L.A.’s Arts District As You’ve Never Seen It Before

Opened in December of 2015, this huge, 15,000 square foot Arts District temple to craft beer has its own 15-barrel brewhouse that can produce over 3,000 barrels of beer per year. It’s a welcome addition to a town that’s not known for outstanding beer, and earned itself further accolades with the appointment of Devon Randall, a Great American Beer Festival winner and mainstay of San Diego’s already established craft beer scene. The beer hall-style space is a local hangout for more than just the stouts, golden ales and IPA’s on tap, though. There’s an entertainment center, where guests can partake in bar games like ping pong, darts and skeeball (played on 10 restored skeeball machines); and sharing the building is its sister restaurant, skeeball (played on 10 restored skeeball machines); and sharing the building is its sister restaurant, Fritzi, which serves elevated pub food (fish and chips battered in Arts District Brewing Co.’s Mateo beer; a chicken confit sandwich with frisee, muenster and black garlic aioli) from chef Neal Fraser in a high-ceilinged, industrial-inspired space.

Originally launched in 2013 by interior designers Kristan Cunningham (host of HGTV’s “Design on a Dime”) and Scott Jarrell, the showroom recently underwent an expansion, reopening last year with a design studio and retail space, adding over 4,000 additional square feet to their existing space in a historic brick building. The success of Hammer and Spear is a testament to the Arts District’s recent growth, acting as a source for new, incoming residents who are seeking to decorate their loft apartments with one-of-a-kind pieces. And with the extra room, Hammer and Spear have added inventory from local L.A. designers like ceramicist Jonn Coolidge and furniture designer Sabin Ousey, as well as an array of high-end home goods ranging from candles by Mad et Len to tumblers and carafes from Teroforma.