Booze With A View: California's Ultimate Roof Bars
San Francisco set new expectations for high-rise bars when the Top of the Mark opened in 1939 inside what had previously been the 19th-floor penthouse at the Mark Hopkins Hotel.
Since then, the Golden State has literally raised the bar higher and higher with skyscraper summits and outdoor cantinas with increasingly awesome city, bay, ocean, and mountain views.
Here are five of the best:
As you might have guessed by the name, this lofty lounge overlooks the City of the Angeles on the 73rd floor of the InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown Hotel — the tallest open-air bar in the western hemisphere.
The view looks south towards Long Beach and the Palos Verdes Peninsula. And on clear days, you can see Catalina Island floating off the coast.
Craft cocktails like the Cloud Nine, Eclipse Martini and Sundown Spritz channel the sky-high ambience, while the food menu offers a range of trans-Pacific shareables, appetizers and entrees.
The bar's Sunset Sips happy hour showcases a different premium spirit each week to the sounds of a live DJ spinning tunes high above Hollywood.
Vintage view from the legendary Top O' The Mark bar in San Francisco looking east toward Berkeley ... More and Oakland, with the San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge on the right. (Photo by PhotoQuest)
Despite a plethora of skyscrapers, many of San Francisco's rooftop bars are decidedly low rise. But not the Starlite, perched on the 21st floor of the Beacon Grand Hotel near Union Square.
Originally opened in 1928 as the Sir Francis Drake Hotel, the property had a multi-million-dollar makeover in 2024 to resurrect its Roaring Twenties glory days, a restoration that includes the Starlite.
The cocktails were created by esteemed local mixologist Scott Baird while the short but spectacular bites menu was conceived by Michelin-star chef Johnny Spero of the renowned Reverie restaurant in Washington DC.
Besides the vinyl-spinning house DJ, the Starlite also offers occasional 'Sunday's A Drag' afternoon pride parties hosted by local drag queen legends.
There's also the possibility of sipping at two renowned rooftop bars in the same evening by hopping the cable car that runs past the front of the Beacon Grand and up Nob Hill to the Top of the Mark.
Super yachts and aircraft carriers are among the many watercraft that patrons might spot from the ... More Odysea bar overlooking San Diego Bay. (Photo by Kevin Carter)
Odysea rides an outdoor deck at the Hilton Bayfront that overlooks San Diego Bay with views across the water to Coronado, aircraft carriers docked at North Island, and the famous blue bridge. There's also in indoor portion, an oval bar reminiscent of the cozy drinking holes sometimes found on cruise ships.
Barrel-aged cocktails like the Old Fashioned and Manhattan are the house specialties, while bites like the Baja ceviche and chicharrónes reflect San Diego's proximity to Mexico.
The regular Odysea Bar is open year-round, but a new Aperol suffused summer pop-bar bar called The Overlook that disappears after sundown on September 1st.
The Heavenly Scenic Gondola offers incredible views of "Big Blue" as it rises from South Lake Tahoe ... More to Cafe Blue. (Photo by George Rose)
It's not a roof bar per se. But Café Blue does sit on the roof of the Sierra Nevada mountains in Heavenly Ski Resort.
Getting there is half the fun, a scenic gondola ride that starts in South Lake Tahoe and gradually rises to Halfway Point Station at 9,123 feet above sea level.
The drink selection is limited — craft beers, Northern California wines, hard seltzers, and canned cocktails. But the view seems limitless, a panorama of 'Big Blue' and the surrounding Sierras from tables on the open-air terrace.
Open year round 10 am to 2 pm.
The Kimpton Rowan hotel is reflected in the rooftop swimming pool beside the High Bar. (Photo by ... More George Rose)
Topping the six-story Kimpton Rowan hotel in downtown Palm Springs, the High Bar is especially cool at dusk as the sun dips behind the San Jacinto Mountains and the surrounding desert takes on a golden glow.
Given the triple digit temperatures in summer, frozen cocktails are the way to go — the Teremana Margarita, Beachcomber's Daquiri or classic Piña Colada. Which you might want to share with sorbet or gelato.
The rooftop swimming pool is open to guests or non-guests who hire a cabana for the day or evening, a deal that includes $200 or $150 for the rental and a $200 food and drink minimum for as many as six guests.
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Forbes
16 minutes ago
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How Compartés Became The New Name In Luxury Chocolate
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CBS News
16 minutes ago
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Adam Scott on "Severance": "I knew that I would have to give all of myself to it in order to pull it off"
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Fox News
2 hours ago
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Beach Boys founder Brian Wilson regretted being blocked from band's hit song: book
John Mason knew that Brian Wilson needed help – but it came at a high price. "Brian was in a weak mental state," the entertainment lawyer, who once represented the fragile leader of the Beach Boys, told Fox News Digital. "Brian often said to me, as sad as it sounds … 'I fried my brain. I took too many drugs.' Brian couldn't get up in the morning without somebody getting him up. He couldn't eat healthily without somebody giving him something healthy to eat." "So, the good and bad of Dr. Eugene Landy in Brian's life was that he motivated Brian to become a participant in his own life," Mason shared. "But the bad part was that, as time went by and years went by, Dr. Landy expected more and more to replace Brian in the Beach Boys… Brian wasn't allowed to do anything without a Landy handler being with him." Mason, who has worked with Roy Orbison, Reba McEntire, Shakira and Quincy Jones, among others, has written a new memoir, "Crazy Lucky." 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WATCH: BEACH BOYS FOUNDER BRIAN WILSON HAD ONE BIG MUSIC REGRET: PAL Mason wrote that Landy refused to let Wilson participate unless he, too, were listed as a writer on the song. However, Carl and Bruce Johnson, along with Love, refused. They went on to write "Kokomo" without Wilson's input. It was a decision that Wilson deeply regretted over the years. "Brian is truly a giant teddy bear and genius who regrets bad decisions and lives for better ones," wrote Mason. According to Mason's book, Wilson's struggles began in 1968, when he quit performing and devoted himself to songwriting instead. While Wilson was determined "to make the greatest music," his mental health began to deteriorate. Mason wrote that Wilson's experiments with drugs, specifically LSD and cocaine, had "diminished his mental capacity." He rarely left his bed and, according to reports, would go without brushing his teeth or showering for weeks. "He eventually became so bizarre that he would sit at the piano in his living room surrounded by actual sand that had been dumped in big piles in a sort of playpen," Mason wrote. "He was forsaking his young family — wife Marilyn Rovell, a singer with the group the Honeys, and young kids Carnie and Wendy — for his strange kind of creative peace. Four years passed, and he never left the house. His weight ballooned to 350 pounds from eating entire birthday cakes as a late-night snack." In 1975, a "devastated" Marilyn brought in Landy, a psychologist known for his unconventional 24-hour treatment of celebrities. Wilson, who reportedly feared being committed to a psychiatric hospital, completely surrendered. Their first session took place in Wilson's bedroom closet, where the artist felt safe, the Los Angeles Times reported. Landy was successful. He padlocked Wilson's fridge, put the star on a diet and shooed away drug-enabling pals, The Telegraph reported. "Dr. Eugene Landy [helped] Brian overcome his fears of everything," Mason told Fox News Digital. "I would call it an agoraphobia. . . . He feared going outside. . . . And he needed outside help." Landy's strict methods worked. But in 1976, Landy was fired over a dispute involving fees, the Los Angeles Times reported. When Wilson was regressing into drugs and obesity, Landy was rehired six years later, the outlet shared. The 24-hour therapy resumed from 1983 to 1986. Landy said he was paid $35,000 a month. And as Wilson began recording and playing live again, Landy was a constant shadow looming over him. Manager Tom Hulett, who knew that Mason was friendly with the Beach Boys, suggested that he could be "a strong, independent balance." In 1984, Mason was hired. "I was asked . . . if I would be Brian's lawyer, and I agreed," said Mason. "At that time, Brian was, I think, doing better, but he had a lot of issues. . . . Brian came to my office at least once a week. We started having Beach Boys meetings at my office once a month, and we all insisted that Brian come to those meetings without Landy." "Brian was my client. . . . [But] Brian did check in with Landy after our meetings, after our phone calls. Too often I would get a call back from Brian saying, 'I know I said that, but I have to change my mind.'" Mason wrote that Landy was eager to insert himself into every part of Wilson's life. Wilson was controlled by both prescription drugs and the "Landy handlers" who "secretly or openly recorded everything Brian and anyone else said" for the doctor. No decision was made without Landy's approval, leaving Mason bewildered and frustrated. "Ultimately, it led me to say to Brian, 'I can't work with you if Dr. Landy is in a position to change your mind or to second-guess me,'" said Mason. "And he said, 'I understand that.' But then, Dr. Landy called me and said, 'You told Brian that he can't work with me … so you are fired." "That's a shame, but that is the kind of control Dr. Landy had over Brian Wilson," said Mason." After Mason was fired in 1990, Landy continued to tighten his grip. At one point, he was co-credited as a songwriter on several tracks. Wilson was "an obsession" to Landy, Mason wrote. But in 1991, the Wilson family took legal action to appoint an independent conservatorship. The goal was to stop Landy from further influencing Wilson both personally and financially, the Los Angeles Times reported. In 1992, Landy was barred by court order from contacting Wilson. "The court ordered Landy to disassociate from Brian," said Mason. "Ultimately, Landy's license to practice psychotherapy in the state of California was revoked. And Brian's second wife, Melinda, was able to keep Brian motivated to perform." "He did a lot of shows," said Mason. "He wrote songs, he did a lot of work. His health seemed to be pretty good. I saw Brian a number of times after I wasn't his lawyer, and he looked good. He felt good. He was in a good mental state." Landy passed away in 2006 at age 71. Wilson died in June of this year. He was 82. In his lifetime, Wilson admitted he didn't entirely regret his association with Landy. Mason doesn't either. "I have to say that, in Brian's case, I don't think there was a better outcome," Mason explained. "Had Landy not become involved, Brian would have become an ineffective vegetable. He was taking too many drugs and couldn't find focus." "I don't think that, at that point, back when Landy came in, either Brian's ex-wife Marilyn or his daughters were able to motivate him to be independent. Drugs and alcohol have led to the demise of too many people. Many people we see end up dead from the process." "Saving Brian's life probably necessitated a Eugene Landy who could come in and force him to take control of himself," Mason continued. "I think they were the best years of his health, but the worst of his years with Dr. Landy."
