Silver Lake’s Favorite Cocktail Store Bar Keeper Will Move to Virgil Village | Eater LA

"A Silver Lake staple that I learned opened 12 years ago in Sunset Junction, Bar Keeper is preparing to move to Virgil Village in late spring to a location less than a mile away and twice the size, with the owner hoping for a tasting room to be permitted when doors open in July. I spoke with owner Joe Keeper, who explained that as one of LA’s chief vintage cocktail-accessory stores the shop is known to home and professional bartenders for selling some of the most interesting finds. After the landlord doubled the rent in April 2017 and imposed a ten percent annual increase, and because expanding would have required making the space ADA compliant, Keeper decided he had to move rather than close. The relocation is contingent on city approval — Keeper just appeared before the City Council to request permitting to transfer to the Hoover Street space that used to be Uno Market, with a secondary hearing next Tuesday — and Keeper sees the move positively: "We’ll be more of a real liquor store, with a tasting room," he said, "And the vintage items will be displayed more. I’m not much of a drinker, and for me this store is all about the ritual of drinking." - Mona Holmes