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It’s been a tough year for NA bars. Since 2024, at least three NA-only bars have shut down in Los Angeles or gone online retail-only. The fanfare that came with New Bar’s openings in Venice and West Hollywood are long gone and the '90s-themed events at Stay Zero Proof in Chinatown have said bye, bye, bye.
Some say these bars have been the victims of their own success. They helped popularize non-alcohol drinks — which are now being sold by big-box retailers, often at a lower cost.Some are creating community by offering neighborhood"third spaces" where you can also play games or watch a comedy show. Others still are adding extra things to attract customers, like vegan and allergy-free food.It’s been a tough year for non-alcoholic bars. Since we wrote our last NA bar round up, during 2024's Dry January, at least three NA-only bars have shut down in Los Angeles or gone online retail-only. The fanfare that came with New Bar’s openings in Venice and West Hollywood are long gone and the '90s-themed events at Stay Zero Proof in Chinatown have said buh-bye.In some ways, perhaps, the bars that closed, like the two L.A. outposts of San Francisco’s New Bar, were victims of their own success. “I think that the non-alcoholic space has evolved,” Bar Nuda pop-up owner Pablo Murillo said. ”So when New Bar came out, they were pretty much the only ones doing what they were doing. There's so many more options now, with big-box retailers that are offering great non-alcoholic options and possibly at a lower price point.”That can have an impact even if you offer a top-notch experience. Stay Zero Proof was the brainchild of Stacey Mann, a film set designer-turned-interior designer who opened the cozy bar in Chinatown in 2024. It closed last year. “We built an amazing space with such a great vibe and a terrific staff and, in my opinion, the best NA cocktails around. They were exceptional. They were designed and developed by Derek Brown out of D.C., who really led the movement quite a long time ago,” Mann said. “And that wasn't enough to get people in the doors spending money.” Mann, who is 39 years sober, said she was surprised at how few sober customers came in the door compared to her “sober curious” clientele. “It did not bring in the sober crowd. ... It's the cost, it's the idea that a lot of sober people aren't really thinking about sitting in bars.”These bar owners all say that Dry January is quickly becoming a thing of the past — their customers are drinking less alcohol but hanging out more all year-round.“I think it kind of spreads throughout the whole year, just a kind of lifestyle versus like a 30-day ," said Dean Peterson, who runs Burden of Proof, an NA bar in Pasadena. That shift also has spurred bars that do serve alcohol to up their NA game. Owner of Abbot Kinney speakeasy Force of Nature Leena Culhane said her January was just as busy as her December.It's not just being alcohol-free. The NA bars that are still in business are adapting to meet other customer needs too.“We always wanted to have a place in L.A. that we could actually just go and chill out and relax at and play games, board games, watch an open mic, watch a comedy show, do yoga,” said Kavahana co-founder Neil Bahtia, whose Santa Monica spot features drinks that use the kava root, a Pacific Island-native herb, instead of alcohol. “These are different activities that I think are really important to having a brick and mortar, that maybe a traditional bar doesn't really need to do. I think for us, it's always been about curating a really nice experience.”“In order to sustain the model, you really have to build out programming,” she said. “Our biggest night was comedy night, and that was amazing.” Meanwhile, the owners of Free Spirited in Alhambra, Amber Pennington and Arleo De Guzman, focus on being vegan and allergy-friendly in addition to providing a completely 0.0% alcohol experience, which means people find their place through several different channels. “The culture still isn't to ‘go out to drink non-alcoholic,’" Pennington said. “Hopefully that will change in the next couple years, but having the food in addition ... that's super helpful.” De Guzman added that “People don't want to go out just to eat nowadays. They want to have more value added to their experience, but also it helps in a non-alcoholic bar , because some people are still afraid to go out and socialize sober, so attach an event that's in the space and people are like, ‘OK, I'm going to go to this thing. I guess I'll see what the vibe is.’”Murillo of Bar Nuda’s Mexican-inspired concept is focused on craft non-alcoholic cocktails that draw on his bartending experience. “People, I think, aren't looking so much for a non-alcoholic version of a margarita. They're looking for something more creative, something that they possibly have never tasted before,” he said.“People often are choosing wine based on what the label looks like. We can't underestimate how much the eye is kind of the first sense of taste,” Culhane said. “I think that's the most important part — feeling like there's an adult experience of something that's convivial and celebratory, and just special.” As drinkers and non-drinkers alike seek out alternatives to booze, it’s clear these businesses need more than just a great mocktail to stay alive. But with trying times and relentlessly stressful news, the neighborhood watering hole serves a larger purpose of being a third space, and these bars are finding Angelenos willing to pay the premium for a well-balanced mocktail — as long as there’s a little something extra on the side.President Donald Trump said today that the United States will be leaving Iran very soon, giving a two to three week timetable.. Asked what he would do about it, Trump said:"All I have to do is leave Iran, and we'll be doing that very soon, and they'll become tumbling down."President Trump said on Tuesday that the United States will be leaving Iran very soon, giving a two to three week timetable.. Asked what he would do about it, Trump said:"All I have to do is leave Iran, and we'll be doing that very soon, and they'll become tumbling down."Trump also appeared to reverse previous promises about reopening the Strait of Hormuz. "We'll be leaving very soon. And if France or some other country wants to get oil or gas, they'll go up through the strait, the Hormuz Strait, they'll go right up there, and they'll be able to fend for themselves. I think it'll be very safe, actually, but we have nothing to do with that. What happens with the strait? We're not going to have anything to do with it," he said. Just on Monday, though, Trump offered this threat on social media over the strait reopening:"If for any reason a deal is not shortly reached, which it probably will be, and if the Hormuz Strait is not immediately 'Open for Business,' we will conclude our lovely 'stay' in Iran by blowing up and completely obliterating all of their Electric Generating Plants, Oil Wells and Kharg Island , which we have purposefully not yet 'touched.'"Iraqi authorities reported a foreign journalist was kidnapped in Baghdad Tuesday. It turned out to be an American freelance reporter, Shelly Kittleson,Iraqi security forces said they intercepted a vehicle that crashed and arrested one of the suspected kidnappers, but are stilling searching for the kidnapped journalist and other suspects."The State Department previously fulfilled our duty to warn this individual of threats against them and we will continue to coordinate with the FBI to ensure their release as quickly as possible," Dylan Johnson, the assistant secretary of state for global public affairs, He said Americans, including media workers, have been advised not to travel to Iraq and should leave the country. The statement did not condemn the kidnapping or express concern. Johnson said Iraqi authorities apprehended a suspect associated with Iran-backed Iraqi militia Kataib Hezbollah, believed to be involved in the kidnapping.organizations expressed deep concern. The Committee to Protect Journalists called on"Iraqi authorities to do everything in their power to locate Shelley Kittleson, ensure her immediate and safe release, and hold those responsible to account." Based in Rome, Kittleson has reported on Iraq, as well as Syria and Afghanistan, for years, according to Al-Monitor. Reporters Without Borders said she is"very familiar with Iraq, where she stays for extended periods."it is"deeply alarmed" by her kidnapping."We stand by her vital reporting from the region and call for her swift return to continue her important work," it said.U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made an undisclosed trip to the Middle East to visit troops over the weekend. He did not divulge the location for the troops' safety. "I spoke to Air Force and Navy pilots on the flight line who every day both deliver bombs deep into Iran, but also shoot down drones defending their base. Many had just returned from the skies of Iran and Tehran," he told reporters in a briefing Tuesday. He said he"witnessed an urgency to finish the job" and tried to draw a comparison with America's earlier drawn-out wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He said the U.S. is improving bunkers and layered air defenses as a priority to protect troops and aircraft. This comes after more than a dozen U.S. service members were injured, several severely, and U.S. aircraft were damaged in Iranian strikes on a base in Saudi Arabia last Friday. The Pentagon says 13 U.S. service members have been killed and 300 wounded in what it calls Operation Epic Fury. He repeated the administration's assertion that the U.S. is negotiating with Iran, despite Iranian officials' denial that talks are happening."In the meantime, we'll negotiate with bombs," Hegseth said."Our job is to ensure that we compel Iran to realize that this new regime, this regime in charge is in a better place if they make that deal."Countries denounced the killings of three U.N. peacekeepers in Lebanon this week as they met for an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council. "These are sadly not the only dangerous incidents faced by UNIFIL's courageous peacekeepers," Jean-Pierre Lacroix, the head of U.N. peacekeeping,Lacroix said initial findings suggested two Indonesian peacekeepers were killed Monday in a roadside explosion in southern Lebanon. A day earlier another peacekeeper from Indonesia was killed when a projectile hit a U.N. base, Lacroix said. Their deaths came as Israeli forces have invaded Lebanon, intensifying a second front in the war in the Middle East. Israel says it is targeting the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.Ahead of the Security Council meeting, Israel's ambassador to the U.N., Danny Danon, expressed condolences for the Indonesian peacekeepers' deaths.U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Mike Waltz paid tribute to the Indonesian peacekeepers and urged Security Council members not to jump to conclusions but to allow the U.N. to investigate.Meanwhile, Iran says it has arrested 46 people who were selling Starlink internet connections — one of the few ways that people in Iran have been able to connect to the global internet while authorities block communication. Starlink allows users to connect directly to the internet via satellite, bypassing government firewalls. "Extended digital isolation is bringing new challenges for Iranians, from expired domains and accounts to unpatched servers on a degrading national intranet," it said on X. Iran said it executed two people who had taken part in opposition activities as well as two citizens it accused of spying for the U.S. and Israel.Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday responded to news that Spain had closed its airspace to U.S. planes involved in the Iran war by lashing out at the NATO partner. In an, Rubio answered a question about whether the EU and NATO countries had"betrayed the U.S." by focusing on Spain, a NATO member who has publicly adopted a position opposing the war in Iran. Gas prices are displayed at a Mobil gas station on March 30, 2026 in Pasadena, California. The average price of one gallon of regular self-service gasoline rose to $5.99 today in Los Angeles County, climbing from $4.69 one month ago, amid the ongoing war with Iran."We have countries like Spain, a NATO member that we are pledged to defend, denying us the use of their airspace and bragging about it, denying us the use of our – of their bases," Rubio said. Earlier on Monday, Spain Defense Minister Margarita Robles said the country had closed its airspace to U.S. planes involved in the Iran war. It is unclear when the closure started — Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez had hinted at the measure during a parliamentary debate on March 25. The weekend the U.S. and Israel launched the attack on Iran, flight records showed at least 15 in-flight refueling planes leaving two jointly operated military bases in the south of Spain after not being allowed to provide support for the military action in Iran. Robles later confirmed the decision by the Spanish Government. That triggered a spat between President Trump and Spain's leadership the week after the war started. Trump said from the Oval Office that he would cut off all trade with Spain if the Spanish government did not allow U.S. forces to use the jointly operated bases. In response, Sánchez doubled down on his stance on the war in the Middle East. Sánchez has relied on his opposition to the war, making it his main platform at the domestic level. Sánchez's Socialist Party has struggled to keep a government coalition from breaking apart, as he faces pressure to keep his party's hopes alive ahead of a parliamentary election due in 2027.President Trump criticized France and the United Kingdom, among others, on his social media platform. "All of those countries that can't get jet fuel because of the Strait of Hormuz, like the United Kingdom, which refused to get involved in the decapitation of Iran, I have a suggestion for you: Number 1, buy from the U.S., we have plenty, and Number 2, build up some delayed courage, go to the Strait, and just TAKE IT," Trump Trump had asked allies for help after Iran largely blockaded the vital waterway, sending up oil and gas prices. But they have been hesitant to join in the war, with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer repeating again this week that Britain would not get involved. "You'll have to start learning how to fight for yourself, the U.S.A. won't be there to help you anymore, just like you weren't there for us. Iran has been, essentially, decimated. The hard part is done. Go get your own oil!" Trump's post concluded."wouldn't let planes headed to Israel, loaded up with military supplies, fly over French territory." and called the country"VERY UNHELPFUL."Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama on Tuesday posted an appeal for an end to war in the Middle East. "History has shown us time and again that violence only begets more violence and is never a lasting foundation for peace," he said on his official"An enduring resolution to conflict, including the ones we see in the Middle East or between Russia and Ukraine, must be rooted in dialogue, diplomacy and mutual respect — approached with the understanding that, at the deepest level, we are all brothers and sisters," he said. He said he was adding his plea to one made at the Vatican by Pope Leo during his Palm Sunday Mass, adding:"His call for the laying down of arms and the renunciation of violence resonated profoundly with me, as it speaks to the very essence of what all major religions teach." Carrie Kahn in Tel Aviv, Israel, Lauren Frayer in Beirut, Jennifer Pak in Shanghai, Emily Feng in Van, Turkey, Miguel Macias in Seville, Spain, Kate Bartlett in Johannesburg, Jane Arraf in Amman, Jordan, Quil Lawrence in New York, Giles Snyder, Michele Kelemen and Alex Leff in Washington contributed to this report.The Los Angeles region’s homelessness agency missed a Tuesday deadline to submit a federally required annual audit of the agency’s financial records, which could jeopardize its federal funding.LAHSA manages hundreds of millions in federal dollars for homelessness services across L.A. County. Missing the audit deadline could put that funding at risk. LAHSA officials say the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development — or HUD — seems understanding. LAist reached out to HUD for comment but hasn't received any.An outside auditor said LAHSA was supposed to turn over its financial statements around December but didn't submit them until March. The auditor's draft report also flags a"significant deficiency" in how LAHSA detects accounting errors — a finding LAHSA may contest.On Tuesday, LAHSA officials said the single audit would be filed within the next few weeks. LAHSA also said it has tapped accounting firm KPMG to overhaul its financial systems. The agency's interim CEO acknowledged that the current system"is not working at all."The Los Angeles region’s homelessness agency will miss a Tuesday deadline for submitting its federally required annual audit of the agency’s financial records, which could jeopardize its federal funding. LAHSA executives blamed the delay on a “perfect storm” of leadership changes and competing priorities within LAHSA’s finance department, including an L.A. County review of LAHSA’s “Our staff made a good-faith effort to meet the deadline,” interim CEO Gita O’Neill said at a LAHSA Commission meeting Tuesday. “However, over the past year, we've experienced several transitions. As a result, we could not get all the required materials to the auditors as quickly as needed.” Each year, LAHSA, like all non-federal agencies and organizations that get substantial federal dollars, is required to hire an outside auditor to determine whether it’s properly tracking and reporting the taxpayer funds it manages. LAHSA’s single audit report for last fiscal year was due March 31, nine months after fiscal year 2024-2025 ended. Earlier this month, LAHSA officials said Justin Measley, lead auditor for the firm CliftonLarsonAllen, had warned that LAHSA was months behind schedule turning over records. At a meeting Tuesday, Measley explained that because of LAHSA’s earlier delays, the firm would need at least an additional week to complete a quality-control review process.On Tuesday, LAHSA officials said the single audit will be filed “at the earliest possible opportunity,” within the next few weeks.LAHSA manages hundreds of millions of federal dollars each year, through grants from the U.S. Office of Housing and Urban Development, or HUD. O’Neill said the agency has been communicating with HUD officials regularly about the missed audit deadline and is “hoping for understanding.”“They seem amenable to our situation and to our stated timelines,” Lim said. “So, we are hopeful that this will be a good outcome, despite having missed the deadline.”Measley said LAHSA’s financial statements should have been turned over around last December, but LAHSA only submitted them this month, after blowing through multiple extended deadlines.He said he also previewed his firm’s findings, noting one “significant deficiency” in its draft report, related to LAHSA’s timeliness in detecting accounting errors. LAHSA could contest those findings, officials said. That would add additional back-and-forth between the homelessness agency and accounting firm before the audit report is ready to file. Justin Szlasa, a LAHSA commissioner who chairs the audit subcommittee, told LAHSA’s CEO he’s concerned that there was no time provided for LAHSA’s governing body to review the audit report. “Next year, we will absolutely do that,” O’Neill responded. “I think this year, we were under the gun, and so we felt it was the most important thing was to get it uploaded on time.” O’Neill said the agency hired accounting firm KPMG to help modernize LAHSA’s financial systems, with a focus on its contractor payments. “We have an outside, trusted voice to help us create a system that works going forward because the system we have is not working at all, in finance,” O’Neill said.If you're enjoying this article, you'll love our daily newsletter, The LA Report. Each weekday, catch up on the 5 most pressing stories to start your morning in 3 minutes or less.President Donald Trump has escalated his efforts to influence American elections, signing an executive order that the White House says seeks to create a list of confirmed U.S. citizens who are eligible to vote in each state and use the U.S. Postal Service to"verify" mail ballots are for voters.Trump has long railed — baselessly — about widespread illegal voting by noncitizens and mail voting fraud. The executive order comes as Trump's Justice Department is seeking sensitive voter data from states, and is engaged in more than two dozen lawsuits for that data. The administration claims it needs the data to enforce states' voter list maintenance. The order also comes as Trump pressures Republicans in Congress to pass the SAVE America Act, a sweeping election overhaul that would impose new voter identification and documentation requirements. That bill is stalled in the Senate due to Democratic opposition and the legislative filibuster.Trump said he believes the order is"foolproof." But election experts have already said the order — which was first reported by The Daily Caller — would face immediate legal challenges., signing an executive order that seeks to create lists of U.S. citizens who are eligible to vote in each state, and instructing the U.S. Postal Service to send mail ballots only to verified voters."This Executive Order is a disgusting overreach from the federal government and shows how little the Trump Administration understands about election administration," Adrian Fontes, the Democratic secretary of state of Arizona, said in a statement Tuesday."We will not let this order stand without a fight and will meet the federal government in court," he added. Arizona is among more than two dozen states Trump's Department of Justice has sued over access to sensitive voter data. The Trump administration claims it needs the data to enforce states' voter list maintenance. Federal judges in three states have dismissed the Justice Department's lawsuits in those states.that the department plans to share that voter data with the Department of Homeland Security, to run it through the so-called SAVE system to search for noncitizens.Trump has long railed — baselessly — about widespread illegal voting by noncitizens and fraud associated with mail ballots.It instructs the Department of Homeland Security, working in conjunction with the Social Security Administration, to"compile and transmit to the chief election official of each State a list of individuals confirmed to be United States citizens who will be above the age of 18 at the time of an upcoming Federal election and who maintain a residence in the subject State." The order then"requires the USPS to transmit ballots only to individuals enrolled on a State-specific Mail-in and Absentee Participation List, ensuring that only eligible absentee or mail-in voters receive absentee or mail-in ballots," according to a White House fact sheet. Trump's executive order claims that"additional measures are necessary" to secure voting by mail, a form of voting he has used himself —The Postal Service should also review the design of mail ballot envelopes to protect"the integrity of Federal elections," the order says. Collectively, the provisions would be a significant change to how mail ballot programs are currently administered in American elections, which are largely carried out by state and local officials. "Our government's citizenship lists are incomplete and inaccurate. The United States Postal Service is overburdened and inadequate. This combines a car crash with a train wreck," the Brennan Center for Justice, which advocates for expanded voting access and sued to block Trump's 2025 election executive order, said in a statement.that the order is likely unconstitutional. And regardless, he added,"the timing here makes this virtually impossible to implement in time for November's elections. … It seems highly unlikely any of this could be implemented for 2026, even if it were not blocked by courts." The order comes as Trump pressures Republicans in Congress to pass the SAVE America Act, a sweeping election overhaul that would impose new voter identification and documentation requirements. The Supreme Court is also expected to rule this year on whether Mississippi should be allowed to count mail ballots that are postmarked by Election Day but received by election officials after Election Day. The legal challenge, which could have sweeping implications for mail voting nationwide, was filed by the Republican National Committee and Trump's 2024 presidential campaign. Federal agents stand guard outside of a federal building and Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in downtown Los Angeles during a demonstration in June.Federal immigration officials arrested more than 14,000 people in the greater Los Angeles area in 2025 — the majority of whom had no criminal record, according to an LAist analysis of new data from the: In 2025, federal officials arrested 14,394 people, up from 4,681 the year prior. Forty-six percent of people arrested had criminal convictions, 15% had pending charges and 39% had no criminal charges or convictions.of the “worst of the worst” in the immigration raids that began in June, including"murderers, kidnappers, sexual predators and armed carjackers,” but haven’t published the details of the number of people who had criminal records.Federal immigration officials arrested more than 14,000 people in the greater Los Angeles area in 2025 — the majority of whom had no criminal record, according to an LAist analysis of new data from the The data project, an initiative between UCLA and UC Berkeley, publishes federal data obtained under the Freedom of Information Act. In 2025, federal officials arrested 14,394 people, up from 4,681 the year prior. Forty-six percent of people arrested had criminal convictions, 15% had pending charges, and 39% had no criminal charges or convictions., the Department of Homeland Security said it had arrested more than 10,000 people in the L.A. area since immigration raids began in June of last year, including"murderers, kidnappers, sexual predators and armed carjackers,” but did not publish details of the number of people who had criminal records. The data from the Deportation Data Project shows that arrests in L.A. spiked in June, and about two-thirds of people arrested that month had no criminal convictions.In a statement, a DHS spokesperson said the agency has not “verified the accuracy, methodology or analysis of the project and its results” and said “this only reveals how data is manipulated to peddle the false narrative that DHS is not targeting the worst of the worst.” The spokesperson said 61% of people ICE arrested across the country either had criminal convictions or pending charges. The agency has regularly published press releases identifying people they have arrested and who they have called “the worst of the worst,” including from the raids in L.A. in June. But anhas found that some of the people on those lists already has been in custody and were serving lengthy sentences.
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