Booze With A View: California's Ultimate Roof Bars

Forbes

2 days ago

Spire 73 occupies an outdoor terrace on the 73rd floor of the Wilshire Grand Center (right), tallest ... More building on the U.S. West Coast. (Photo by David McNew)
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.