Just in time for the weekend, Filling Stations is a weekly post that highlights one of Los Angeles’ destinations for craft beer, be it a bottle-shop with a great selection, a restaurant with great food to go with their beer list, or a bar serving excellent beers.

The Federal Bar

• Neighborhood: North Hollywood View Larger Map
• Type: Gastropub
• Yelp Page
• Selection: 4/5 Price: 4/5 Staff: 4/5

The Fed, as it is known to the locals, is a bar, pub, and music-venue at the north-end of the NoHo Arts District. Steps away from the end of the Metro Red Line and across the street from the Art Institute’s new building, the Federal offers a respectable tap-list of craft beers, a good bottle list, and a selection of gastropub-styled eats.

Run by The Knitting Factory, the Fed is situated in an old bank building built in the 1920s. The ambience is a cross between swanky lounge and neighborhood joint, and the dark wood, exposed brick, and tin ceilings of the main room make for a cool and comfortable vibe.

The beer list is rather deep, and it covers everything from Belgian imports to local SoCal beers. Glasses range from $5 to $7 and are served in nonic pints or snifters, and half-pint pours and taster flights are also available. On a recent lunch-visit they had both Eagle Rock Brewing Solidarity and Golden Road Brewing Hefe on tap. Their bottle-list focuses more on imports, with lots of classic UK beer available, as well as a few different Unibroue varieties. The full bar pours a stiff drink, and they even offer beer floats made with North Coast Brewing’s Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout!

The food offerings cover the standard gastropub bases: bar-food appetizers, gourmet burgers piled high with toppings, large salads, and a selection of flatbreads. What we have tried has been tasty and filling, and the prices are perfectly reasonable. There fries are particularly good, and they are covered in herbs, garlic, and parmesan cheese.

There are actually two bars on the ground floor, with the dance-floor equipped back-room opening up on weekends.  TVs are scattered around the main bar so you can catch the game, and The Federal regularly has live music and other performances on the upstairs stage. They also are beginning to host occasional beer tastings and brewery nights, the first of which features Firestone Walker at the end of June.

The North Hollywood neighborhood is changing fast. The new Laemmle Cinema just opened across the street from the AI and the Fed, and more restaurants and clubs seem to spring up every month. The Fed is the best craft beer destination in the neighborhood, and we hope to see them put on more beer-and-brewer related events in the future.