New Cocktail Bar, Restaurant Debuts in Toluca Lake Bar Harry, a new cocktail bar and restaurant concept, has opened in Toluca Lake with a two-part design inspired by downtown New York's punk and new wave era. The venue combines an upscale indoor bar with a campy outdoor space called Camp Funtime, complete with an Airstream bar, fire pits, vintage camp signage, and a suspended half-boat serving as a DJ booth. The concept is owned and designed by Richard DiSisto, a Los Angeles hospitality veteran behind Tipple & Brine, Tunnel Bar, and Murph's Service Station. The venue draws its identity from early-career Debbie Harry, the Blondie frontwoman and former Playboy Bunny, and channels the creative energy of iconic New York venues like CBGB and Max's Kansas City.

Cocktail Program Bar Director Johnathan Fite, formerly Bar Manager and Principal Bartender at the now-closed Employees Only Los Angeles, oversees the cocktail menu. Fite previously worked at Employees Only New York, which earned the title of World's Best Cocktail Bar and World's Best Drink Selection from Tales of the Cocktail in 2011. Signature drinks include the Bunny 68—combining champagne syrup, vodka, soda water, acid solution and passion fruit foam—and the Chelsea Hotel, featuring Aperol, rosé, Lillet, Pamplemousse and gin, finished with a dehydrated orange wheel. Other creations include the Cheesecake Sour (strawberry cordial, lemon juice, bourbon, graham cracker and cream cheese milk-washed with graham aromatics), the Bugs Bunny (carrot and rosemary shrub, dry vermouth, lemon juice and mezcal with light foam), and Call Me (lemon-poppy coconut cream, pineapple gomme, rum and mezcal with a dehydrated lemon). The Funtime Old Fashioned features chocolate bitters, demerara and bourbon, finished with charred marshmallow and graham cracker. The bar also offers full wine, draft beer, and canned beer selections, plus nonalcoholic options including a Sour Fizz and Pomegranate Buck.

Food Program Executive Chef David Lopez, whose background includes Alba, American Beauty, Mastro's Steakhouse Beverly Hills, and Chi Spacca, leads the kitchen. The menu emphasizes American comfort food with contemporary twists. Starters include Fried Squid with lemon, jalapeño, toasted sesame, seaweed and kimchi aioli; Toro Larb; and Harry's Sliders with Margaret River Wagyu, Gruyère, garlic aioli and pickles. Heritage Wings arrive in three preparations—buffalo, nude, and nam jim jeaw—with ranch and pickled cucumber. The Blockbuster Chicken comes with the restaurant's signature sauce. Main options range from a Crispy Fish Sandwich (halibut, tartar sauce, American cheese on a potato bun) and Steak Frites to the Meatball Wedge (Wagyu, veal and pork with burrata, red sauce and herb salad on a hoagie). Sides include Corn Ribs, Beef Tallow Fries, and Potater Tots.

Design and Venue The interior, designed by DiSisto and longtime design partner Murphy Michaels, features vintage 1960s princess phones, 1970s-inspired details, intimate booths, high-tops, and a wall mural of Debbie Harry. The back patio, Camp Funtime, was inspired by a vintage summer-camp T-shirt photographed on Harry in the late 1970s, and includes an Airstream bar, picnic tables, fire pits, vintage camp signage, and 1970s-era rotary phones at each table. The DJ booth is housed in a half-boat suspended from an upstairs balcony.

Hours and Contact Bar Harry operates seven days a week: 5 p.m.–11 p.m.

Monday and Tuesday; 5 p.m.–midnight Wednesday and Thursday; 5 p.m.–1 a.m. Friday and Saturday; and 5 p.m.–11 p.m. Sunday. The restaurant is located at 10111 Riverside Drive, Toluca Lake. For reservations, call 818.505.3040, email Hello@BarHarryLA.com, or visit www.BarHarryLA.com.

Why It Matters

Bar Harry represents a broader hospitality trend: experiential venues that justify premiums through distinctive design, skilled bartending, and chef-driven food rather than formula. The dual-space concept and celebrity-inspired branding may serve as a template for other independent operators seeking to differentiate in an increasingly crowded cocktail-bar market, particularly in secondary Los Angeles neighborhoods.

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Written by FBM Publications Editors