DESCRIPTION

Los Angeles is known for its endless miles of faceless strip malls. However, true Angelenos know that greatness often lurks in the midst of all that beige paint and unappealing signage. And we react with the pleasure of true urban explorers when we stumble across a hidden gem in this tangled concrete jungle of ours.

That’s just how I felt when I visited Jay’s Bar in Silver Lake on a recent Friday evening. The place quietly opened in February. So quietly, in fact, that it completely evaded my razor-sharp bar radar (let’s call it my “bardar”).

Jay’s Bar is owned by 39-year-old Jason Batten, who also owns and operates Garage Pizza in the same strip mall on the corner of Fountain and Sunset Boulevard. He opened that restaurant in 2008 and another in downtown L.A. in 2011.