Club Central LA - Bar / Club Reviews, Promotions: Dakota Lounge

Dakota Live Music Lounge

Dakota Lounge: 1026 Wilshire Blvd.

Santa Monica, CA 904011

Phone: 310.393.8200

Restaurant: Tuesday through Sunday, 7:00pm – 1:00am

Lounge: Tuesday through Sunday, 7:00pm – 2:00am

21 and over nights: Tuesday through Sunday

18 and over nights: N/A

Space : http://www.myspace.com/dakotalounge

Site: http://www.DakotaLounge.com

Dakota Lounge

Hey everyone it’s the beginning of a new week and you know what that means, its time once again for another exclusive Club Central LA lounge review. Each week CCLA goes out in search of the best in today’s nighttime entertainment in Southern California. This week Club Central LA cruised the streets of Santa Monica and valet their way into Dakota Live Music Lounge. Home of the Third Street Promenade and the historic Santa Monica Pier, Santa Monica is now home to a new venue where everyone knows your name and that will surely have its share of visitors in the coming years.

Dakota Live Music Lounge was created by Alex Fieglein and Sabrina Roark. These young owners are currently in love and engaged to be married soon (Congratulations). They wanted to create an atmosphere where everyone can have a sense of familiarity and feel like family with everyone. That is why you will find the owners, Alex and Sabrina behind the bar every night serving up drinks and striking conversations with patrons in order to get to know them better. This surely brings back customers as the owners are able to build a loyal customer base.

On November 29^th, 2008, Dakota Live Music Lounge opened its doors to an eager crowd, with performances by Grammy nominated Janelle Monae the grand opening was a huge success. With only four months in existence, Dakota Lounge has been a smashing success having hosted Josh Duhamel and Fergie’s bachelor/bachelorette party with pin-up star Dita Von Teese performing a burlesque show for the couple, and ?uest Love took the DJ role and spun for the celebrity crowd. On other nights there has also been a performance by Matisyahu, Trevor Hall, Leon Mobley, Pimps of Joytime, Platinum Pied Pipers, as well as many others. Dakota Lounge is proud to showcase local talent and provide up and coming artists the opportunity to share their talents with the Westside public.

Parking

With Dakota Lounge being close to beach and on one of the busiest streets of Los Angeles County, it is a little difficult to find parking in the surrounding areas of the venue. Luckily for everyone Dakota Lounge does offer valet parking at a reasonable $7 per vehicle. If you don’t want to valet you could also try and find parking in the surrounding streets where meter parking is free after 6pm; just make sure you read the signs for any inconveniences.

Entrance/Time of Operation

Big bouncers will greet you nicely at the door verifying your age of 21 and over. They look a little menacing, but they are actually nice. Dakota Live Music Lounge has a standard dress code, meaning no gang attire, flip flops, etc… just look nice. The venue is open from Tuesday – Sunday from 7 pm – 2 am with a full menu served until 1 am. Various events are offered on different nights, which make the cover charge vary from night to night. These cover charges usually range from $5 - $12, which is still a very good deal if you are going to check out their live acts or simply go and dance on their Hot Butter Fridays.

Check out their calendar to see the different events being offered along with the various cover charges. Dakota Live Music Lounge does offer the opportunity to waive this cover charge for the first 25 people that rsvp before 4:00 pm on the requested day. This rsvp gets you in free before 9:00 pm. To rsvp for a certain day make sure to do it through their website at www.dakotalounge.com or call the venue.

Venue

As you walk into the 2500 sq ft venue, you notice the large fully stocked bar with a beautiful mural behind it being tended by the owners Alex and Sabrina. With beautiful hardwood floors throughout, the venue is split into two adjacent rooms where one serves as the lounge area and the other room has a stage where the live acts or DJs perform. Dark colored walls and red mood lighting adorn the lounge giving it a martini lounge feel where surf style meets modern Hollywood. The lounge area has one large VIP lounge with tan suede couches and dark brown leather ottomans. In the rest of the lounge area, there is leather seating along the walls where you can have a pleasant conversation with friends. In the adjoining room with black walls and windows with the Dakota Lounge logo, there are three big comfortable VIP booths with seating up to six people and table seating with leather chairs along the walls. This room also has a fairly sized space where people can dance or simply stand in front of the live stage and listen to the live acts that perform during the week.

Music

We visited Dakota Lounge on a Friday, which is when they have their special Friday event called “Hot Butter Fridays”. During this day of the week, the resident DJ, DJ Lady Sha is spinning music for all clientele to enjoy and dance to. Her seamless mixes of old school hip-hop with today’s top hip-hop hits brought back memories of when hip-hop first came on the scene. Every time DJ Lady Sha played an old school hit, the crowd reacted with cheers as to say thank you for bringing it back. Her constant energy was exuded through the speaker system as she thumped the Dakota Music Lounge and patrons crowded the dance floor to move to the booty shaking tunes. Let me tell you, she is one of the best DJs out there. If you want a taste of DJ Lady Sha, make sure to check out her website at www.lionessla.com and download some of her mixes for free.

On this particular night hip hop was the standard, but depending on the night you attend this venue, the music will range from pop-rock and indie rock to funk to reggae and soul. So it’s a combination of all these different genres.

VIP/Bottle Service

If you are interested in relaxing with friends in a VIP lounge or are interested in bottle service, Dakota Lounge has some of the most reasonable prices around. Bottle service prices start at $200 per 1 bottle per 6 people. You get 2 carafes of your choice of mixer (oj, cranberry juice, coke, sprite, ginger ale, tonic…) with every bottle. Their most expensive bottle is Johnny Walker Blue at $650 and their most expensive vodka is Belvedere or Chopin for $300. The most popular bottle is actually a tie between Skyy Vodka at $200 per bottle, and Grey Goose Vodka at $275 per bottle. Now for your choices of VIP seating there aren’t that many to choose from, but the ones they do have offer good views of the lounge and the live act stage. There are three VIP booths raised from the floor that seat comfortably six people and offer a great view of the stage. The VIP lounge is in the lounge section of the venue and accommodates private parties up to 50 people. This VIP lounge is perfect for birthday parties or any other type of celebration that requires a large number of people.

Restaurant/Bar

Apart from being a lounge and offering live acts throughout the week, Dakota Lounge is also a restaurant that offers a full menu until 1 am. The menu is a fusion of Alex’s favorite All-American comfort food influenced by Sabrina’s Hawaiian/Japanese background. Check out their website and you will find an online menu with their prices.

We had the opportunity to sample some of their drinks and let me tell you they were very tasty (Kudos to Alex and Sabrina). We tried the “Dakota Cosmo” and the “London Peach”. Even though a Cosmo is considered a girlie drink, I really enjoyed the sweet taste of the concoction with a subtle hint of alcohol that really hit the spot. The “London Peach” is another really great tasting drink that consists of Stoli Peach, apple juice, fresh lemon and simple syrup. This one was the favorite and I recommend it to anybody that visits this venue.

For those of you that like to get happy after work, Dakota Lounge offers “Happy Hour” from 7 pm – 8 pm nightly where you can get appetizers at half off and house wine, draft beer, well-drinks, and Alex and Sabrina’s Favorites for $5. Try their “Hope” cocktail, it is $5 and 100% of the proceeds go to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, a worthy cause.

Upcoming Events

April 16^th
- Fundraising casino night for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Games include, Black Jack, Craps, Roulette, etc… And of course live music!

June 11^th
- Celebrity red carpet charity event with non-profit group m.a.m.a. earth, to
raise money for Nourish the Children

Last Words

In conclusion, if you want to spend a pleasant evening listening to live music or catching a glimpse of some movie/tv stars, check out Dakota Live Music Lounge. You won’t regret it, their prices are reasonable and their drinks are full of flavor.

Club Central LA would like to give special thanks to Emi Foster for giving us the VIP treatment and the owners, Alex and Sabrina, for allowing us to attend their venue.

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