran's new industrial cathedral, Downtown is once again the place to be in Los Angeles. The Edison presents a marriage of refined industrial architecture and art deco chic - a world class lounge that retains the mechanical artifacts from its history as downtown LA's first private power plant. The grand staircase spectacularly descends into the depths of the historic Higgins Building. The Edison revitalizes the art of the classic, hand crafted cocktail with house specialties designed just for the space old-school bourbons luxuriously transformed with a house made lavender & honey infusion. A small, upscale menu of food and drinks. The Edison offers a respectful nod to LA's famed nightlife that haunts Ciros & Coconut Grove and continues to punctuate billiards. You can also enjoy an early evening retro juke box for nightly Cocktail Hours.

Located near Harlem Place Alley--core of L.A.'s early 20th century music scene--this converted cocktail spot with a "Sherlock Holmes-post-industrial vibe" caters to the area's upscale-loft residents. According to project partners Marc Smith (Golden Gopher) and Andrew Meieran (Mercury Liquors), renovation efforts keep the 1910 Higgins Building's original structure intact, and that includes preserving many of the original boiler room features as decor, such as its enormous central power generator.