Whacked Out Wednesday

Before

Long walk · 0.6 mi · 11 min walk; 2 min ride - North Hollywood

A family-run Mexican restaurant on lower Lankershim that dates itself to 1946, which makes it older than almost anything else left on the street. Combination plates, a bar, vinyl booths and a dining area that has not been restyled to chase anyone. It sits south of the NoHo Arts District near Toluca Lake, on the stretch of Lankershim people drive rather than walk.

After

0.2 mi · 4 min walk - North Hollywood

A bar built in 1941 in the shape of a whiskey barrel, put up by a Universal film technician named Michael Connolly and left to rot for decades before the 1933 Group restored it and reopened it in 2015. The barrel holds the bar itself, with a patio behind it and a bulldog-shaped structure out back that came off the old Bulldog Cafe. Food is burgers and a pretzel, the drinks list is long, and nobody is dressed up. It is one of the last pieces of programmatic architecture in Los Angeles still doing the job it was built for.