Carleo’s Lounge & Night Club

This is a nice place, I’ve only been in here twice and both times were to watch live comedy shows so my review is a bit skewed. I’m more a Barley’s type guy, but it’s nice to get out to a tad more upscale joint now and then. This place is long and narrow, not a lot of room really to sit. Has nice brick walls and a lovely, long bar to sit at. They do have a TV and a big screen on the wall. The staff seemed very friendly and welcoming. Sierra Nevadas were five bucks, they had Coors Light for 1.75 till ten, not bad at all. I’m sure this place is hopping on a weekend when all the students are in town.

This is a bar with a tiny dance floor. It is actually fun but the dj seems to play old and outdated songs. I mean, they still release new music. Being here reminds me of middle school.
The crowd seemed fun but its a decent place to gang out with your friends.
Highs: The drinks are fairly priced and some songs are catchy enough to two-​step.
Lows: You can buy a drink at any bar… The playlist here made me two-​step my way out of the establishment.

My friends and I stopped in here last night for, what us older people call, «late night drinks,» a.k.a. 10:30 pm. The young, burley man at the door was soft spoken and very nice to us and seemed genuinely happy to see some «older» people come to the establishment.
The outside of the building was quiet, which impressed me simply because the bar next door was so loud standing outside, you had to shout to each other to hear.
Once inside, the lounge was clean, open and the lighting was good. Plenty of room to dance. The large screen was showing music videos, which I remember used to be a big deal. The volume of the music was not too loud so we decided to stay.
The bartender was asked to make us a drink, surprise us if you will. Not having the wherewithal to read the age of our group, she hands us a fizzy, overly sweetened, college frat party vodka drink. I suppose we did ask for a surprise.
One of our friends ran his credit card without us knowing — I protested and handed the young woman my card. We decided to leave after the drink, not because it wasn’t fun, but because we were just tired. A new girl came to cash us out but when I asked where my friends original slip was, she simply said, «it’s fine don’t worry about it.»
Nope. I asked again. She was very rude and very condescending. Insisting she didn’t have to show me that his card had been discarded, I asked again. I finally got her to show me, and guess where it was? In her receipt cup — still open charged and not signed. Well, well. Her attitude was significantly worse at this point.
As I left, I was obviously very angry. The young man at the door was very upset that we were unhappy. I walked my group back to their condos, and returned to speak with Dewaye Carleo myself.
He walked over with me to the lounge, brought the bar manager outside to speak with me, ran all the credit cards for the night and assured me that the open card would not be charged and that he would reprimand the very rude girl behind the bar — immediately.
I have read some bad reviews of this establishment. You cannot control all of your employees, especially when you own that many bars. But this man was available and approachable and willing to listen and take responsibility for his employees poor attitude.
I will send people to this lounge and give them Melissa’s name at the bar. The others, I cannot vouch for but I can say that I was impressed with the swift actions and welcoming presence of the owner and bar manager and door man.

On my first visit to Old Town Knoxville we had to do a bar hop. My friend wanted to meet some people at Carleo’s so off we went. I could hear the music playing before we even got near.
Things I liked:
— no problem from the door guy. But then, I’m a lady (term used very loosely)
— I can dig the mix of hip-​hop tunes they were playing
— Love bars that have the videos playing, even if some of them did look like they were filmed while sitting in front of a tube TV that was playing the video…
— Got my drinks pretty fast considering the amount of people jammed into that place
— Snagged a table when some people left. Take that suckas!
— Apparently missed Affliction DB night… luckily
Things I didn’t like:
— TOO FUCKING PACKED — mainly full of drunken coeds but also drunk people that know better. I don’t mind drunk (because I also was drunk) but please be able to stand/​hold your beer/​keep from walking into me)
— Tiny ass dance floor
Verdict? A-​OK.

D-​Bag City!
If there was a way to give negative stars, I would for Carleo’s in Knoxville’s Old City. Before we even entered, I thought to myself, «This is not a good idea.» I was right. I should have known the type of experience we were going to have when we were trying to enter and were cut off by a group of «popped collars» that basically just pushed us out of the way. I have never been treated like that and I totally agree with Josh C. when he said in his review, «I haven’t seen that many Affliction shirts since the last UFC fight I went to.»
As if that didn’t make us want to immediately turn around and go somewhere else, we received THE WORST SERVICE I have ever experienced. It wasn’t overly packed at that point in the evening, but it was extremely difficult to get a drink. I’ve been in plenty of packed bars where you have to battle to get the bar tenders attention, but I’ve never been flat out ignored and I’m a nice person! I don’t yell or wave dollars in their face like some, but I digress. When I say ignored, I don’t mean busy bartenders trying to do their job. I mean they take the order of everyone else around you and then go socialize with you left standing there feeling like a dumb ass. Then another patron comes up to the bar, receives immediate service and then you’re still not helped and left without a drink. Is an Affliction shirt and True Religion jeans your ticket for getting service in this place?
We finally got served the first round of drinks after waiting for quite some time. My husband went up for a second round and after I noticed he was waiting up there for so long, I went and told him not to worry about it, and that we were just going to go. I don’t know why I wanted a second round of watered down Jamison and Coke anyway. Carleo’s has a long way to go before they can be considered upscale. We will never be back again.

Carleo’s lounge is a cool place to go hang out and maybe dance a bit, But they really need to work on their music and i think it be great! I really do like this place i go all the time when i’m bar hopping in the old city if it’s packed and i have a buzz on i usually stay there!

Super trendy and very similar to the bars I went to in san diego. However, the people on my evening were a little suspect! The median age was probaby 40 and I haven’t seen that many affliction shirts since the last ufc fight I went to. Drunk 25 year old girls looking for a sugardaddy were very prevalent though. Maybe it was an off night but I was a little disappointed. I’ll give it one more shot and update my review.

Channa P. hit it on the nose. Yes to unlimited $ 10 Sangria, but definitely not cosmopolitan. Thankfully, I was there with pleasant company. When you’re with good people, you can always fun :)
NOT IMPRESSED
The place is pretty small and the dance floor VERY small. Maybe it was the overplayed, tired pop music… or the stubby, creepy bouncer… or maybe it was the way-​too-​drunk females that failed at go-​go dancing… or maybe it was the unusually douchey guy who thought it was cute to «fake» wipe a booger on me to get my attention as I waited for my drink at the bar (…ummm, hello? wtf)…but overall, I don’t have a high level of appreciation for the Carleo’s «uscale nightlife experience.» Just because you have a shiny bar and call yourself posh, does not qualify you as upscale. 3 stars because there is room for improvement, and I hope you improve!
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT
— Get some better beats… at least REMIX the songs on the radio if you are not willing to explore real club music.
— Find a less creepy bouncer.
— Control the drunkards… Allowing sloppy drunk female gyrating on a table is not gonna make you a high class establishment. Pay a few gogo dancers to look hot, dance on beat, and set the mood for a real party.

Carleo’s is a cool place, but I’m not sure how onboard I am with labeling it «cosmopolitan». It’s not that it’s posh, it’s just not Southbound or Hannah’s so that maybe makes it better depending on what you’re looking for. The small, shotgun style room get’s full quick and plays the same type of top 40 drone music as Southbound. As mentioned, the owner is the same. The pizza is pretty good, but it’s also DaVinci’s pizza. This is an Old City stop, but not a final destination.
My favorite thing about Carleo’s is the 10 dollars for bottomless house wine or Sangria on Wednesdays. That alone will keep me back there regardless of the music or people or anything else. You can’t beat cheap liquor.

Carleo’s Lounge & Nightclub is a newly opened lounge in the Old City. Owned by the same person who owns the hottest nightclub in town, Southbound, and the local pizzeria, Davinci’s (a few doors down from Carleo’s).
Carleo’s brings a touch of Cosmopolitan class to Knoxville that would otherwise be unexpected. Elegant lighting, hardwood floors, exposed brick walls, and a beautiful (albeit fake) fireplace which sits next to 2 lounge chairs and a small dance floor, right underneath a large flat projection screen that plays music videos along with the music playing.
Carleo’s offers nightly specials on drinks and they have a nice variety of finger food/​appetizers, including mini gourmet pizzas, spanikopita, mini potato skins, mini crab cakes et al.
One of the many benefits of visiting Carleo’s is that there is NO SMOKING allowed. Yay! Finally! (It’s easy enough to step outside to get your fix.)
The bathrooms are always clean, too.
If you’re looking for a warm, cozy, intimate lounge downtown, where you can have a few drinks, get your dance on, not choke from smelly cigarettes and converse with other people without having your ear drums blown out, Carleo’s is just your place!