A Federal Bar? Those Feds Finally Got Something Right!

It was 1927 and I had just arrived in the small town of Lankershim en route to the City of Angels only to find ranches and orange groves. I came upon a young shoe shiner, “Hey there lad, where can a fellow like me wet his palate on a fine craft beer in this town?” “Gee mister,” the wiry kid exclaimed, “we haven’t had craft beer since the coppers came and poured it down the drains seven years ago. There ain’t a drop of alcohol in this town.” The child bent down to pick up a shining rag, and gestured his hand for me to lower my head. I placed my ear near his mouth and he whispered, “Rumor has it that there are 21 craft beers on tap at a speakeasy on Lankershim Boulevard and Weddington Street underneath a Federal Bank. The password is Capone’s Sarsaparilla.” Fast-forward 86 years after the 21^st amendment and it may seem just as difficult for a visitor with little knowledge of LA to find a great bar with 21 amazing domestic and local craft beers that are so delicious, you’d swear they’re illegal. A drunk stumble away from the end of the metro Red Line, The Federal Bar in North Hollywood (formerly the city of Lankershim) is much easier to find than the saloons during prohibition, but still gives off the vibe that you’re in the prohibition era.

The Federal Bar (or “The Fed” if you want to be a hipster) opened in February 2011 and a week later, Carl Mancuso became the manager and head of the beer program. Carl hand-selects his broad range of crafts that will satisfy any beer nerd’s desires. He focuses on appealing to his huge mix of clientele, ranging from business folk, music fanatics, and “dance people” of the NoHo Arts District. Pasadena’s own Craftsman 1903 Pre-Prohibition Style Lager matches the Roaring Twenties décor and ambiance of the gastropub nicely. Carl also brings in a variety of specialty crafts from other local and California breweries, such as The Dude’s Brewing Company’s Grinning Face Porter, several Golden Road crafts, Drake’s, Firestone Walker, and he plans to get brews from Monkish Brewing. I was extremely happy that North Coast’s Brother Thelonious was on draught, because this treat of a beer is in my top five beers of all time.

The location for The Fed was indeed a Federal Bank that opened in 1926, but there are no records that there was a speakeasy underneath it (that would be ridiculous). Throughout the years, the landmark was changed to an office building and then a toy store. The CEO of The Knitting Factory Entertainment, Morgan Morgolis, purchased the historic structure and restored it to its original glory with the intent to bring more craft beer to the area. Morgan also stayed true to his roots by bringing in some of the best local music, DJs, and Indy bands that LA has to offer. The Fed has stages in two of its three bars that have those dance people groovin’ almost every night of the week (the 21 taps flow to each of the bars).

The Federal Bar was the first restaurant in The Knitting Factory’s line of venues. Morgan wanted something classy that still gave off the warm feeling of a local bar. The food mimics the traditional British pub grub, but has influence from Spanish cuisine. My mouth was watering and burning from the Oh! My Habenero burger, and then cooled and refreshed with a Sierra Nevada’s Hoptimum Imperial IPA. Every time my wife sees an artichoke, she begs to go back to The Fed for the Grilled Artichoke with Cilantro Aioli. That’s fine by me, as long as I get to tip back another Brother Thelonious (compromise is the secret to a long marriage).

Carl hopes to continue to appeal to more people and spread his passion for serving unique craft beers in a classy local bar setting. Another Federal Bar location recently opened in Long Beach on Pine Avenue, which is in good company neighboring Beachwood BBQ Brewing and the Long Beach Chapter Congregation Ale House. Carl and Morgan are helping to grow the hip craft beer bar trend that’s spreading through LA County like the Charleston spread through Flappers at a Taxi Dance Hall.

The next time you’re passing through the surrounding areas of LA, Douglas Fairbanks, you’ll have plenty of craft beer bars that are the cat’s pajamas instead of getting your bootlegger beer from Bennie “The Shank” Fennegan.