Buy Local, Santa Monica: Lanea’s canned cocktails have kept them in good spirits after a long year
May 28, 2021 9:00 AM
by Erin Taylor
Show your love for Santa Monica and help rebuild our local economy! When you Buy Local, every $10 spent at a Santa Monica business, as much as $7 stays in the community. For more local business specials, visit SantaMonicaShines.com.
For the latest installment in our Buy Local Santa Monica features, we caught up with co-owner Peter Trinh from Lanea, a cocktail bar and restaurant on Broadway.
Describe what your business does. What types of products/services do you offer?
Lanea is a cocktail bar with a hand-selection of over 400 Tequilas and Mezcals and authentic Mexican cuisine from Barbakush owner Petra Zavaleta, the “Barbacoa Queen of LA”. Lanea offers handcrafted cocktails that pair perfectly with our street tacos. Our tacos are made to work with handmade corn tortillas and topped with Petra’s seasoned ingredients, including her famous barbacoa lamb wrapped in agave leaves and pit-roasted underground for 36 hours.
Our cocktail program incorporates wellness-driven ingredients. Our food and beverage programs utilize a no-waste philosophy; for example, we use the stems from herbs to develop syrups for cocktails and bones from the barbacoa to make a consommé that is served with chipotle chickpeas.
What are some interesting facts about your business?
Fun fact: Lanea has one of the largest selections of Tequilas and Mezcals in the United States.
How did your business get started? And how has it evolved or grown over the year(s)? What is unique about the products/services you offer or fun facts to share?
We started our business in July 2019 with great success and popularity among locals and tourists from around the world. Everything was going very smoothly up until early 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic hit Southern California. We had to adapt with the changing times in order to survive. We started focusing heavily on to-go options like our food and drink picnic packs, at-home Tequila/Mezcal flights, and our hugely successful canned handcrafted cocktails. Our canned cocktails have been a big hit with the local community and continue to sell extremely well, even with indoor/outdoor dining returning recently.
Why did you decide to open your business in Santa Monica?
We had a great opportunity to rebrand and remarket an amazing venue location in the heart of downtown Santa Monica, located two blocks from the beach. Given I was one of the owners of The Craftsman Bar and Kitchen, I saw it as a great opportunity to open another experience in the area. I love Santa Monica and opening up venues is one way I can give back to this city that has crafted a majority of my life. Our vision was to bring East LA authentic Mexican food from Barba Kush to the Westside.
It has been a challenging year. What has helped you get through this difficult time?
Our canned cocktail business has been our savior. Canning our handcrafted cocktails has been widely popular and successful for our business. Our four canned cocktails for $20 deal has been really good for us and has kept us going during these tough times. We are so thankful for the support from our local community.
How can people support you and other local businesses?
We know times are tough on everyone right now, and we’ve priced our products accordingly. Our canned cocktails offer (four for $20) is still in place even with outdoor dining. We also have street tacos starting at only $2.50. Any support from our local community is immensely appreciated by local businesses like ours. Whether you are comfortable supporting local businesses in person or ordering for delivery, we’ve provided some great options to appeal to anyone’s preferences.
What do you hope for the future of our Santa Monica community?
We cannot wait for things to return to some sense of normalcy! We love the support we’ve had from our local community during the pandemic. We hope that the Santa Monica community will continue to be there to support their local businesses as they have been throughout the whole pandemic.
What do you want the community of Santa Monica to know about you and your business?
We are so grateful to our local community for supporting us through these tough times. We’ve been lucky enough to stay open through the pandemic because of our community. We are a minority-owned business with a goal of bringing happiness to our community through great drinks, amazing service, and unique food, from East Los Angeles, by way of Puebla, Mexico, to the heart of Downtown Santa Monica.
What is your favorite Santa Monica business?
Can we say Lanea? LOL. Our ownership group also has a new venue called Cult located at 1460 Third Street Promenade serving food, coffee and cocktails. Come check it out sometime :)
Is there anything else you want to share?
Lanea has been named "One of East LA’s Best Underground Tacos Comes to a Bright Santa Monica Cocktail Bar" by Eater LA, “Best Mexican Food on the Westside” by The Infatuation and “Best Bar in LA” from Thrillist.
Lanea
217 Broadway
Santa Monica, CA
Open Monday 5pm-9pm, Tuesday-Thursday 5pm-9pm, Friday 4pm - 10pm, Saturday 11am - 11pm and Sunday 11am - 9pm and Sunday Brunch 11am-4pm.
424-265-PIER (7437)
Authored By
Erin Taylor
Senior Marketing Manager