Arts District Brewing Company

You walk right past the brick wall on Traction Avenue and step into Arts District Brewing Company, and it is loud immediately. The place is basically a massive open warehouse with picnic tables, a couple of vintage arcade games, and a massive brewing operation sitting right behind the bar. It's not some tiny underground dive where you trip over amps. This is a cavernous Los Angeles taproom where people are yelling over skee-ball while a local punk band sets up on a low makeshift stage near the tanks.

You order a hazy IPA at the bar because they've got about twenty house-brewed options on tap, and you pay cash or card without any hassle. The sound bounces hard off all that concrete and brick, so if you're standing right by the monitors, your ears are ringing before the first song even wraps up. People are spilling out onto the gravel patio outside to catch a breath, holding plastic cups and talking over the hum of the downtown traffic down the block.

There isn't any fancy security theater at the entrance, just a guy checking IDs with a quick nod and letting you wander into the crowd. You can drift between the pinball machines and the front corner where the amps are stacked. The bass is vibrating right through the concrete floor while everyone holds their drinks high.