For 37 years, Mistral was the kind of room where longtime regulars kept house accounts. When new owners reopened it in August, they made the late seat at that same room the cheapest one. If you're seated between 9 and 9:30 p.m. on a weekday, the bill drops by 25%. Up the boulevard at 14633 Ventura, a 24-seat rum bar opened in October above Daisy Margarita Bar. It sells tables in 90-minute blocks and changes the room roughly every 45 minutes.
On paper, the two have little in common. One is a French bistro dating to 1988 and the other is a Mexican-rum bar with special effects. Both, though, schedule the evening for you. The best late night on Ventura Boulevard in Sherman Oaks now goes to whoever knows the windows.
Mistral's new owners priced the 9 p.m. seat
Henri Abergel opened Mistral at 13422 Ventura Blvd. in 1988 and ran it until he retired in 2025. Restaurateur Jonah Freedman, who also owns Greekman's in Silver Lake, took over in late 2025 with business partner and culinary director Josh Migdal. They kept the menu as it was for several months, closed briefly to refresh the room and the food, and reopened on Monday, August 10, as Eater LA reported.
The structural change is the "night owl" menu. Los Angeles Magazine reported that it needs no reservation and takes 25% off the bill for diners seated in a narrow window.
- Weekdays: seated between 9 and 9:30 p.m.
- Weekends: seated between 9:30 and 10 p.m.
Those windows fall at the tail end of dinner service. Mistral's OpenTable listing shows dinner from 5 to 9:15 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and from 5 to 10:15 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. The reasoning came from Freedman himself. "L.A. can be hard late at night," he told Los Angeles Magazine. "We really want to get people in that space later." He described the dining room as a space built "to transition into more of a drinking scene later in the evening."
What a late table at Mistral gets you
The reopening kept the dishes people remember. The French onion soup now comes topped with Comté grilled cheese. Escargots are still on the menu. Steak frites comes four ways: an 8-ounce hanger, an 8-ounce prime center-cut filet, a 14-ounce New York strip and a 24-ounce côte de boeuf for two.
Freedman told Eater LA that the kitchen now leans on acid. "Obviously, French food is very sauce-heavy," he said, so many dishes get finished with vinegars or lemon, lime or orange zest. Mussels come in a broth of sungold tomatoes and gewürztraminer. Larger plates include confit duck leg à l'orange and poached branzino with panzanella.
For a late table that's mostly about drinks, the full bar fits the hour. Sommelier Julia Djaoui runs the wine list. House cocktails include the Mistral, made with gin and lemon, and the Jaguar, made with tequila and amaro Montenegro. Martinis come three ways: classic, with onion brine, or espresso. Dessert covers a chocolate soufflé, berries and cream, and gianduja semifreddo.
The room got new custom red leather booths, artwork by French American painter Guy Buffet, glass chandeliers and warm wood paneling. Los Angeles Magazine pointed out an unofficial mascot, a pigeon printed on the plates and menus. It also reported that house accounts carried over for longtime diners.
Henri's is designed as the hour before and after
Freedman's plans for 13422 Ventura go further than the dining room. The jewel-box space attached to Mistral used to be a private dining room. It's planned as Henri's, a raw bar named after Abergel that will serve oysters and cocktails alongside raw and cooked seafood.
The idea is a two-room evening. "I love the idea of someone going and having a cocktail and some oysters over there and then coming next door for their reservation or vice versa," Freedman told Eater LA. Los Angeles Magazine added that Henri's is planned to turn into a cocktail bar later at night. With that addition, the address covers the whole evening: oysters before dinner, discounted seats at the end of service, and a bar for after.
Upstairs at 14633 Ventura, the clock is the show
Gilbert Pérez Bar takes the scheduled evening further. It opened Thursday, October 22, directly above Daisy Margarita Bar at 14633 Ventura Blvd. It's from the same team, and Eater LA reported that it had been in the works since Daisy opened in early 2025. Barman Max Reis runs the drinks. His business partner Matt Egan is a director of photography in film and television, and Eater placed the result "somewhere between a theme park and the Magic Castle."
You get in through a thick curtain at the rear of Daisy. Upstairs there are only 24 seats and no standing room. The bar's name comes from a legend Egan came across about Gil Pérez, a soldier said to have been carried by magic from the Philippines to Mexico City in the 1500s. The room acts the story out in timed "portals." Eater described the sequence:
- Guests are given a menu with a map of Mexico tracing the story, plus seven cocktails, not all of them rum-based.
- About every 45 minutes the lighting changes, a spiced mix of nuts and popcorn arrives, and three coordinated screens show the next location. There may be lightning, thunderclaps, dripping water or narration.
- A digital split-flap board above the bar, styled like an old train station display, announces each new destination.
- A server drops off a postcard menu of drinks built around that location's flavors and spirits.
The 90-minute table limit is built into that structure. Reis believes the time fits two to three portals, and he calls it a responsible window for drinks this strong, since some rums run over 54 percent ABV. The back bar holds more than 70 rums from small-batch producers across Mexico. Music is chosen by Pasaporte Records in Highland Park.
Reis' own cocktails include the Liquid Limpia, made with hoja santa, Oaxacan rum, sugar cane, lime and a Jalisco aperitif. His Paloma Fizz pairs grapefruit and tequila with a house soda that tastes like Squirt. If you'd rather keep it simple, you can order a daiquiri, ti' punch, mojito, Old Fashioned or Negroni with any Mexican rum.
The phone rule is strict. Eater reported that staff are trained to spot smart glasses as well as phones. Reis put it this way: "We want people's judgement and narrative to be their own."
Building one evening around both windows
Because the two rooms keep different hours, they combine better than they compete. Gilbert Pérez is open only three nights a week, and its tables start at 6 p.m. Mistral's discount begins after 9. Here are the times and rules for each:
- Gilbert Pérez Bar, 14633 Ventura Blvd.: Thursday 6 to 11 p.m., Friday and Saturday 6 p.m. to midnight. Reservations are required through Resy, tables last 90 minutes, and phones stay away.
- Mistral, 13422 Ventura Blvd.: dinner from 5 p.m. nightly. The night owl menu needs no reservation and covers seats from 9 to 9:30 p.m. on weekdays and 9:30 to 10 p.m. on weekends. Reservations can also be requested by email through Mistral's site.
On a Thursday, a 7 p.m. table upstairs at Gilbert Pérez ends around 8:30, which leaves time to get to Mistral before its 9 p.m. window opens. On a Friday or Saturday, a 7:30 p.m. table at Gilbert Pérez ends around 9, which leaves time before Mistral's 9:30 weekend window.
The same timing matters when a move is on the calendar. When we're coordinating a sale or purchase along Ventura Boulevard, we keep track of details like these for our clients, because a short list of what's open late on which nights comes in handy during a hectic week. If a plan for the next chapter is taking shape, Spitz Chavez Group is happy to talk it through. Contact Us.
