壹The journeyEvery great drink has a long road behind it.

Two bartenders took very different roads to the same bar.

This is how Double Dragon came together.

貳Knoxville, TennesseeShawn Lickliter came out of Tennessee, a touring musician with ten years on the road.

The road ended in Los Angeles. Between gigs he washed dishes, waited tables and worked the bar.

A part-time job in a wine and spirits shop did the rest. Whiskey had him.

Then he ran the bar at Bouchon, Thomas Keller's restaurant in Beverly Hills, for about four years.

叁Hong Kong to Los AngelesVay Su was born in Hong Kong and raised in Los Angeles.

He spent more than fifteen years behind the bar, building drinks from the classics with a quiet nod to Asian flavors and the kitchen.

He won the Maker's Mark Bartender Cup and the WhistlePig competition, and Heaven Hill named him Bartender of the Year.

肆République, Los AngelesThey met at République.

Shawn rose to bar director for chefs Walter and Margarita Manzke. Vay became lead bartender.

In 2022 Tales of the Cocktail ranked République's program among the top ten in the country, and Manzke earned the Michelin Guide's Exceptional Cocktails Award.

伍2021In 2021 they started talking about a bar of their own.

They didn't know what it would be, or where it would be.

So they spent three years learning ownership, and saying no to rooms that weren't right.

陸The nameThey had no room yet, so they took a name together: Double Dragon.

It came from the classic video game where two brothers fight crime in a post-apocalyptic city. Shawn and Vay became the dragons together.

Their pop-ups poured the Los Angeles they knew, from the San Gabriel Valley to K-Town, with flavors they found in Japan, Taiwan, China, Vietnam and Thailand.

柒Hillhurst AvenueThen the right room turned up, in Los Feliz.

1966 Hillhurst Ave, December 5, 2025Vandell opened with partners Matthew Glaser and Michael Francesconi of Park Hospitality.

Lines formed the first week, and the name on the door honors Vandell Griffith, longtime curator of Griffith Park.

The Los Angeles Times called it L.A.'s hottest bar.