There are restaurants built around food, and there are restaurants built around a feeling. Drake’s Hollywood is the second kind, and it makes no apologies about that. The room at 5007 W. Lovers Lane near Briarwood is dim in the way that costs money to achieve correctly — not dark, not moody in the self-conscious sense, just lit at the right level to make everyone in it look like they belong to a better decade. The crimson leather banquette booths that line the walls curve and scallop in a way that recalls early 1960s Las Vegas without winking at you about it.
The large horseshoe bar anchors the room the way a good bar should — everyone at it has a sightline and the bartender’s attention. Wall murals fill the space with celebrity caricatures that reinforce the Old Hollywood premise without turning the room into a theme park.
The concept is dry-aged steaks and cold martinis, which is either a simple idea or a complete worldview depending on how seriously you take both. Drake’s takes both seriously. The Filet Scarlet — the signature beef cut, served with a buffalo bleu cheese sauce and grilled shrimp — is the dish that most tables order at least one of, and the sauce is the detail that separates it from a standard filet: tangy, rich, and specific in the way that a house preparation should be. The sixteen-ounce New York strip with au poivre sauce holds its own alongside it. Beyond the beef, the kitchen runs Pasta ZaZa, a Honey Truffle Chicken, a French dip sandwich on a sweet eggy bun with rosemary jus, and the Vin Scully Fries topped with smoked cheddar, bacon, and ranch — named for the legendary Dodgers broadcaster and fully committed to the Hollywood through-line.
The Burrata Caprese has drawn specific attention for the quality of the tomatoes, which is the kind of detail that tells you the kitchen is paying attention to more than the steaks. The cocktail program runs a bleu cheese olive martini — house-made bleu cheese olives, fine vodka — that is the right first order in a room like this.
The experience shifts as the evening moves. Sunday nights bring live jazz, a piano and saxophone that play over the room rather than filling it to capacity. Thursday through Saturday nights move to DJ programming after 9 p.m. and the dining room transitions to 21-and-over — a detail worth knowing before you plan the night, and a deliberate choice that reflects what the room becomes when the dinner crowd gives way to the late crowd.
Business casual is the dress code and it is enforced with varying degrees of consistency, but the spirit of it is clear: this is a room where people dress up, and the experience is better when the person across from you has done the same.
Drake’s has since expanded to Houston and West Hollywood — three locations for a concept that works because it has a point of view rather than a demographic target. The Dallas location was first and remains the original. Private dining accommodates up to 45 for standing events and 36 seated. Reservations for parties of seven or fewer on OpenTable. Larger parties at events@drakeshollywood.com. Open daily 4 p.m. to 10 p.m., Friday and Saturday until 11 p.m. (214) 651-4114.
