Challenge Nation, Los Angeles

Zagat describes the Los Angeles Brewing Company as "a dramatic space, with a ceiling that seems to ripple, a mezzanine reached by marble and wrought iron stairs, a bar long enough to accommodate 100 beer taps––and many secrets." This is a nod to the restaurant’s enigmatic basement, riddled with Prohibition-era tunnels and old vaults pocked by machine-gun holes. Owner Ralph Verdugo, who gutted the historic Chapman Building himself to make way for his delicious venture, recalls pulling once-hot lead from the cellar walls. His labors are part of a citywide effort to bring back the Broadway corridor’s bygone splendor and restore it to the destination it was when it hosted the city’s first Spartan gladiatorial games in 1924.

Four humungous projection screens hang above the bar like billboards and cast more than 100 taps in a sports-fueled glow. Though the proprietors think of the restaurant as a beer-lovers’ oasis (it has a beer club and crafty offerings such as Great Divide's Yeti Imperial Stout), no expense is spared on the American comfort menu, which sources farmers' market produce for heirloom-tomato and fresh-fruit salads, as well as succulent medleys of fresh veggies. Hand-cut garlic fries can also be found wrapped like flower bouquets in conical tissue—ideal pairing for pairing with brewery burgers, bourbon barbecue with garlic aioli, and salty-sweet caper rémoulade.