Bacari Silver Lake

Bacari Silver Lake is a wine bar and small-plates restaurant on Sunset Boulevard in Silver Lake, Los Angeles, set around a large garden patio. It belongs to Bacari, a family-run group with several restaurants in the city, and its chef is Lior Hillel.

The site was Cliff's Edge, a restaurant that closed in October 2020 after 16 years and was best known for its patio. Bacari announced the move in 2021 and kept the hidden patio and the trees that grow out of the courtyard, while the old tiki look gave way to warm wood, string lights and fire pits. The outdoor area spreads over several levels, with its own bar beside the fires.

Bacari describes its food as Venetian-inspired small plates with Mediterranean influences, and the Silver Lake branch has also been called a wine bar modelled on farm life in Tuscany. Dinner brings mejadra, shawarma tacos and fried chicken sliders, all meant for sharing. Indoors, wine bottles hang from the ceilings and the menus are written on chalkboards. Small plates fit the setting, since a table under the trees tends to order in rounds rather than in courses.

The group is known for a nightly 90-minute open bar and for happy hour prices. At weekends a bottomless brunch lets each table mix mimosas, bellinis, sparkling sangria and Bloody Marys. Other Bacari restaurants are in West Adams and Glendale. A patio of this size, with fire pits and old trees, gives the place the feel of a garden party more than a dining room, and the late bar keeps it busy long after dinner.