Okay, it isn't exactly a bar and there aren't actually any happy hour discounts, but sipping a Manhattan at sunset in the LEED platinum-certified California Academy of Sciences' Moss Room is lulling enough to rival well drinks at your favorite downtown dive. It opens half an hour after the museum closes, and sits pretty below the academy's "living roof," a lush canopy of plants accessible from the third floor. Most people come for the food — fresh organic California cuisine — but hanging out at the marble bar and admiring the stunning 28-foot-tall wall of dried moss, ferns, succulents, and grasses is another great way to pass the time. Squid-shaped lamps, a layered ceiling that works to diffuse noise, and a glassed-in private dining room that seats up to 15 add to the green-topian elegance. You might find yourself shelling out lots of dollars for an après-office cocktail (basic cocktails cost $12 to $15), but all the offerings — including a dizzying array of fine wines served in paper-thin glasses, separated on the menu into sustainable, organic, and biodynamic — and the sense that you've stumbled into a Disneyland ride for adults make the occasional visit well worth the splurge.

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