217 Lounge

I’m happy as a f**kin clam these guys went out of business.
They completely pulled a bait and switch tactic on me, on my birthday no less. You make all the arrangements, have all your friends come to this place, only to have them tell you something completely different.
Suck it!
(oh and the Unilocal Nazi’s decided to delete my first LONG review of this place. friends w/​the owners perhaps?)

THIS PLACE IS CLOSED! been closed for a long time… someone should take this place off. it’s GONE!

You can walk by this place without even noticing it, the only way to find this lounge is if your actually looking for it. Nevertheless, once walking in it is a very nice lounge. Lights are dim, the mood is chill/​relaxing per se and the DJ playing variety of grooves. Aside from the main bar/​lounge area… there is a discreet private lounge in the back with music playing and a small bar as well. Its a discreet place, nothing but good times and the people thus far have been great. The nights Ive went, noticed no pretentious crowd, everyone there just to have a great time.
*** UPDATE ***
Was in Santa Monica a couple weeks ago and I think the place is now being remodeled or its going to become another venue.

I came here on a Wednesday night since one of my good buddies was trying to promote a house music night. It wasn’t crowded but man that bar was pretty nice. I like the dim lighting and the comfy seats/​ottomans/​whatever you want to call it so you can relax and chill. There was make shift dancefloor near the dj booth so you can get your groove on.
I had a Tokyo Tea and it was decently poured. This is a good place if you want something, dark, quaint and chill. =)

Found this place for a graduation party a couple months back. I generally don’t head to Santa Monica on weekends but this lounge was impressive.
Great booths along one wall that seat large groups and the crowd, outside of friends, was surprisingly friendly and attractive. The bartenders are quick with orders and there’s a small dance area in the back to wiggle around on.
There’s another room in the back with a completely different theme contrasting the contemporary look of the main area. It looked like it had one of two purposes: makeout room or for people on drugs.
I’ll definitely be back for drinks if in the area.

OK, I can’t complain… No cover when I got there and no hassles to get it. The place is stark and cold, exposed concrete walls and extremely dark. There is a mini bar in the back which is the size of a bedroom, however i dug the tree branch/​light fixture that they had back there. Nice touch.
The drinks by the girl bartender tasted like water… I recommend going to the dude. My Crown and Ginger was about 80% Crown… excellent! The music was really crappy in the beginning but it progressively got better… and more crowded… and more and more Asians… so be perpared.
It’s a good locatl joint to chill, but too loud to really be a lounge, and too small and crowded to be a «dance club» so lets just call it… something in between.

If you are super-​hip (or trying to be) and if you are rolling in your own car just in case you need to give someone a ride home, this probably is not the place for you. I would suggest this place if you have a cool mix of people in your group that you already got sauced up at the pier or something and are looking to cap off a great afterwork drinkfest.
The DJ usually is decent (they played a decent mix of hip-​hop dance tunes) and there is a nice back room you can chill and actually chat and have a drink. It was fairly busy early on a Friday night and the drinks were pretty good. No Hangar One vodka, but then again this isn’t Maestros.
Especially since Gotham has closed, this is the only game in town.

Reminding me a little of Mor Bar, the vibe here is very laid-​back, yet kind of hip and trendy at the same time. Very unassuming bouncers, why can’t there be more of these places closer to me? Tasty drinks, and a nice mixed crowd. Good hip hop/​top 40 music, and there was actually a dance floor kind of set apart from the bar and tables. Pretty crappy ventilation though, it gets pretty hot up in therre! So it’s nice being able to go outside for some air, and then going back in to shake your groove thing.

Ya kno, despite the too-​old-​to-​still-​be-​dancing-​like-​that crowd, I had a really good time at 217 Lounge. Probably because I got a little tossed and stopped caring about the visual horrors. FYI: Beer goggles necessary!
The music was bumpin, and the drinks were good. Sure, they charged us an excessive $ 10 cover (at most, this place could justify $ 5, if the crowd were better). but it’s LA, and you almost get used to it. The place is tiny, but it’s nicely decorated and comfy. We took over a reserved table that was reserved for. nobody?
And like Christina says, this place isn’t exactly visible. We totally missed it the first time driving by, and would have missed it entirely if it weren’t for the crowd of smokers outside and the hint that 217 refers to the street number.