"Bar Caló is a uniquely Echo Park kind of place - it’s overwhelmingly trendy, and feels specifically designed for day drinking. Yet it’s also a place that highlights the Eastside’s intentional weirdness in the best way, with a cool-but-low-key crowd, a patio that’s just a strip mall parking lot, and fantastic mezcal cocktails served in Topo Chico bottles. Bar snacks like peanut chipotle salsa, crab queso, and ceviche are ideal for a Saturday afternoon when you’ve been drinking, and if this place was in Santa Monica, we suspect it wouldn’t be long before its crowd was full of Bungalow-runoff. So we’re very thankful it’s in Echo Park." - Brett Keating