Vandell has a Negroni on the menu made with Campari from the 1970s. That is a drink older than most of the people ordering it, and it sets the tone for a bar that treats the past as an ingredient. It opened on Hillhurst Avenue in Los Feliz in early December 2025, at number 1966, where Nossa Caipirinha Bar used to be.
The people behind the bar
Vandell comes from Park Hospitality, run by Michael Francesconi and Matthew Glaser, who began in 2013 with Wolf & Crane in Little Tokyo and built a cluster in Echo Park: Lowboy, Bar Flores and Donna's. Vandell is the first to leave Echo Park. The drinks belong to Shawn Lickliter and Vay Su, both Republique alumni. Lickliter, a self-taught bartender from Knoxville, Tennessee, ran the bar at Thomas Keller's Bouchon in Beverly Hills before he joined Walter and Margarita Manzke. Su calls the red back room the best seat in the house.
A Negroni made with 1970s Campari: older than most of the people drinking it.
Alcoves and a red room
Architect Brian Moran of Aero Collective lowered the ceilings and broke the floor into smaller spaces, drawing on mid-century California and on the bars of 1930s and 1940s Europe and New York, with Jones Hollywood as a key reference. There are wooden booths, bistro tables near the door for dates, a carved relief above the back bar and red-shaded lamps. The back room is moody, with a bartender of its own. The energy is lively and the vibe a relaxed, unfussy neighbourhood bar. The crowd is anyone who can wait politely, which in Los Feliz is a skill.
The list
The list is long and sorted by mood. Light includes the Matchstick: white wine, fino sherry, gin and an apple-celery soda. Market Fresh follows the produce, from a cucumber drink with Sichuan pepper and wasabi soy salt to a banana and bourbon drink with white miso. The Smoked Tomato is the most popular: mezcal, basil, spicy galangal, tomato and hickory smoke, savoury and bright. Spirit Forward holds a house martini sharpened with tarragon vinegar and a vodka martini with shio koji, yuzu kosho and smoked olive brine.
Linger over Olden Days. Beside a Mai Tai and a Family Tradition of bourbon and a Coors Banquet, it uses old bottles: a sidecar with 1970s Courvoisier, a Manhattan with 1960s George Dickel and the Negroni of 1980s Gordon's gin and 1970s Campari. The alcohol-free drinks get the same attention, including a pandan-forward milk punch and a barley tea cream soda.
The food
Food is there to keep drinkers upright. Anchovy toast, built on boquerones with arugula pesto, is Su's favourite and a regular reorder. The hamachi crudo with a carrot leche de tigre feels fresh, and the wagyu burger, from the team behind Lowboy, can be ordered without committing to a meal. Pork spare ribs and a flat iron steak frites round it out. Pudding is an upside-down cake with rhubarb jam.
Order the Smoked Tomato if the vintage drinks feel like a museum visit, and the Negroni if they do not. Two hedges: the food is predictable, though well executed, and weekend waits can run from half an hour to an hour. Most seats are held for walk-ins. Arrive when the doors open or after half past nine, when the room eases, and take the waitlist and wander Hillhurst in the meantime.
Vandell sells a 1970s Negroni and does not offer an apology for it.
- The vibe
- Mid-century alcoves, wooden booths and a moody red back room; lively, unfussy.
- The food
- Anchovy toast, hamachi crudo, wagyu burger, steak frites; bar bites without a full meal.
- The drink
- Smoked Tomato first; then the vintage Negroni from the Olden Days list.
- A tip
- Mostly walk-in: arrive at opening or after 9.30pm; weekends can wait 30 to 60 minutes.
