Bars

Happy hour is getting happier, and that's making restaurants sadder. As the recession drags on, drinkers such as Luis Romero of Anaheim are gravitating to happy hour -- that late-afternoon period when bars and restaurants sell discounted drinks and food to attract customers during what otherwise would be a slow time. "You start watching your pennies a bit more," said Romero as he sipped a $3.

Last summer, the tranquil English village of Kentisbeare woke up to find a dagger piercing its heart. The man who ran the neighborhood pub, the Wyndham Arms, had decided to call it quits. Hit by hard times, he locked up one evening and never came back, leaving the village bereft of its "local," the watering hole down the road where, for more than 200 years, the good folk here could always drop in for a pint, a pie or a piece of gossip.

Gone are the red carpet and the luxury accommodations, at least for a while. Film director Roman Polanski will probably remain in prison for several months as he fights deportation to the U.S. in a three-decade-old sexual assault case. His Swiss attorney, one of the country's top criminal lawyers, filed a request in court today that Polanski be set free while his extradition case winds its way through the judicial system. But such releases are rare for nonresidents in Switzerland, who are generally deemed to be flight risks.

Todd Camp and some friends had just marked the 40th anniversary of the police raid on New York's Stonewall Inn by screening a documentary on the historic gay riots and then heading for drinks at the Rainbow Lounge. Camp remembered looking across the bar, packed with gay and some straight couples, and marveling how much times had changed since Stonewall -- the spark that ignited the gay rights movement. And then the police came.

They boo Magic Johnson in Santa Monica. They also sell green T-shirts that read "Beat L.A." Not that anybody needs one. Just about everybody packed into Sonny McLean's for Game 2 of the NBA Finals is already wearing Celtics green. And it's standing room only at this Irish pub, a small slice of Causeway Street, right here on Wilshire Boulevard. This might be the toughest place in L.A. for a sportswriter who grew up a Lakers fan.

Police officials on Tuesday fired 17 officers here in connection with a botched raid on a bar last week that triggered a stampede, leaving a dozen people dead. The firings came as newly released video footage showed police officers blocking exits as hundreds of young patrons tried to flee. The bar's owners were suspected of serving alcohol to minors.

The day winds down; you're meeting friends for drinks. So why not sip that cool concoction of gin, cucumber and mint outside? With so many alluring outdoor bars around town, you could choose a different one every week until September. Here are our top picks. Best Drinks The backyard at the W hotel: Beside a trickling pebbled fountain and a pool ringed by posh cabanas, Westwood's Backyard bar mixes a mean cocktail. Steph's Berry Saintsation hits the not-too-sweet spot with St.

YOUR favorite bar got you down lately? The miasma of dismal parking opportunities along the Canter's-dominated stretch of Fairfax Avenue has had you circling the Dime more times than you'd care to count. The last time you cozied up to the bartender at Frank 'n Hank's in Koreatown, a dart whizzed by so close to your ear that you could have come away with an unintended piercing.

Nathan Kaye doesn't need to check the weather forecast before getting dressed for work. Regardless of whether it's going to be 60 or 110 degrees, he pulls on ski boots, a winter parka and gloves. Even then, within minutes of starting his shift, his ears and his nose are bright red. "They're numb," Kaye says with a laugh as he pours ice-cold vodka into a glass made of ice and sets it atop the bar, which is also made of ice. A customer takes her drink to a nearby couch, also carved out of ice.

Have you ever fantasized about Burt Reynolds wearing an unzipped tracksuit top with no shirt on underneath? Does that fantasy include him leaning toward you with a look of simmering lust to say that he wants you to have his baby? If your answer is yes, then you can finally realize your dream in the ladies' room of a new truck-stop-themed bar in Silver Lake called Stinkers. No, Reynolds doesn't hang out there.