The Falcon arrived in Burbank in 2009 and immediately became the bar that the city's creative community -- writers, directors, producers, actors -- adopted as their unofficial after-work headquarters. Thirteen years later, that status has only solidified.
The space is the first achievement: dark wood, leather banquettes, Edison bulbs that manage to be warm without the usual hipster self-consciousness, and a bar long enough to seat a real crowd and small enough that the bartenders can acknowledge you within sixty seconds of arrival. The patio, strung with lights and furnished with worn-in furniture, is one of the better outdoor drinking spots in the San Fernando Valley.
The cocktail program is the second achievement. The Falcon Negroni -- house-infused botanist gin with Campari and sweet vermouth, over a single oversized ice cube with a properly expressed orange peel -- is the benchmark. The old fashioned is made with Buffalo Trace, Demerara sugar, and Angostura, served exactly as cold as it should be.
The food program has refused to be an afterthought. The smash burger -- two thin beef patties smashed on a griddle, American cheese, caramelized onion, pickles, and special sauce on a Martin's potato roll -- is as good as any bar burger in Burbank. The Falcon is the answer to the question of what Burbank's bar culture is capable of when taken seriously.
