---
title: "Where to find a good $10 martini in Los Angeles"
description: "The martini is having a moment, and in a city where a cocktail can run $20, a few LA kitchens are pouring a proper one at happy hour for ten dollars. A quick, useful guide to five of them, from a Reyka dirty martini in Beverly Hills to a za'atar version in West Adams."
category: "Los Angeles"
category_url: https://herald.la/category/los-angeles
author: "Gabriela Soto"
published: 2026-07-22T22:40:00.000Z
updated: 2026-07-22T22:40:00.000Z
canonical: https://herald.la/article/where-to-find-a-good-10-martini-in-los-angeles
tags: ["food-and-drink", "cocktails", "los-angeles", "happy-hour", "nightlife"]
---
# Where to find a good $10 martini in Los Angeles

The martini is having a moment, and in a city where a cocktail can run $20, a few LA kitchens are pouring a proper one at happy hour for ten dollars. A quick, useful guide to five of them, from a Reyka dirty martini in Beverly Hills to a za'atar version in West Adams.

The martini is back in fashion, and in a city where a single cocktail can easily cross $20, the ten-dollar version has become a small act of civic kindness. Drawing on [a guide from LAist](https://laist.com/news/food/be-cool-the-best-10-martinis-in-la), here are five places around Los Angeles pouring a serious martini at happy-hour prices, and what makes each one worth the trip.

## Cento Raw Bar, West Adams

At 4919 W. Adams Blvd., the sister spot to Cento Pasta Bar runs a "golden hour" from 5 to 6 p.m. daily. The martinis come gin or vodka, in color-blocked glassware, and the dirty version arrives with its olives on a separate dish. It is built to go with oysters, which is exactly what you should do.

## Dante, Beverly Hills

Inside the Maybourne Hotel at 225 N. Canon Dr., the Los Angeles outpost of the New York institution offers happy hour from 3 to 5 p.m. daily. The dirty martini here is a specific recipe, Reyka vodka, olive oil, olive bitters and a pinch of salt, with chilled olives served alongside. It is the most classic-hotel-bar entry on the list, at a price the setting does not suggest.

## Found Oyster, East Hollywood

A bustling seafood bistro at 4880 Fountain Ave., with happy hour from 4 to 6 p.m. daily. Order the martini with olives, an onion, or a twist; the generous dirty version comes with blue cheese-stuffed olives in a chilled Nick and Nora glass. Another strong seafood-and-martini pairing, which is not a coincidence: the two belong together.

## Maydan, West Adams

For something that departs from the template, this Lebanese-inspired restaurant at 4301 W. Jefferson Blvd. pours a za'atar martini, olive-oil-washed vodka, dry vermouth and a sumac-sesame oil, during happy hour from 5 to 7 p.m., Tuesday through Thursday. It is the savory, herbal outlier of the group, and the most interesting drink on this list.

## The Nice Guy, West Hollywood

At 401 N. La Cienega Blvd., the deal has a name: Martini Mondays, $10, in dry, dirty and espresso varieties, with live Italian jazz in the room. There is also a $30 martini-meal package if you want to make an evening of it.

## The through-line

What these five share is not a style, they run from a purist's dirty martini to a za'atar experiment, but a proposition: that a well-made martini does not have to be a splurge. In a summer when going out has gotten expensive, a ten-dollar pour at a good bar is a small, genuine pleasure, and knowing where to find one is its own kind of local knowledge.

## Sources

- [Be cool: the best $10 martinis in LA](https://laist.com/news/food/be-cool-the-best-10-martinis-in-la)