Sonny’s Hideaway

Great drinks. Great owner. I love his hands. They make excellent drinks. He says there is a slip and slide on the bar here on occasion!

Good place for drinks but the food is not good at all. Firstly we ordered the duck pâté. It came out w/​2 small pieces of bread … Not enough for the amount of pâté provided (and we had 3 people). We requested more bread, waitress said they would have to charge us $ 2 per slice. Annoying but we ordered some anyway b/​c we didn’t want to waste the pâté. The bread comes out & it is not the same crispy toast that accompanied the duck pâté; in fact its a burger bun that they split in half & grilled. Very soft & not crispy at all. Obviously they ran out of the usual bread used for pâté & thought it would be fine to give us a burger bun (split in half) & charge us $ 4. I ordered the «market fish» which was awful. It was a Bronzino & it was swimming in some «almond milk» sauce, not flavorful & it didn’t enhance the fish at all. Also this dish said it came w/​potatoes… I had one potato on my plate split in half. Nice. I would not come here again for food, overpriced & just not appetizing.

Been here three times now in the last five or six weeks. Great gastro pub. Food is excellent well above expectation. Handcrafted cocktails are excellent. Crowd is lively, a lot of energy but certainly enough space to have personal conversation. Music is also very good — an eclectic mix each time we’ve been there. Owner has been there each time and is clearly active in the business — serving, talking to customers, assisting where needed. This is always a good sign. They don’t take reservations so if you’re not in a rush have a drink in the bar area, put your name in, relax, and wait for your table. There was a valet one of the three times we were there so not sure about that. Bottom line– I write very few reviews. It’s either really good or really poor.
Updated: The last two times we’ve been here, we had the same waiter and both times he didn’t write any of the order down and missed some of the order. There were four people each time and it’s hard to understand why he doesn’t write the order down to ensure he gets it accurately. Atmosphere is still great, cocktail are still great, and food is still exceptional but updating my last review based on the last two experiences.

So I’ve been coming to this place for a while now and to be honest what is always very consistent with their food «in a good way «but I have to recommend something I really would recommend their beef meatballs :)

Love this spot. It’s both classy and intimate. More importantly, the drinks are superb. The bar is huge and gorgeously full of all the good spirits to keep you nice and toasty. We came in for happy hour and took full advantage of the food and drinks. The old fashioned is nice and stiff. The French 75 is lovely and tasty, it was my favorite. We ordered the deviled eggs and burger with fries. Everything was really good. They play really good music (i.e. The Kinks, The Beatles, etc) which makes for a more enjoyable time. The staff is great and attentive. This is definitely one of my favorite spots.

This is only for their drinks and ambiance. I’ve only boozed here during happy hour. Great craft drinks. Top notch bartenders. Love the energy of this «hole in the wall». After a few extra generous shots of teq mixed in with a really great and a strong Moscow Mule. I had a few tacos in my belly before Sonny’s to soak up the libations.
Love the aesthetics of their interior and patio and the LES Manhattan vibe and energy. Can’t speak on the innovative food coming out of their kitchen. The happy hour menu variety looked great… it really is a great spot to host any celebration or party. I’ll be back for Tiki Tuesdays.

A beautifully done restaurant with a great-​looking bar, dark wood walls, leather seats with good amount of booth and table seating. really cool ambience! The waiters are super friendly, attentive and are happy to walk you through the menu and give recommendations. Great bar menu and fun signature drink options. The dinner menu is simple, creative and delicious — they didn’t over-​think, really well done!

Came to Sonny’s Hideaway for a birthday party. The establishment was nice enough to accommodate a party of 16 while they technically do not accept reservations. Called ahead with a little bit of adjustments, a private party was allowed and the event was booked. Upon arrival the place has a nice low light ambiance perfect for a date night. The bar was extent and stocked with liquor, beer, and wine that is more top shelf and a variety of good choices.
We were seated in the back patio. While being in the back, it loses the ambiance but was perfect for our party as we could be as loud as we wanted. The host was nice enough to have a bluetooth speaker available for our music enjoyment.
We ordered a variety of starters and entrees to shared amongst the guests. my favorite were the Hanger steak and pork chops. Both were delicious and well presented. Looking at Unilocal reviews I noticed the Grilled Octopus was a dish that many were talking about, but that happened to be the dish that was not the most impressive.
Drinks: a wide variety of cocktails were listed on their menu. Being a fan of mezcal, several Refifi were ordered. This drink was very tasty and not for the light drinker. Shots of tequila were ordered as well and they came in what looked to be miniature wine glasses. (cute)
All in all, I would love to visit Sonny’s hideaway again, possibly for another birthday event or a possible date night. I would recommend going early as on a Saturday evening, this place does fill up!
VERDICT: Rinse and Repeat

I love Sonny’s. The cocktails are divine, the food is delicious (though I do wish they had more gluten-​free options, I always find something tasty to eat), and most importantly, the service is always the absolute best. I always am greeted with warmth and familiarity. It’s my neighborhood evening date joint.

I love Sonny’s…great food, great drinks, great service and if you’re in the neighborhood on a Sunday, one of the best brunches you’ll have. I’ve almost had everything on their menu and its all put a big smile on my face. Their meatballs are the best balls I’ve ever put in my mouth.

After watching the neighborhood evolve over the last decade, I am really happy to have Sonny’s in Highland Park. Hands down, the best Old Fashioned in town. There is always a crowd of good people. Get an order of fries.
Book the back patio for a group of friends on a birthday.

This place always struck me as designed for the perfect date night. Great food. Cozy booths and good service. If you’re just out with friends, however, theres something about it that doesnt work for me. Perhaps its the separation of the bar area that leaves me wanting for seats. Or that the lighting in the restaurant is a little too bright. Or maybe I’m just fussy. I guess I’m happier in a dive bar. But dont let my opinion turn you off. Check out the photos here on Unilocal.I think you’ll enjoy it.
Parking: Neighborhood parking

Really good cocktails with whiskey & bourbon. Romantic ambience & really cute dimly lit patio seating with great music. Friendly & fast customer service. 1 star off because, although the food was good, it wasn’t too memorable. If a burger is almost $ 20 it should be a lot more creative than the meat, the bun & grilled onions (and the bun shouldn’t be burned & medium patty should actually be medium and not overdone).
Would definitely recommend the peach splash cocktail.

Saw this place on Unilocal and decided to give it a try on a random Tuesday night.
Although located on York, blink and you’ll miss it. There are no signs distinguishing it (I’ve included a pic). I drove by it twice. It was so dark that my husband thought it might be closed. It does have a red door, so look for that.
Parking: Was able to find street metered parking out front. The meters are only until 8pm.
We stepped in and I immediately LOVED the ambiance. Its dimly lit, casual & intimate. The bar was busy and the hostess offered us a big old leather booth. The restaurant isn’t that large, so I could see you needing reservations on a busy night.
We were greeted quickly and given the menus. It was Tiki Tuesday night meaning specialty «tropical» cocktails and the bartenders wearing Hawaiian shirts. The cocktail descriptions had so many flavors, I had no idea how they would taste, so I asked for a recommendation of something not too sweet. Pride of Antilles. This was an interesting concoction that my husband described as a «Willy Wonka Ride.»
That describes how our food that evening went, too. All our dishes had interesting flavors, but nothing was jumping out at our palates. Okay, I was enjoying it more than my husband.
Hamachi Crudo w/​plum habanero granita, corn, cucumber (too thick of pieces of Hamachi for hubby, so I ate it all)
Smoke Deviled Eggs w/​Chipotle, paprika, green tomato relish (hubby prefers traditional, but managed to clean this up)
White Corn Elote w/​marrow butter, chili verde, cotija (served on the cob)
Braised Short Rib Au Poivre w/​smoked pommes frites, crème fraîche, citrus gremolata, black pepper jus (hubby thought it needed more flavor; I’m gonna agree).
So as we are sitting there discussing his thoughts on the place, I’m arguing 4 for ambiance, he arguing 3 for food, we ordered one last item: BREAD PUDDING BRULEE. All I have to say is, there was NO argument after that. I would come here for this one item. Its that good. It was 3 squares of the bread pudding w/​Coconut Whipped Cream & Blackberry Purée. Its delectable. We LOVED it.
Fantastic ambiance, original cocktails & BREAD PUDDING.

Love me some Highland Park. Cool joint. Very friendly bartenders and sexy patrons. Great cocktails! NOT a dive. I’ve never been disappointed with a cocktail here. Get here early at night on the weekend because this place really fills up. Cheers!

Awesome bar tucked away in Highland Park. It’s pretty busy in the restaurant area, but I’ve never had trouble getting bar seats. The bread pudding is nuts, and they have creative dishes like the grilled octupus (check their facebook page for pix).
Only issue I have is they inexplicably stop serving food at midnight, even though the place stays open. So if you come here looking for a late-​night bite to eat after a show or something, you’ll be OUTTA LUCK!!! wth

Great bartending! Junipers martini and great snacks! A little of this a little of that. Mmmm
Gimme cauliflower, greens and some clams.

Came in for a late dinner on Saturday night of the monthly Art Walk and it was busy! It’s not a big place, so I wouldn’t recommend it for large groups.
The hostess was very nice. I totally didn’t feel like we fit the crowd there, but she was very welcoming nonetheless. The atmosphere inside was classy, but casual and mostly older (50+ years) patrons. We ended up sitting outside on the cozy patio in the back.
We ordered a bunch of small dishes to share and they pretty much were brought out as they were ready.
Duck rillettes radish kumquats watercress — crispy, fried, and rich. Make sure you get a bite of the veggies to cleanse the fat! It’s tasty for a reason!
Eggplant side dish– simple, but delicious
Mixed greens — I must have some vegetables at every meal
Bone marrow hash — woah again, a very tasty and fatty dish. It wasn’t an all overcrispy hash though
Asparagus with bacon jam & gorgonzola — oh so savory. Did I mention I love veggies… and meat? The bacon jam is more like a melty sauce, not the thick jam I was expecting. so you can’t eat around it– oh well!
Overall the food was tasty, I’m sure it would all be amazing with wine and friends so you can order even more and get bites of everything! I would go again.

CAME FOR THE MUSSELS, STAYED FOR THE COCONUT WHIPPED CREAM!!! Talk about the Big «O»!!
BACKGROUND:
Ranked #2 on the LA Weekly’s 10 BEST RESTAURANTS IN HIGHLAND PARK-​Highland Park has its share of bars, and that share is growing quickly. But the cocktail program at Sonny’s Hideaway would be remarkable anywhere in the city, with the kind of care and craft you’d never expect to find in a retro hole in the wall on York. The food, too, is perhaps some of the most underrated on this side of town, with chef Alexander Abdel-​Monem presenting ambitious but comforting dishes such as fried chicken terrine with buffalo romesco, or black cod with beet purée and farro. The circular vinyl booths and ‘50s low-​key swank vibe are positively endearing, and the whole place feels like a lucky discovery
STATS:
HH Tuesday — Sunday, 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Metered Parking
Modest exterior
EXPERIENCE:
Fellow high school friend had been to Sonny’s several times and thought I should pay them a visit. So one night we met here and I felt kind of naughty walking in, the exterior gave me a sense that it was a speakeasy, but it is not. Dimly lit with a bar stretching a majority of the interior on one side of a half wall and tables and booths on the other, this cozy hole in the wall is decorated in a 50’s motif.
Upon walking in, my friend introduced me to owner Derek Lyons, who, after chatting his ear off, I found, was a real down to earth guy with an out of this world knack for great food ideas. I asked what he recommended for a first timer and that’s what we ordered.
First up, the drinks. Of course, I ordered one of my faves, Moscow Mule and friend order Old Fashioned. Drinks came quickly. My MM was perfectly mixed, with a perfect vodka to ginger beer ratio, to enjoy a slow drink, not a chug to avoid the cutting taste of the vodka.
First food choice, the grilled octopus. Not a big fan of octopus, but after the first taste, I was hooked. Prepared ever so nicely, it wasn’t like chewing on rubber, which is what I don’t like about octopus. Served avocado purée, watercress, Fresno chile, and radish this dish was a perfect balance of flavor and texture.
Food choice number two, Mussels & Clams served in a white wine Allium broth, smoked whitefish, paprika, leeks and potato chips around the bowl. I’m not really a wine drinker and I stay clear of food with alcohol in it, even though «it burns off». Ha! My taste buds can taste the smallest quantities of alcohol in a dish, in fact, regardless of how little there is and how much «it burns off» the flavor is usually overpowering and I just can’t eat it. Not with Sonny’s Mussels & Clams. The flavor was divine. Slurpin’ this bowl of bivalve really hit the spot. The potato chips were lightly fried and salted. Great compliment to the dish.
One item Derek didn’t have to recommend was the Bread Pudding Brulee, which is dished up with coconut whipped cream and a blackberry purée. Oh heavens to Murgatroyd!!! Not until recently, less than a decade ago, did I add bread pudding to my list of favorite desserts, only because I had the most amazing experience with an order and since then it’s become my staple for eateries that offer it on their menu. What really sets this place apart from all the others is the coconut whipped cream. Good golly!!! Ever so wonderfully yummy. I wanted to take a gallon or two or 10 home with me. If you want an order of Bread Pudding, order it with your meal, as the menu states, allow 15 – 20 minutes for it to be prepared. Clearly they are making it fresh.
Highland Park has been getting a good scrubbing over the years, what use to be an old run down community, gentrification is alive and well and Sonny’s Hideway, one of the new kids on the block making quite the impression on the new, as well as the well established folks in da hood. If ever in HP, don’t be shy or intimated, check out Sonny’s for yourself, you will be in for a treat.
Review 47 Unilocal 100+ Challenge 2015

We came here for my birthday, as I didn’t want a fancy dinner, but more of a casual evening. This place was perfect, because while the atmosphere was casual, the restaurant is very charming and nice, while the food was simple, yet refined.
We ordered a whole bunch of appetizers, and everything was delicious. The meatballs, the octopus, the chickpea ragu, the roasted cauliflower, and the brussels sprouts were all delicious. I just wish the portions were a little larger, because the prices are not cheap. However, the quality and the taste of the food was exceptional.
I had the black cod, which was outstanding. Just a perfectly done fish. I could have done without the beet purée as it was a tad too sweet, but the colors were beautiful. I tried the other dishes that friends ordered, and everything from the fried chicken to the lamb shank to the steak was just perfect.
The wine and the drinks were fantastic as well. I really enjoyed their cocktails, which again, had familiar flavors, but slightly refined. Our server was great… very engaging and knowledgeable. It was a truly great experience and a great birthday dinner!