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Welcome to the home of the DISCOS, the Metro Sessions Best of LA Nightlife awards! Each year, people in the Metro Sessions community and beyond choose the best people, places, and events in LA nightlife, and we call it the DISCOS (named after the disco ball trophy that winners receive.) Similar to the LA Weekly readers poll, Metro Sessions allows anyone to nominate their favorites in 9 categories before narrowing the pool to 5 nominees and open voting up to all. In 2024, we set up our first ever DISCOS across 8 categories and awarded the “DISCOS” discoball trophies to who were voted the best. Now, the DISCOS are an annual event that starts with a nomination form in November and an awards show in January.
2025 Winners
In 2025, we had 116 nomination forms submitted and 898 votes cast and found these excellent winners! (Those marked with an * were previous winners in the category.)
Best Bartender
Winner: YAEL, VERDUGO BAR
SYDNEY, THE OFFBEAT
BLES, DE LA PLAYA RECORDS & LEISURE*
MAX, MELODY LOUNGE
ABBY, THE MERMAID
Best Happy Hour
Winner: MELODY LOUNGE
THE MERMAID*
KOMBU SUSHI
THE OFFBEAT
THIRSTY CROW
Best Dinner Spot
Winner: DONNA’S
Best Place to See Live Music
Winner: LODGE ROOM*
PERMANENT RECORDS ROADHOUSE
THE OFFBEAT
THE STOWAWAY
TERAGRAM BALLROOM
Best Ongoing Party
Winner: MOTOWN ON MONDAYS, THE SHORT STOP
SADE NIGHT, GENERAL LEE’S*
DANSE X, MONTY BAR
MILKCRATE MONDAYS, MELODY LOUNGE
PARTYLINE, VARIOUS
Best Place to Go Dancing
Winner: LA CITA*
ZEBULON CAFÉ
THE SHORT STOP
GENERAL LEE’S
THE OFFBEAT
Best Karaoke DJ
Winner: KISSER, VIP KARAOKE, MELODY LOUNGE*
RICARDO, VARIOUS
THALIA, SIP N SING, THE OFFBEAT
KT, HEAVY KARAOKE, FOOTSIE’S
CHLOE, MORRISSEY OKE, EASTSIDE LUV
Best Late Night Food
Winner: AVE 26 TACOS*
FAT SAL’S
DTLA BODEGA
ASTRO FAMILY RESTAURANT
ORIGINAL TOMMY’S
Best Dive Bar
Winner: THE DRAWING ROOM
2025 Awards Info
We chose categories that are popular amongst those in the Metro Sessions community. In 2025, we are adding one more very in-demand category, making 9 total categories for nominees. Those categories are:
BEST BARTENDER
BEST HAPPY HOUR
BEST DINNER SPOT
BEST KARAOKE DJ
BEST PLACE TO SEE LIVE MUSIC
BEST ONGOING PARTY
BEST PLACE TO GO DANCING
BEST LATE NIGHT FOOD
NEW! BEST DIVE BAR
Nominations opened November 15th and on December 1st, the nominees were announced and voting opened.
We presented the Discos at the awards show on Tuesday, January 13th at The Offbeat with Memito’s Taquitos doing the food and DJ Questions co-hosting.
About the DISCOS: Guidelines & Rules
Please note that we are still focusing on central LA areas for this second year, as those areas are ones where Metro Sessions currently hosts events and where our community tends to congregate, namely:
- NELA (including Atwater Village and Pasadena)
- Westlake/Koreatown
- Echo Park/Silver Lake
- East Hollywood/Hollywood/Los Feliz
- Chinatown/Downtown
- East LA/Boyle Heights/City Terrace
- West Hollywood/Sunset Strip/Mid-Wilshire
This is a pure readers poll, and we will count any and all eligible votes. That means that the rules are few and the policing is minimal.
- Each email address can submit 1 nomination form and 1 voting ballot. In the event of multiple submissions, the first submission will be counted. You are able to edit your submission from the confirmation link sent to your email after submitting.
- Nominees must be active and in the venues nominated. If a bartender, karaoke DJ, or party you’re nominating happens in multiple places, opt for the one you prefer, or better yet, ask the organizer which venue they prefer.
That’s it! Please have fun and take this time to show some love to your nightlife favorites, especially those who work behind the scenes and don’t get a lot of FYC seasons for the great job that they do. Feel free to email us if you have questions about the poll or check out the FAQ below for details. Thank you so much, Angeleños, and I can’t wait to see what you pick!
Xoxo,
Heather aka Hdubs
Community Manager, Metro Sessions
FAQ
- Can I vote more than once? – Each email can vote 1 time, and we will use the first submission from each email address. Beyond that, there are no rules!
- Can I campaign for a nominee that I really like, including myself? YES! You are highly encouraged to get people to vote for yourself or others.
- Can I nominate myself or my organization? Yes! Absolutely allowed.
- What’s the last day I can nominate someone? November 30th before voting opens on December 1st and goes until 2026! The top 5 nominees in each category will be posted at the top of this website and social media on December 1st.
- How long will voting be open? Voting will be open all of December.
- Why is it called the DISCOS? The name the DISCOS comes from the disco ball trophies that are awarded to our winners.
- When are the winners announced? On Tuesday, January 13th at The Offbeat. We’ll announce the winners at an awards party during happy hour followed by karaoke. You can follow us at @metrosessions on Instagram or sign up for our email list at www.metrosessions.live/contact
- Why does Metro Sessions host this readers poll anyway? I was inspired to take this on both as a person who is passionate about local businesses and as a frequent traveler who loves to go out in other towns. Massive annual readers poll lists like the one conducted by INDY Week and Baltimore magazine are so helpful to visitors and so fun for local folks to participate in, because they let locals show you what they REALLY love without all the hype and influencing. I hope that you will do the same for the people and places that make LA nights so fun!