There are bars in Los Angeles that feel like they were designed for Instagram, and then there are bars that feel like they were designed for you — the kind of place that wraps around you like a good leather jacket and refuses to let you leave before midnight. Far Bar, tucked into the heart of Little Tokyo just east of Downtown Los Angeles, is firmly in the second category, and it has been quietly earning devoted regulars since it opened its doors on First Street.
Walking into Far Bar for the first time, you get the immediate sense that someone put real thought into every corner of this place. The interior layers exposed brick, warm Edison lighting, and carefully curated vintage Japanese artwork into something that feels simultaneously gritty and inviting. There is a long bar that practically begs you to pull up a stool, a back patio strung with lights where conversations stretch well past their original intentions, and a layout that somehow manages to feel intimate even when the room is humming with a full Friday-night crowd.
The drink list deserves its own paragraph. Far Bar takes Japanese whisky seriously — and in Los Angeles, that is not something every establishment can claim. You will find pours of Nikka, Suntory Toki, and Hibiki alongside a rotating selection of Japanese-inspired craft cocktails that are inventive without being precious about it. The Yuzu Sour, a house staple, is bracingly citrusy and dangerously easy to order twice. If you are a beer person, the Japanese import taps are well-curated, and the staff actually knows what they are talking about when you ask for a recommendation.
Now, about the food: Far Bar serves some of the most satisfying late-night bites in the entire city. The yakitori skewers come off the grill with just the right char, the edamame arrives perfectly seasoned, and the ramen — ordered as a bar snack, which is a move you should absolutely make — is rich, warming, and deeply comforting. Little Tokyo is already one of Los Angeles’s great food neighborhoods, but Far Bar holds its own in remarkable fashion.
What makes Far Bar genuinely special, beyond the drinks and the food, is how it fits into the fabric of Little Tokyo itself. This neighborhood carries a remarkable history, and Far Bar wears that context respectfully. On weekend evenings you might catch live DJ sets or small acoustic performances that lean into a jazz or soul direction, filling the patio with sound that feels earned rather than manufactured.
Far Bar is located at 317 East First Street in Little Tokyo, within easy walking distance of the Japanese American National Museum and the Geffen Contemporary at MOCA. Street parking is available, and the Gold Line’s Little Tokyo/Arts District station is only a short stroll away. Go on a Thursday or Friday evening when the energy peaks but the crowds have not yet crossed into overwhelming territory. Order the Yuzu Sour. Stay for the skewers. Let the night take you wherever it wants to go.
