2014 RH 25: 1933 Group

From left: Dmitry Liberman, Dimitri Komarov and Bobby Green

Los Angeles

Annual Sales: $12 million

Units: 7

Key Personnel:
• Bobby Green, cofounder, president and designer
• Dimitri Komarov, cofounder and president
• Dmitry Liberman, president

SINGLE CONCEPTS:
• Bigfoot Lodge (whiskey bar)
• Bigfoot West (whiskey bar)
• Thirsty Crow (whiskey bar)
• Oldfield’s (classic cocktail bar)
• La Cuevita (Mexican bar)
• Sassafras (Southern bar)
• Harlowe (cocktail bar)

UPCOMING PROJECTS:
• Idle Hour (restoration of a bourbon barrel-shaped building)
• Highland Park Bowl (music venue and bowling alley)

WHY IT’S COOL: Many trends start in California and head east. So when the 1933 Group began doing craft cocktails in really unique L.A. spaces 15 years ago, it was a safe bet that other bars across the country would cherry pick the idea. Each 1933 Group location is a destination—a place to walk in and immediately be fully transplanted into a different era. While the word “theme” can conjure images of cheesy motif, 1933’s bars are high on design and have their own unique premise. Think old, handmade beer taps, nickel hardware and timeless flooring. For Sassafras, the group deconstructed an old home in Savannah, GA, and rebuilt it in L.A. Harlowe features a soda fountain from the 1800s. All the design elements the company sources are vintage, from the door jambs to the fixtures. 1933’s originality extends past the aesthetics and into the drink lists as well; micro-batch whiskeys are carefully sourced and craft ryes and bourbons litter the shelves behind the bar. There’s no velvet rope at these places—feel free to come as you are—but the dedication to mixology is clear. Oh, and 1933 Group proudly takes credit for making Pabst Blue Ribbon the current go-to choice for hipsters everywhere. Komarov says the group had the first rockabilly bar that tapped into PBR and soon others followed.

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