As Los Angeles endures its annual summer heat wave, with temperatures soaring into the triple digits across the region, residents have increasingly turned to frozen and chilled beverages as a way to cool down. Local restaurants and bars have responded by expanding their menus to feature a variety of slushies, frozen cocktails, and other icy treats, offering a mix of both classic and innovative options.
From coffee and matcha slushies to exotic Thai tea blends and spicy ginger lemonades, the city’s beverage scene is embracing the demand for refreshing drinks year-round. For those seeking alcohol-infused choices, several establishments have reimagined iconic cocktails in frozen form, incorporating premium spirits such as small-batch mezcal, Belizean rum, and locally crafted ciders.
At Bar Flores in Echo Park, patrons can enjoy a paloma popsicle made with tequila, lime juice, and grapefruit soda. This $8 frozen treat has gained popularity among Dodgers fans and remains available throughout the year on the rooftop patio. In Venice, Belle’s Beach House offers tropical-inspired options such as the piña colada slushie—a blend of rum, pineapple, lime, and coconut juice garnished with a fresh orchid—and the tequila-based Maui Waui slushie featuring watermelon, mango, and mint.
Benny Boy Brewing in Lincoln Heights delivers a rotating selection of frozen ciders crafted from a blend of apples, sometimes themed for special events like Watermelon Fest or Halloween. Similarly, Broad Street Oyster Co. in Malibu pairs its seafood offerings with the Pirate Piña Cholada, a soju-based frozen cocktail with pineapple and coconut, alongside a rotating nonalcoholic frozen drink.
Italian-inspired frozen cocktails are also prominent. Capri Club in Eagle Rock serves a frozen negroni made with gin, sweet vermouth, and a bitter citrus blend, while De La Nonna in the Arts District offers a frozen aperol spritz, aligning with its Cal-Italian culinary focus. Due Fiori in Long Beach presents prosecco-based frozen drinks such as the Arancia and Rosso, both using Italian and California-crafted ingredients.
Mexican flavors are well represented with venues like Damian, owned by Mexico City chef Enrique Olvera, highlighting a frozen cocktail combining sotol—a desert spoon plant spirit—with kiwi, yuzu, and honey liqueur. Sherman Oaks’ Daisy Margarita Bar offers a frozen guacamole margarita mixing avocado, blanco tequila, and a house-made clarified clamato, garnished with a tortilla chip to emphasize its savory profile. El Cholo’s frozen coconut margarita, rimmed with toasted coconut flakes, remains a popular summer choice.
Several bars add distinctive touches to frozen beverages. Good Times at Davey Wayne’s in Hollywood features freshly crushed snow cones infused with spirits and syrups, served from a vintage machine housed in a camper truck. The Hideaway in Beverly Hills showcases a trio of popsicle cocktails in flavors like kiwi-prosecco-lime, mango-pineapple-tequila, and strawberry-mint gin blends.
These frozen drinks illustrate how Los Angeles’s diverse culinary landscape is adapting to the demands of extreme summer heat, offering residents and visitors both familiar and novel ways to stay cool. The creativity behind these frozen concoctions underscores the city’s dynamic food and beverage culture, which continues to evolve with changing tastes and seasonal needs.