In the '80s, Sam Lanni brought Black Flag, Sonic Youth, 10,000 Maniacs and the Meat Puppets to Huntington Beach before the man shut down his club over a single complaint. Fortunately, you can't keep a good punk down: The anti-establishment legend has cut his way through the bureaucratic jungle (even the Department of Fish and Game had to approve him) to reopen Safari Sam's in Hollywood.

Visiting Safari Sam's is like seeing Nic Harcourt's morning show come to life. One night, it's cabaret dancers, plate spinners and fire eaters. Another night, it's ear-popping punk blasted at 4,000 kilowatts. Mixing performance art, vaudeville theatrics, academic lectures and a musical lineup seemingly ripped from music producer Rick Rubin's iPod might seem like a recipe for chaos, but booking agent and former child actor Patrick Llewellyn somehow manages to juggle these eclectic elements with as much pizzazz as the circus performer working the crowd. Upstairs, indie-lectuals dine, enjoy works by local artists and check out books under—we kid you not—the honor system. The late-night-fare food is actually good, thanks to Cordon Bleu chef Michael Wynsen. Since the spot doubles as a restaurant, almost all of the shows are all-ages. LA art scene one; OC zero. —Jon Sattler