The Team Behind Award-Winning Mírate Just Opened One of L.A.’s Most Anticipated Bars — and It Changes Destinations Every 50 Minutes
From the team behind award-winning Mírate, the 24-seat Gilbert Pérez Bar pours 75 Mexican spirits and changes destinations every 50 minutes.
A lot can happen in 50 minutes. At Gilbert Pérez Bar, you could end up in another part of Mexico. Possibly another year. One of L.A.’s most anticipated new bars, it opened October 22, 2026, upstairs from Daisy Margarita Bar on Ventura Boulevard in Sherman Oaks, from the team behind award-winning Mírate and Daisy. The 24-seat Mexican rum bar transforms every 50 minutes, transporting guests to a different Mexican destination through shifting visuals, theatrical storytelling and a new list of drinks, with Beverage Director Max Reis steering a backbar of 75 Mexican sugarcane spirits.
Oh, and you’ll have to put your phone away.
Photo Credit: Robert Campbell
Your actual location remains the Valley. Your evening, however, has other plans.
The name comes from the legend of Gil Pérez, a soldier said to have mysteriously traveled from the Philippines to Mexico City in the 1500s. Whether you buy the teleportation story is beside the point. (I’m agnostic, though I’d love to know his secret.) Here, it’s a highly entertaining excuse to drink your way through Mexico without dealing with LAX.
Photo Credit: Robert Campbell
The Rum Deserves Its Own Fan Club
For all the supernatural window dressing, there’s a seriously good drinks program underneath.
The backbone is a collection of 75 Mexican rums, aguardientes and charandas, sourced from small-batch distillers and producers across the country, with an emphasis on sustainability and ethical sourcing. If your knowledge of Mexican spirits begins with tequila and ends with mezcal (no judgment, that was most of us), consider this your crash course.
Reis, whose work has challenged familiar ideas about agave spirits, is now turning his attention to the full range of Mexico’s sugarcane distillates: their regional character, their versatility and their ability to do far more than their usual tropical-vacation assignment. It’s a backbar with a point of view, connecting what’s in the glass to the places, people and drinking traditions behind it.
Come for the spectacle. Pay attention to the pour.
Photo Credit: Robert Campbell
Your Next Round Comes With a Change of Scenery
A core cocktail menu stays put all night, a few constants while the room spins around you. The signature is the Primordial Frutero, a clarified blend of more than 10 fruits inspired by teóxocotl, the mythical “god-fruit” that, in the bar’s storytelling, the gods of Chiapas hid from mortals. Apparently someone upstairs in Sherman Oaks has a connection.
The rotating menus are where it gets really fun. Each destination brings drinks tied to its regional ingredients, spirits and culture, so the transformation is something you can actually taste.
One stop revisits the 2009 opening night of Guadalajara mezcal bar Pare de Sufrir, a space meant for quiet, serious mezcal appreciation that, as the story goes, promptly turned into a full-blown party. Gilbert Pérez’s version includes rare mezcals the team says aren’t otherwise available in the United States, with beer to suit the occasion. That’s a far more compelling reason to time-travel than a generic beach backdrop, and a clever way to explore how Mexico drinks, right down to the mood of one particular bar on one particular night.
Keep your itinerary loose.
Photo Credit: Robert Campbell
So Much to Look At, and You Can’t Photograph Any of It
The interiors are unapologetically maximalist. Adean Studios has layered the space with photographs, artwork and tchotchkes sourced from or inspired by Mexico, taking cues from the densely decorated Mexican cantina, where looking around is an activity in itself. Look closer, the team suggests: some of those details have surprises built in.
The visuals come from Spike Design, whose lighting credits include touring acts like Phoebe Bridgers and LCD Soundsystem, a very cool pedigree for a room designed to change its atmosphere on cue.
With only 24 seats, it’s an intimate audience. And the no-phones rule gives everyone permission to stop documenting the night long enough to actually have one. You’ll have to describe this one from memory, which, frankly, is the most luxurious thing about it.
Haute Living Verdict: Time travel, rare mezcal and no phones. The most fun 50 minutes in L.A. (Book a few rounds.)
Gilbert Pérez Bar is located above Daisy Margarita Bar at 14633 Ventura Boulevard, Sherman Oaks. Hours are Thursday, 6–11 p.m., and Friday–Saturday, 6 p.m.–midnight. Reservations are required; book through the official website.
Photo Credit: Robert Campbell
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Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Gilbert Pérez Bar named after?
Gil Pérez, a soldier who, according to legend, mysteriously traveled from the Philippines to Mexico City in the 1500s.
What is Gilbert Pérez Bar?
A 24-seat Mexican rum bar above Daisy Margarita Bar in Sherman Oaks, from the team behind Daisy and Mírate, where the room transforms into a different Mexican destination every 50 minutes.
Where is Gilbert Pérez Bar?
Upstairs from Daisy Margarita Bar at 14633 Ventura Boulevard in Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles.
Do you need a reservation for Gilbert Pérez Bar?
Yes. Reservations are required and are made through the bar's official website.
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