Formosa Cafe is one of the oldest bars in the city, with more Hollywood history than the bathrooms at The Beverly Hilton. Bugsy Siegel would stash his mobster money in a safe below his regular table, and John Wayne once famously made himself eggs in the kitchen after a night of scotch. The lore of this red and jade-bathed Chinese spot that dates back to 1939 is enough to charm tourists and locals, and the main reason why a casual night of drinks and snacks at Formosa is still good old-fashioned fun. After a brief shutter, an ownership change, and a massive renovation, Formosa reopened in 2019 as a maximalist ode to Chinese Hollywood, with fluorescent lighting, red lanterns, and black and white headshots lining the walls. It’s a Russian doll of dining spaces, too, with three separate bars, a spacious rooftop, and a repurposed trolley car where you and your friends can cram in to eat dumplings and wings. Formosa’s Chinese-America menu and poolside-esque drinks aren’t groundbreaking, but they are general crowd-pleasers. The classics taste more refined than your typical takeout order, like the orange chicken coated in bittersweet housemade sauce, a balanced crispy beef loaded with ginger, and a gut-heavy crab rangoon dip that would kill on as a snack on game day. Pair anything with a few sweet green tea martinis and pineapple-heavy Mai Tais, and you’ll be content sinking into Formosa’s well-worn red booths for as long as possible.