Bars in Universal City

The Gaslamp Restaurant & Bar's vibrant, high energy atmosphere belies a careful attention to detail in the kitchen. As guests enjoy a weekly lineup of comedy, karaoke, and live music, they may find their attention unexpectedly pulled back to their plates, where panko breading protects creamy brie, truffle oil adds savory depths to fries, Asian spices fleck calamari steaks, and a mischievous mix of jalapeño and honey tops burgers. A technicolor parade of cocktails and martinis simultaneously treats the sweet tooth and the party uvula.

Live musicians and DJs add a rhythmic sway to the steps of guests toting frosty bottles of beers and salt-flecked margaritas from Norwood Bar & Lounge's gleaming counter. Light caroms off black leather seating and red walls from overhead chandeliers, and soft chatter drifts between candles or distracts golden-retriever quarterbacks on the flat-screen television. Themed parties and dance events fuel revelry, and drinks rise toward the ornate paneled metal ceiling to meet in happy toasts.

Trees play an important role at Bar Food. They've given their wood for the knotty rafters that support the ceiling, the cubbyholes that make up the bar's Wall of Taps, and the barrels that aged the gastropub's collection of more than 200 whiskeys. You'd expect wood to frame the colorful paintings of music icons that gaze down on the whiskey list with immovable looks of envy, but they hang frameless.

Like a 19th-century dockworker's shopping list, the menu promises hearty traditional public-house fare—fries, cheese plates, sandwiches, shepherd's pie, beef stew, and fish and chips. Guests sup on these and other dishes at cozy wall-length booths or out on the streetside patio. Four and 20 taps keep beer glasses full and diners happily cheering for every chicken that dares to cross Wilshire Boulevard.

More than 100 whiskeys and a comparable bounty of beers flow at Johnny’s Saloon, an eccentric neighborhood bar that dubs itself a “twisted Cheers.” Opened in 1982, the bar emanates a charm stemming from its appreciation of the rock 'n' roll generation and a rejection of anything that represents the status quo, such as walls. The jukebox is stocked solely with vintage rock 'n' roll and country, steering clear of Top 40 pop and hip-hop, and in the spotless bathrooms, 20 scented lotions keep hands smelling fresher than the Snuggle bear’s dance moves. Though the bar doesn’t serve food, the staffers happily order in from the nearby famous Donuttery and pour libations from 2 p.m. to 2 a.m. They serve up single shots of spirits such as Midleton Irish whiskey and Macallan 21-year, but patrons can also purchase a private bottle of liquor that’s held behind the bar under lock and key.

For more than 43 years, Oil Can Harry's has teemed with disco dancers, cocktail drinkers, and socialites who arrive nightly to bask in the club’s rollicking atmosphere. Owner Bob Tomasino left behind his career as a math teacher to turn up the volume at the lively nightspot, which hosts a myriad of diversions and special events that include spirited line dances, Diana Ross impersonators, and the annual Mr. Oil Can Leatherman competition. Cocktails and bottles of domestic beer clink to the beats of show tunes and karaoke ballads in the upstairs lounge, and complimentary snacks line the bar during weekday happy hours. An all-you-can-eat Sunday brunch—complete with a glass of champagne—staves off appetites worked up while dancing at Oil Can Harry's Saturday-night disco parties or attempting to outrun the sun at dawn.

A family Mexican restaurant by day, Tequila Bar & Grill transforms into a nightclub at night, at which point couples groove to salsa tunes played by live bands and Djs or sing Spanish and English karaoke. Patrons dine on authentic cuisine, such as tacos, quesadillas, and enchiladas amid exposed brick walls and south of the border-inspired tiling.