NYC’s hottest cocktail bar is flying to LA for a boozy two-night takeover

Double Chicken Please is bringing its bizarrely brilliant food-inspired cocktails, hot honey chicken and buzzed-about bartending magic to West Hollywood this month.

New York’s cocktail crown jewel is packing its shakers and heading west — giving Angelenos a taste of its wildly inventive booze-fueled madness.

The wildly inventive Lower East Side bar ranked among the World’s 50 Best Bars, is packing up its cocktail wizardry for a two-night-only takeover at Ardor (9040 Sunset Blvd) on Aug. 13 and 14.

From 6 p.m. to 10 p.m., the acclaimed Gotham watering hole will take over the upscale spot’s menu with six exclusive cocktails — giving Los Angeles drinkers a chance to sip some of the city’s most talked-about creations without booking a flight across the country.

And these aren’t your average vodka sodas.

Ever since its 2020 opening, the trendy establishment has built its reputation on turning familiar foods into mind-bending cocktails — think cold pizza, Japanese noodles and even dessert classics transformed into liquid form.

The City of Angels pop-up will serve up the “Tomajito,” a mojito’s wild cousin loaded with tomato vine, tomatillo, mint and makrut lime leaf, alongside the “Papaya Salad,” a tequila cocktail that somehow turns fish sauce tamarind, kumquat cherry tomato and coconut into a surprisingly sippable concoction.

Also making its West Coast debut: the “DMV,” a savory vesper twist where gin and vodka meet olive, fennel and makrut lime leaf, and the “Dorayaki,” a cocktail tribute to the Japanese sweet treat with bourbon, amontillado sherry, red bean, corn, barley tea and lychee.

Because apparently your favorite childhood snack wasn’t safe from the cocktail shaker.

Co-founder Faye Chen will be on-site mixing drinks throughout the takeover, while guests can also chow down on a collaborative starters menu featuring the bar’s famous hot honey.

Reservations for dinner are available through OpenTable, while bar seats will be first come, first served.

The pop-up marks a rare chance for Los Angeles cocktail lovers to experience the magic behind one of the Big Apple’s most hyped drinking destinations.

Founded by Taiwanese bartenders GN Chan and Faye Chen, Double Chicken Please first made waves as a traveling pop-up before opening its permanent Downtown Manhattan home at 115 Allen St. 

The bar quickly became a global sensation, debuting at No. 6 on the World’s 50 Best Bars list in 2022 and later earning the top spot on the organization’s North America ranking in 2023. It currently sits at No. 41 on the prestigious list.

Fans say its signature magic trick is turning your favorite comfort foods into cocktails — no fork required.

The menu reads like a fever dream from the kitchen and bar colliding: The “Japanese Cold Noodle” blends rum, pineapple, cucumber, coconut, lime and sesame.

The “Cold Pizza” somehow transforms Parmigiano Reggiano, burnt toast, tomato, basil honey and egg white into a savory sip, while the “Red Eye Gravy” takes things even further, remixing an Irish whiskey Old Fashioned with mushroom-coffee butter.

And despite the name, Double Chicken Please doesn’t just serve up liquid cluck.

It’s equally famous for its over-the-top fried chicken dishes, including the “Mochi Donut Chicken Sandwich” — a crispy chicken breast tucked inside a mochi donut with pickled pineapple, habanero and strawberry — plus its sticky-sweet hot honey chicken sandwich and dangerously snackable popcorn chicken.

While it isn’t a celebrity hotspot in the traditional sense, the destination has drawn plenty of notable visitors, from food television personalities to musicians, with guests often flocking to its coveted back room known as The Coop for its most exclusive drinks.

Now, LA gets its turn. Just don’t expect a boring old martini.

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