Riff Music Lounge

Nevertheless

Last night I found myself at the Riff Music Lounge. As a PR person scouting new talent for a record label… the scene was a given for their artist showcase night. I liked the venue, the small intimacy of it and the layout was very functional.
No go for finding an artist, but the drinks are moderately priced (my drink was very strong… Rum & Coke). It was a good night. I paid $ 5 for street parking, $ 10 cover fee. $ 18 drink.
I LOVE that this is very close to the expressway… I would potentially comeback for personal rather than business in the future.

I have attended a couple of events at this location and have to say that it is a decent club/​lounge. The biggest negative for me is the location. It’s kind of out of the way from all of the other night spots and can sometimes be a pain to get a cab. However, the venue itself is quite nice.
It is a long and skinny kind of layout which is nice because it gets people mingling. The staff is friendly and the bathrooms are CLEAN… ginormo plus!
This is not a venue I would venture to unless there was an event due mainly to its location.

I agree with my girl Monique’s review. As soon as we left the venue we were both wondering how to review this place without downgrading it for the event we attended. The event was subpar for sure, but Riff Music Lounge was cool enough to check out again. The front part of the space is long and somewhat narrow. One wall is lined with a slightly elevated vip-​type area seating. I don’t foresee this being a vip-​type place so hopefully that area stays open for non-​bottle service too. Otherwise, there is no other place to sit in the place. Anyway, that whole area is directly across from the bar. The bartenders were pleasant. The one female I went to was sweet, but I did feel like I had to «coach her up». She got my order right but it was light on the alcohol. If you don’t say you want a «splash» of the chaser in your drink, good luck, because I always order just a splash and it was still a weak drink. SMH. There’s a stage farther back in the space as well as a dance floor. Neither area is super big but it works with the venue. The location isn’t really convenient for me to just pop in or walk by, but I’ll keep it in mind as another option to grab a drink and be on the lookout for other events here.
Let me also add that I HOPE this place won’t start to charge a cover. There’s no reason for that here in my opinion so I hope that’s not just my wishful thinking. I’m not convinced I’d pay to come in on a regular night. So until I check it out again, a solid, respectable 3 stars it is!

This is a nice venue with seating all along the wall, across from the bar. The dance floor is spacious, but not too big as well. The drinks were pretty good, and only about $ 8 per drink, but were a little light on the alcohol. Living in S. Loop, it’s nice to have a new night club in the area, and there’s street parking in the area. The event I came for was a thumbs down, but I’m not willing to give the venue a bad review because the organizers didn’t have a good event. I’ll check them out again sometime when I feel like dancing.

Thank god finally a really cool place in the south loop!!! I’ve been there three times already and I love this place… The atmosphere is really cool and a lot of good looking people!!! The DJ on Friday night was amazing, and the bartender was really nice and made me a great Martini!!! Honestly just what this neighborhood needed, upscale and very trendy priced right!!! Ill be a regular!

Wow went on Saturday night and we had a great time! This place looks awesome on the inside u have to see it for yourself. Drinks were a fair price and the staff was really cool and the girls were hot!!! Lol guys I will be back thanks for a fun night u gave my crew…

This place reminded me a lot of lounges in Miami but with less people but similar vibes. The DJ was good but have to say paying $ 14 per drink in this neighborhood is very undesirable. They charged per shot, which in my opinion is unheard of for mixed drinks. Charging that much made the evening kind of a downer.