You’ve mastered the velvet ropes at Sunset Blvd.’s trendiest spots, but sometimes you just want a low-key Miami vibe—and a stiff drink larger than the plastic breasts on a sunbather in Florida.

Thankfully, you’ll find room for both at The Beach on Sunset, the huge new bi-level restaurant and lounge bursting onto the Hollywood scene. Past the billowing sails still flanking the entrance, you’ll find a cascading waterfall, outdoor cabanas and a monstrous patio umbrella towering over the downstairs dining room’s white leather booths. Unlike some nearby bouncers, this place doesn’t take itself too seriously. Oversized specialty drinks include the rum-based Shark Attack and the Wipe Out, a margarita on steroids.

To soak up all that liquor with an actual meal, try the Fire Roasted Lobster or Grilled Lamb Chops from a chef who spent time at Wolfgang Puck’s Vert. Or head upstairs for even more seating options—the suede sofas are the best place to catch the game on the flat screens between bites of comfort food like Mac and Cheese or Rock Shrimp Quesadillas. On the way out, if you’ve had enough to drink, you might even splurge on the “I was a victim of a Shark Attack” T-shirt for sale at the hostess stand.

That’s one more thing you won’t find at SkyBar.

The Beach on Sunset, 8240 W. Sunset Blvd (W. of Crescent Heights), West Hollywood, 323-654-8100

Ara Shanlian Jr.

If you ever wondered about the chance to go drinking on your childhood school bus (who hasn’t), that moment has finally arrived.Restaurant and nightclub operator Dolce Group recently bought a used school bus, tricked it out, and launched a new party bus service to end all party bus services: The Short Bus. The yellow bugger is rentable by the hour, seats 16 and comes with everything you need for a good time: driver, bar, fridge, 40-inch flat panel television, CD & DVD player, satellite radio, surround sound system, and, of course, ever essential strobe lights (just in case you weren’t getting enough attention rolling down Sunset Blvd.).

To sweeten the ride, the Dolce Group will hook you up with VIP reservations at any of their restaurants, like Ketchup, Geisha House, Bella and Dolce, also guaranteeing your group access to Les Deux (if non-subtle entrances are more your thing).

Unlike real school buses, this one encourages you to BYOB, but you can also take advantage of The Short Bus’s concierge service which for an additional fee will grant practically any request. Which means if your bus party requires Tanqueray Tonics with Sloppy Joes & Tater Tots, served by, say, waitresses in skimpy school-girl uniforms, this is the bus to go to.

All this and no homework.

The Short Bus, 323-785-1653, theshortbusla.com

Ara Shanlian Jr.

We love the latest downtown nightlife boom, but it’s still pretty hard to find a decent view in this town other than the Rooftop Bar at The Standard Hotel. Looking for a new view of the Los Angeles skyline? Maybe some sushi? Welcome to the Elevate Lounge, open alongside Takami Sushi & Robata Restaurant.

The two spots are 21 floors up, and their panorama wraparound balconies are big enough for a crowd, so you won’t have to worry about getting a peek at the city lights. Now if you could just get rid of that smog…

Better yet, retreat into Elevate’s open-air lounge, where you can check out the view in more comfortable surroundings. The oversized ottomans include trays for stabilizing cocktails during heavy lounging. The place even stays open for an hour after the 2 a.m. booze cutoff, giving you time to work off that Jager-Redbull and plan your next move.

At Takami, diners can sit at candlelit booths inside or out, or pull up a stool at the Italian leather and sandstone sushi bar. The Japanese influenced menu includes inspired twists like a Miso Caesar Salad and Baby Lamp Chops with soy truffle sauce. Their suggestion is the Rose Tea Martini—the ingredients of its house made rose liqueur are so secret the bottle gets locked up each night. (As long as there’s no urine in it, we’re fine.)

We won’t be looking too hard at the drink list anyway. We just spotted our cousin’s house in Westwood.

Takami Sushi & Robata Restaurant and Elevate Lounge, 811 Wilshire Blvd, 21st Floor (at Flower), Downtown, 213-236-9600

Ara Shanlian Jr.

LA is vast. You can’t enjoy the whole city in one night (no matter how much expresso you mix into your vodka). So it’s nice when a nightspot recognizes this and provides options to make you feel like you’ve hit up more places than you actually have. Hence, One Sunset.

This lounge is, as its name suggests, designed to be your one and only stop of the night. (It’s a restaurant, it’s a bar, it’s a four-room lounge with dinner service till 1 a.m.) You’ll start in the Champagne Lounge, a silky Moroccan oasis with a ten person table that should make meeting new acquaintances no problem. From there, you can push on to either the Centre Bar Lounge with cocktail style seating (again, making it easier to socialize), the Dining Lounge or the Candle Lounge, which features candles, of course, but also reflective mirrors (so you can see who is checking you out from any angle).

In all the rooms, you can feast on shareable plates such as the Celestial Platter (jumbo shrimp, oysters, Dungeness crab, lobster and prawns) and the Prime Beef Flight (pepper-crusted ribeye mignon, short rib and aged filet Oscar). And as your night grows increasingly festive, One Sunset’s ambiance seamlessly adjusts: Lights dim, DJ spins pick up, and dining tables drop to lounge level.

All of which means you can relax into the evening instead of fighting your way through it.

One Sunset, 8730 W. Sunset Blvd (between Horn and Sunset Plaza Dr), West Hollywood, 310-657-0111

When it comes to coffee, you leave room for cream, but did you ever think to leave room for underdogs?

Far away from the extravagant polish of LAMILL Coffee Boutique and the hordes of hipsters overpopulating Intelligentsia, you’ll find a new place to root for at Lot 44 Coffee.

The place isn’t much to look at from the outside, but that’s not really what matters when you’re in the neighborhood, you’re crashing and you just want a strong cup of Joe. In addition to Lot’s version of black coffee (what they’re calling Fair Trade Organic Sumatra Mandaling) they’ve got other hand-brewed (and elaborately named) specialty blends, like Ethiopian Latte and Organic Mayan Mocha (because, trust us, the Mayans knew mocha).

Step through the back door and you’ll find a tree filled courtyard atrium where you can open your laptop and start your work in peace.

Not that you’ll need help staying awake for that.

Lot 44 Coffee, 257 S. Spring St (between 2nd and 3rd), Downtown, 213-626-4646

Lets go back in time…
To a time when life was simpler and your future as a businessman was one overpriced 25 cent cup of lemonade at a time.

Embrace the past at Lemonade, a literally underground lemonade stand, now open for breakfast and lunch in Downtown LA.

The modern twist on an old concept is part lemonade stand, part grade school cafeteria. Come lunchtime, you’ll grab a tray and slide it down the counter to examine your options. Unlike those early years, though, you’ll actually want to build a meal from what you see under the glass.

Once you’ve filled your tray, pay up at the central stand, where you’ll select from several varieties of the requisite house made lemonade (Our favorites are Rosemary Lemon and Blueberry Ginger—these would have taken your childhood stand to the next level).

And if you prefer your childhood flashbacks less underground and more Beverly Hills-ish, the next location on Beverly Boulevard (just east of Doheny) is only a couple weeks away.

But for now, focus on the present…by which we mean the past.

Lemonade, 505 S. Flower St (at Fifth), Downtown, 213-488-0299

Your interest in sports bars wanes between March and September.

And even in prime months, you generally know what to expect from your local sports dive, and you’re fine with that.

Prepare to be surprised by Coffee Table Lounge, a surreal new genre-defier that’s now open in Eagle Rock.

Upon entrance, your eyes will take a moment to adjust to the surroundings—purple walls, red stools and oversized blue booths with tubular backs resembling goalpost covers. Towering over it all, in addition to a couple of regulation flat-screens, is an 8-by-12-foot screen to remind you that you are, in fact, here to see the game. But not before you inspect the glass-doored coolers behind the bar—the place used to be a liquor store—to select from over 100 unique beers like Brother Thelonius and Moylan’s Kilt Lifter.

If purple-encased sport-fandom makes you hungry (and how could it not), try a pair of Tuscan-Style Tacos with some Parmesan and Basil Fries. Come summer, you’ll be able to escape to a hidden, walled-in rear patio at the end of the hall shared with Coffee Table Bistro next door.

Because sunlight and sports bars can go together.

Coffee Table Lounge, 1958 Colorado Blvd (E. of Eagle Rock Blvd), Eagle Rock, 323-257-2245

The weekend was officially a scorcher.

And after that session of blazing April sun, it’s clearly time to break out some new summer threads. So we’ve got an idea for you, and it comes in the form of a new secret store in Downtown—step in and cool off at Fremont.

They may have forgotten to put a sign out front (or any attention grabbing features at all, for that matter), but we can’t fault them for focusing instead on creating some of the best looking lightweight gear we’ve seen around. Long a local favorite, their first LA store (worth the trip downtown) kicks the doors open with a collection of light denim, cotton shirts and loosely cut button downs— flattering, using lightweight fabrics that make sense when the mercury approaches the triple-digit mark.

The looks veer from the accessible (slim cut pants, collared short sleeves for the backyard or the bar), but a few well selected pieces will help you pull off an admirable—and heat friendly—look.

So don’t sweat it.

Fremont, 120 S. 4th St (between Spring and Main), Downtown, 323-626-1756

Ara Shanlian Jr.

Unusual store on Third Street

Eventually, every street draws a new neighbor that gets the residents talking.

On Third Street, haven of leisurely Sunday brunch and petite boutiques, that new resident is the unusual shop called Known.

As soon as you approach the store, you’ll suddenly find yourself clutching a rifle—the handle on the glass door is an actual-size replica of a rifle. And inside is a scrawny young man who goes by the impressive name of…Moonshine (In this case a surname would be superfluous.) He’s the ambassador for the blue and gray store, and he’ll point you toward nicely broken-in jeans from PRPS and Goldspun, shirts from No Mas, and soon, merchandise from Oak.

The stock may seem small, and it is, but Moonshine has big plans for the immediate future that involve eclectic options for your home, not just your closet. In addition to more found vintage goods like the mid-century Gucci luggage and Louis Vuitton tennis-racket cover near the front, he’s says he will be soliciting the clothing designers stocked inside to create one-of-a-kind pieces.

Maybe you can convince him to get going on a pair of Tom Ford martini glasses.

Known, 7922 W. Third St (W. of Fairfax), 323-655-6696