Akbar
Gay bar · Silver Lake
4356 W Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90029
Highlights
Lively, unpretentious gay bar with a great jukebox
Lively, unpretentious gay bar with a great jukebox
"Miles away from West Hollywood is one of the city’s most iconic (and inclusive) LGBTQIA bars, Akbar. Open since 1996, Akbar was saved by a GoFundMe in late 2020, when all bars were forced to close during the height of the pandemic. Akbar remains a central part of queer life in Los Angeles with inexpensive drinks and a welcoming crowd. Always check the website, as this Silver Lake bar has a robust calendar with DJs, recording artists, and a place to watch any queer-friendly TV programming." - Rebecca Roland
"There are only so many overpriced vodka sodas and blonde-haired boy bots you can handle in West Hollywood before you start actively Googling flights out of town. Put your phone away, and go to Akbar. The Los Feliz dive gets rowdy when it wants to, but it’s still the antithesis to the stand-and-stare culture that’s taken over the majority of Weho. Akbar’s crowd is unpretentious, actually talking to each other, and always down for a good time. Strong, affordable drinks and a wild back dance floor don’t hurt either." - brant cox
"Akbar is the closest thing I have to my Cheers. As much as I say I'm not really into the bar scene anymore, I don't consider Akbar part of that. It is its own thing, its own institution. It feels like there's a sense of history there that I don't think any of the bars on the strip can replicate. There's a gravitas to the space. You see everyone you know, the most interesting people. I love the fashion, too. People are casually turning looks at Akbar on a Thursday night. There are a lot of different vibes that you can experience: [one minute you're] chatting by the jukebox, and the next, you can pop over to the other side and dance your face off to everything from disco house to Fall Out Boy." - brennan carley
"Is this the best gay bar in LA? Quite possibly. The dive-y dance bar on the Silver Lake/Los Feliz border always has a great, mixed (read: local) crowd and relatively cheap drinks, and there’s usually an event going on that’s actually fun and not gimmicky. If you aren’t feeling the dance vibes though, not to worry. The space is broken up into two distinct areas: dancing and vodka sodas, and talking and vodka sodas." - brant cox, sylvio martins, nikko duren, kat hong, brett keating
"Akbar is the antithesis of every Weho gay bar you’re tired of waiting in line for. The neighborhood spot on the Silver Lake/Los Feliz border is always easy to get into, well cocktails are reasonably priced, and the crowd generally doesn’t have anything to prove. The relatively tiny dance floor in the back can get crowded, but it never veers towards overwhelming. " - brant cox, nikko duren
