DTLA: The Escondite

 

When I first heard about The Escondite, the speakeasy serving burgers, I was intrigued. I heard a lot about their whiskey and not that much about their cocktails. Well, I had to go a-explorin’. The Escondite is located on the edge of Little Tokyo in Downtown Los Angeles. It’s right off San Pedro between 3rd and 4th. I mention this because it has no signage other than neon blue arrow pointing to the door.

The Escondite has a Western saloon feel with swinging doors for the restrooms. We decided to sit inside rather than the patio since it was a chilly night. But the patio did afford a great view of the DTLA skyline.

I love my LA.

As mentioned, The Escondite is supposedly a whiskey-friendly place. I had a Manhattan to suss out the place. Ah, it was good. Properly stirred and served up. Well, no rocks at least as it’s in a glass rather than a cocktail glass.

My friend had the Rancho Relaxo (Junipero gin, crushed cucumber, St. Germain, Crispin apple cider). It was pretty good.

 

Instead of Buffalo chicken wings, vegetarians and meat eaters alike can now be satisfied with Buffalo mushrooms. We really liked these but they can be hot so watch out when you bite into ’em.

We ordered two burgers; Captain Kangaroo and Slim Pickins. The Captain Kangaroo comes with egg over easy hashbrowns, cheddar, Canadian bacon and Cholua. Slim Pickins has Canadian bacon, cheddar, BBQ sauce, red onion and a “special crunch.”

We were a bit turned off to find the chili is vegetarian but we decided to try the chili cheese fries anyway. We won’t upgrade to this next time though.

 

So I loved both burgers but favored the hashbrowns on the Captain Kangaroo more. Then again, I really did love the special crunch on the Slim. I would say it’s house-made funyons (fried onions) but I’m not sure how they got them so crunchy.

Why have dessert when you can have another cocktail?

I opted for Escondite’s My Tie which is their variation of a Mai Tai. Er, it’s been a long time since I had to send back a cocktail. I ended up getting a Rancho Relaxo of my own while my friend switched to a Negroni.

The My Tie had Mt. Gay rum, orange curacao, orgeat syrup, pineapple juice, sweet & sour, pomegranate simple syrup and a Goslings rum float. I should have known better to order a drink with both sweet & sour.

All in all, not a bad find. I’d like to return to try their Chicago style Italian Beef.

The Escondite

410 Boyd St., Los Angeles, CA 90013 – (213) 626-1800