NOHO’s Newest Craft Cocktail Bar: BarToni’s
Before Idle Hour and Fat Dog opened in recent months, NOHO was no man’s land in terms of craft cocktails. Now, there’s one more reason to make the trek. Tucked in a swankified corner of Little Toni’s, an Italian neighborhood joint, BarToni’s is tiny, 10-stool bar with a huge cocktail menu and expansive liquor collection.
“North Hollywood was home to L.A.’s early influential families, like the Picos, Lankershims and Oxnards. Plus, opening a bar in one of Dean Martin’s favorite hangouts is beyond cool,” says owner Aidan Demarest—former bar owner of Neat in Glendale—on why he opened a craft cocktail bar in a 59-year-old pizza parlor. FYI, Martin oft came to Little Toni’s for a drink with pals, such as Phyllis Diller and Mary Tyler, after filming the Dean Martin Celebrity Roast show at the nearby studios.
In tribute to Old Hollywood, there are 11 classic cocktails, including a Harvey Wallbanger served in a groovy Tiki mug and a champagne riff on a Pink Squirrel—the 1960’s predecessor of the Cosmopolitan made famous by Sex in the City. A boozy milkshake or Girl Scout Thin Mints cookie fan? Don’t miss the old-timey Grasshopper cocktail (recipe by legendary Oregonian bartender, Jeffrey Morganthaler) made with vanilla ice cream, crème de menthe, crème de cacao and Frenet Branca.
And top it all off, a complimentary 6-inch pepperoni or cheese pizza comes with every specialty cocktail during happy hour: 5 – 7 p.m., Monday through Friday. Now, that’s amore, like the moon in your eye like a big pizza pie and the stars make you drool just like a pasta fazool…
BarToni’s inside Little Toni’s, 4745 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood