Thunderbolt
Mike Capoferri keeps 25 Madeiras on the backbar and pours one from the 1960s. He spins the Martini in a centrifuge.
Why go
Capoferri grew up in Atlanta and opened here in late 2019, on Temple Street where Historic Filipinotown runs into Echo Park. I wanted to open a bar with a southern flair and to turn some of the flavours that I grew up with into drink format,
he told 50 Best.2 The kitchen cooks Southern food and the whole menu is gluten-free, which Caitlin White read as another nod to Atlanta.4
The Madeira list is the thing to plan around. There are 25 of them, the oldest pour is from the 1960s, and the menu carries a map of the route the wine took to reach America. Capoferri's reason: Madeira was such an important product to the culture there, it was the luxury wine at the time and created wine culture in the South.
3
The World's 50 Best Bars named Thunderbolt its Campari One To Watch in 2021. The same year it entered the extended list at No. 61.2
Order this / avoid
- Order: the Tart Cherry Thunderbolt. Overproof Jamaican rum, tart cherries and mint, named after a small community in Georgia near where Capoferri grew up.2
- Order: a Madeira, and read the map while you drink it.3
- Avoid: Tuesday. The bar is dark.1
What locals & experts say
- InsideHook, Caitlin White, 30 June 2023:
Bartenders understand bars, and there's a reason why Mike Capoferri's Thunderbolt is a favorite among LA's bar staff who know where to find not just a fantastic drink, but an even better atmosphere.
4 - The World's 50 Best Bars, 2021: Campari One To Watch, and a new entry at No. 61 on the 51-100 extended list.2
Good to know
- Timing: Monday, Wednesday and Thursday 5pm to midnight, Friday and Saturday 5pm to 1am, Sunday from 2pm. Closed Tuesday.1
- Booking: taken for parties up to nine. Ten or more goes through the events address.1
- Getting there: West Temple Street, between Historic Filipinotown, Echo Park and downtown.1
Jeff's take (his words)
- Note (Jeff, saved 31 March 2022): "Dave arnold feature"
Verdict
should-visit — Capoferri put 25 Madeiras on a backbar in Historic Filipinotown and built the drinks list around a fortified wine most bars keep one bottle of. The World's 50 Best Bars gave him its Campari One To Watch in 2021 and the room entered the extended list at No. 61 the same year. Bar staff drink here, which InsideHook says plainly. It sits a rung below the top because the food half is undescribed at every source read, and because Jeff's own note points somewhere nothing published can follow.