Old Town into a New Night

The "old" town at the heart of downtown Los Angeles has as much to offer at night as the day, whether you’re looking to sit at a quiet bar and let the night slowly sink in, or for a place where you seek to lose control of your limbs and dance your night out to the exact type of music that you’re psyched to hear.

When Chinatown moved to its current location in the late 1930s, there was a blossom of development in the various sectors. Stores and businesses opened up to serve food and groceries to the people live within and near the area. The renovation and investment brings in the "old vibe" of a twentieth century China even though that everything was pretty much newly built. But it certainly attracts people who want to see "China" that they fantasize about from the scenes of the old-school Kung Fu movies. And also, there was a demand for "nightlife" since the hustling energy continues to the midnights until most of the stores close at 2 a.m. in the morning.

Shawn has been working here at the local bar "Hop Louie" since he was 20 years old and has been here for 25 years and never left since.

The bar exotic exterior of the bar is one the reason why it attracts people who stumble across, because it used to be a "Golden Pagoda" that was finished built in 1941. Hop Louie bought the place and opened up in 1985 and has remained its “old-school” style til this day. The interior of the bar is relatively dark-lit and not the most spacious, but that kind of creates an intimate feel.

"Back in the days there used to be 20 bars in here, back in the World War II days," said Shawn, "people used to hop bars: they get a drink in the morning, and begin to hop bars until night. But now the stores and restaurants close so early during the day, there are only three major bars left here," said Shawn.

"There used to be older people who regularly visit but now they don’t come here anymore. Now it is the younger hipster kind who comes here. That’s kind of interesting because a lot of them just moved into the apartments built across the street at Echo Park."

"It’s changed, everything changes," said Shawn. But the change doesn’t seem to stop regular customers coming back to sit by the bar even on a Tuesday night and enjoy a glass of their signature "Scorpion Bowl."

Having fewer bars does not necessarily mean a lesser in the dynamic. Besides the older and more traditional places like Hop Louie, music venues like Grand Star Jazz club also called Underground brings in a younger and more vibrant vibe to the area.

"We are the only place in the area that has obtained a dance license. It is the second hardest license to get after a liquor license," said the owner of Underground Tony.

"There are other bars that people come in to drink, but because we’re the only place that allows dancing it is usually crowed in here," said Tony, "what happens is on different nights of the week, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, the different promoters bring in the different crowds in here, they don’t really mix because it’s different kinds of music."

It is interesting that the bars here at Chinatown are all close to each other and sort of creates a "niche" that visitors can still "hop" from one to another. Each bar has its own feel like the General Lee’s has a classy indoor atmosphere which is a perfect choice for holding a birthday gathering and Melody Lounge just across the street from Underground has a warmer tone to it because of the red lanterns hung from the ceiling and they hold comedy nights on Sunday nights and publicize by having happy hours that give out discount on the beer prices. Also places like Burgerlords, Pok Pok and Lollicup that open until 10 p.m. might be able to prepare you for a "hopping" night ahead if you decide to stay for the night at Chinatown LA.

For more images check out the google map below for more places to go to at night Chinatown.