The Hall at Palihouse

(Image credit: palihouse.com)

8465 Holloway Dr. (at La Cienega), (323) 656-4020, thehallbrasserie.com

Someday, Alexis and I hope to be rich enough to move into one of the Palihouse's chic residential suites and lead the kind of substance-abusing, breakfast-at-5-PM existence of which we've long dreamed. Luckily, one need not have attained that level of wealth or rockstardom to dine at The Hall. The number of small- and micro-plates on the menu has diminished in recent months due to a change in chefage, but there are still enough sides, salads, and shareables to keep your snacking/boozing experience safely in the double digits. Cocktails hover in the $10 range, which isn't bad in our part of the world; the fact that they detail the ingredients and proportions of each one could be taken as either really useful or overly precious (I vote the former). My recommendation: The Holloway, a tall drink of gin and ginger that refreshes and kills brain cells in equal measure. It's $13, but you won't need a second one. Milieu is cool without being douchey; the lack of a DJ or celebrity chef keeps out the Hills extras, while the lack of PBR on tap keeps out the grimy hipsters.