Las Perlas

"The conversation’s been pretty good, but as the check comes you both discover your mutual passion for obscure Olympic sports. Time to take a walk to Las Perlas, a mezcal bar with excellent drinks and a low-lit, divey atmosphere. Order a couple of margaritas (or the Spiced Daisy), find a dark corner, and continue that debate on the best badminton player of all time." - jess basser sanders, amy clark, brant cox

"This bar on 6th Street is dark and divey, and has some good $5 draft cocktails. Happy Hour goes until 8pm, so it’s a great spot to grab a drink while you wait for the line up the block at Kazunori to calm down. The Deal: $5 draft cocktails, food discounts When: Weekdays 5 - 8pm, Weekends 1 - 8pm" - brett keating

"Los Angeles-based hospitality group Pouring With Heart, which runs downtown Austin bars Half Step, Seven Grand, and Las Perlas, shared Instagram posts stating its intentions to donate to NAACP’s Legal Defense and Educational Fund." - Nadia Chaudhury

"Downtown mezcal bar Las Perlas has been facing protests and boycott calls following an incident over the weekend involving two transgender women who say bouncers forcibly removed them from the property. The women say that another couple verbally and physically harassed them, leading to the altercation, but that the bar’s bouncers were tougher on them than the other couple. Bystanders captured the rough-handed removal of the women on video." - Farley Elliott

"One of LA’s great mezcal bars, Downtown’s Las Perlas has a slew of entertaining margarita variations, but the classic Las Perlas margarita does just fine. Sweetened with agave and made with plenty of fresh lime juice, the margaritas here feel right at home in the hipster digs." - Crystal Coser