Distillery Tours Near the Hollywood Walk of Fame

If you've spent the morning walking the Hollywood Walk of Fame and you're looking for something to do that isn't another wax museum or souvenir shop, there's exactly one working distillery within walking distance: Hollywood Distillery, on Santa Monica Boulevard, about fifteen minutes south on foot. A copper still, a tasting flight, and a story about why this neighborhood went a hundred years without making the spirits it's famous for drinking.

The Walk of Fame is most travelers' anchor point in Hollywood — a one-and-a-half-mile stretch along Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street with more than 2,700 brass-and-terrazzo stars set into the sidewalk. It's worth seeing once. It's also a thirty-minute experience max, and the surrounding blocks deliver mostly the same eight tourist categories: souvenir, T-shirt, wax figure, costumed character, food court, ride-share waiting area, repeat. Adults looking for an actual thing to do after the photo at the Roosevelt usually have to leave the immediate area. The good news is, you don't have to leave by much.

What's walking distance from the Walk of Fame

If you draw a fifteen-minute walking radius from the heart of the Walk of Fame (Hollywood and Highland), you'll capture the El Capitan Theatre, Madame Tussauds, the TCL Chinese Theatre, the Hollywood Roosevelt, and a handful of bars and restaurants along Sunset Boulevard. Push the radius south to twenty minutes, and you'll reach Hollywood Distillery on Santa Monica Boulevard — the only working distillery in Hollywood, and the only place in the immediate area where you can watch spirits actually being made.

Most visitors don't realize there's a distillery within walking distance because Hollywood, the neighborhood, has been importing its spirits for a hundred years. Prohibition emptied the city's distilleries; the regulatory environment that followed kept them out. Hollywood Distillery opened in 2025 in a 1920s warehouse — originally a working mortuary — and is the first to bring active distillation back to the neighborhood since the 1920s.

How to get there from the Walk of Fame

From the heart of the Walk of Fame at Hollywood and Highland:

• Walk: Head south on Highland Avenue. After about half a mile, turn left (east) onto Santa Monica Boulevard. Continue another half mile. Hollywood Distillery is on the right at 5975 Santa Monica Blvd, directly across from Hollywood Forever Cemetery. Total: roughly fifteen to twenty minutes on foot, mostly downhill.
• Metro: Take the Metro B (Red) Line two stops east from Hollywood/Highland to Hollywood/Vine, then walk fifteen minutes south. Or one stop further east to Hollywood/Western, also a fifteen-minute walk south.
• Bus: The #4 bus runs along Santa Monica Boulevard and stops a block from the distillery.
• Rideshare: Five to ten minutes depending on traffic. Drop-off is at street level with an ADA ramp.

What you'll see on the tour

The standard tour runs about sixty minutes, with group size capped at twelve guests. You'll move through five spaces — the grain room, the fermenters, the still, the bottling line, and the tasting room — guided by someone who can answer "why copper?" without flinching. The tour ends with a tasting flight of all four production spirits, side by side.

What you'll taste:

• Oasis Vodka. Distilled from California dates rather than grain — soft, slightly floral, distinctly different from any wheat or potato vodka you've had.
• Nopalera Gin. Built on prickly pear, juniper, and California citrus. Brighter and more Western than a London Dry.
• Zanja-Madre Bourbon. Aged in new American oak, named for the original water channel that fed early Los Angeles.
• Zanja-Madre Rye. The bourbon's spicier sibling.

Building it into a Walk of Fame day

A practical itinerary that uses the Hollywood Distillery tour as the centerpiece of an afternoon:

The tour books up on weekends, especially during peak tourist season (March–October). Reserve in advance.

Plan your visit

Address: Hollywood Distillery, 5975 Santa Monica Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90038. Look for the wall of factory-glass windows and the gold HD circle above the door, directly across from Hollywood Forever Cemetery.

Tour days: Thursday through Sunday. Private tours for groups of 10+ are available any day of the week by appointment. Current hours and tour start times are listed on the booking page.

Tickets: $30 per guest. ~60 minutes. Tasting flight included. All ages welcome.

Parking: Small paid lot directly across the street, plus metered street parking on Santa Monica Boulevard.

Frequently asked

Where to next

For more on what to expect inside, our visitor guide walks through the practical details. To learn how the building became a distillery, read our story. Or skip ahead and browse the spirits — Oasis Vodka, Nopalera Gin, and the Zanja-Madre whiskeys.