Bar Paparazzi

If you want to know why this place closed (aside from the name) see pic #5 above^
Ha ha!

First off, lemme just say that I’m usually open minded about venturing off to new places, and I’m relatively new to this «club» scene.
I basically went on a night where it was 18+. Wrong choice. Tons of underage people who were drunk off their butts, drinking alcohol in soda bottles while in line… Real classy.
Speaking of the line. OH BOY, the line was crazy, doors were supposed to open at 10:30 but they ended up opening at 11. When it did open, the lines moved at a snail speed, and it didn’t help that the promoters were letting their friends go in a second «VIP» line simply for having them as a facebook friend (or whatever).
While inside, the bar was quite roomy compared the jam packed club area, and the club set up was kind of awkward. The bathroom was all the way on the other side of the place, and the choices were as follows: 1) Make your way diagonally through the dance floor, getting hair whipped in your face, sweat from someone’s arm being rubbed on you, and getting STEPPED on with someone’s 6 inch heels. Ugh, or 2) Go all the way around the dance floor, noticeably more walking room and space, but a longer distance.
Also, I believe it was the dance floor that had a random stair? Really? Stairs that contained one step on a dance floor? With drunk people? Let alone sober people who would probably trip on that in the low lit club area?
Next time, DnB’s it is!

I’m sorry to say this, but this place sucks. They probably need to do a major overhaul. Get new promoters and/​or get a new dj. I’ve been here a few times before and with each visit I experience more and more dissatisfaction.
I don’t mind if a club charges cover or has douchebags who run the door but this place has a combination of both. That combination culminated with walking into a sausagefest where the music is at best blah makes Paparazzi awful. Save your money. Eat at Ryan’s down the way and party at Ka on the same floor. Ka has cover and the same kind of twits who run the door but at least when you get in there it is worth the cover (or hassle) since they have decent music and a decent ratio.
I have never eaten here and probably never will. Reading other reviews I see that I’m not missing much. Hopefully none of my friends decide to have their birthday at this venue because this place is at best 1.5 stars.

I’m no clubber… and I definitely am not a bar-​hopper.
My review is based on the venue for music.
Bar Paparazzi hosts a variety of bands and can definitely hold a large crowd. They have a main set-​up inside for bands and also a small set-​up outside for solo or duo artists.
There are lines from time to time. Lines to enter, so have your ID and money out for the cover charges. Lines to get drinks, so know what you want to order, and make sure to have a couple $bills for tip. Lines for restroom… as every other place will have.
They do have a slight dresscode… in fact, I remember witnessing a guy being told he couldn’t enter because he was too «casual».
Inadequate lighting and a few uncomfortable seating areas. I haven’t tried any appetizers, but I think there might be a happy hour, I’m not too sure.

We came here Sunday for the semifinals of Battle of the Bands put on by Nemesis Productions.
I really liked the décor and layout of this place. It’s modern with a wide variety of neat light pieces. The place is separated by the bar in the middle. On one side is the dance floor, stage and DJ booth and on the other it has tables and a lounge area on the patio. It is very spacious so I can see how this would be a good club.
The bathrooms were okay, but they were either running out or out of toilet paper. No good.
If you ask a waitress for water, she makes you buy a $ 3 bottle of water. If you go up to the bar they give you a cup of ice water for free.

Most happening when it turns into a night club. Located in one of the Ward Warehouse Buildings the one with Genki Sushi, Ryan’s Grill, Border’s Book Store, Kuaaina Burgers, etc. On the second level or is it third level on of those on the VERY right hand side.
+Poppin’ hours are 12AM-​CLOSE*
+Non-​casual/​DRESS TO IMPRESS ;)
+The good thing is FREE PARKING!
Not really sure about the wait in line because I never really had to wait in one, but for the most part the line wait seems pretty fast. The staff their are for the most part pretty chill. More than one bar in this sort of small establishment which is great for drunk people… LOL
Although the bathroom is kind of dwindling…3 stalls in the Ladie’s Room YAWNCH* which means sort of a wait? Their toilets are kind of broken mos def hard to flush when your faded. (LOL) They always have a bathroom attendant which is nice… the guys bathroom is right across and they can see everyone checking themselves out haha so they always say compliments when that happens. lololol
Drinks are pretty reasonable? Just pre-​game parking lot pimp that’s what I do, save some $$$ in this crap economy downfall we’re in! hahahaha ok be safe and have fun!:)

I went to Paparazzi for the first time last night and because one of the doctors with us didn’t have a collared shirt we had to jump through a few hoops to get in. The bouncer said «we are an upscale bar». After that we were allowed to pay a $ 10 cover that is only charged to guys (Yes, even gay guys).
On a positive note it was pretty nice inside. Yep that’s the only positive.
Here is my problem, if you say you’re an upscale bar you should have limes! I mean what the Fuck?! No lemons, limes, cherries, or mint?! That’s fucked up. Don’t be deceived. My 300 sq ft bar has all of those plus like 5 other garnishes! Paparazzi, you are not upscale. Sorry just being honest!

So came here this past Tuesday (1÷11÷11) at around 5:30 with my group Meet in Honolulu. We had about 15. I had made arrangments with Mai the month before to reserve seating but that wasn’t an issue. The few times I came here mid week during happy hour time they seem pretty slow with only a handful of patrons but a live band almost every time.
As far as drink prices go they are pretty much the same as club nights so basically high. 4 – 5 $ for domestic 5 $ calls and so on. The beers did initially come out pretty warm although that might have been because we arrived right when they opened up. One thing to note is that the cape cod came in a nice good large glass.
The overall look of the place is pretty much what you would expect out of a venue that is mostly opened for club nights. The inside is pretty spacious and open and the bathrooms are nice. The venue is filled with 3 – 4 bar areas. Also they have a nice lanai area witch couches and tables to sit at.
Food wise the menu is pretty standard for local bar/​club food. A variety of fried foods and pupus. I came the day before to confirm and got a glimpse of the fried rice (we chose garlic but they had an assortment), which came out with 2 easy over eggs on a large portion of fried rice. The fried rice was solid and I would probably order it again for $ 10. We also ordered the garlic soybeans which came out in one of those large plastic baskets. The soybeans (6 $) were alright and nothing memorable.
Others in my group order a couple of other interesting items. Pork chops came out breaded with a nice brown color to them about 2 pieces covered with sautéed mushrooms and onions. My friend mentioned how well the mushrooms tasted with a nice garlic taste. The Garlic chicken was also ordered and came out to be a good sized plate of bite sized chicken. They looked like what you would find at mitsu ken or 360 Lounge. The lumpia was ordered a couple of times. It came out to about 20 ½ sized lumpia that looked more like spring rolls with the type of sauce you would get at Bale. No one had any complaints. The steak quesadilla had recommendations because it was very meaty and the nachos were good sized and might even have had some bacon bits.
Overall Paparazzi is solid if you want to just chill for some pupus after work. They don’t really have any cheap specials but you won’t have to worry about the place being to filled on a weekday. The food is only slightly over priced and although it isn’t amazing it solid for what your paying for. I don’t think they have that much business during the mid week so basically the bartender is also your waitress so I can imagine they have some service issues. I personally thought the service was good and Mai was friendly and called everyone by their name.
Check it out.

I came here about a week ago with some friends. This place was surprisingly nice inside, great décor, lots of tables, dance floor, lounging areas inside and outside and a large bar. However, the for such a large bar, there should be more than 1 bartender! I had to wait like 20 mins for the attention of the bartender and the club wasn’t that crowded. They just have slow service here. The drinks are cheap and strong, so you get your money’s worth though.
The crowd here is kinda mixed… which may be good or bad depending on what you are used to. At least it wasn’t asian invasion here like across the hall at Ka. There was a good representation of the different types of crowds (which I thought was weird…) but maybe it was just the night I went. The DJ was alright, played the normal top 40 songs… as well as some random ones. It’s a nice place for no cover (for girls) but I wouldn’t pay cover to come here.

How many of you remember this great lunch place called Queen Street Café? Well they closed a few months back and when they re-​opened, the food was very different because there were new owners:(
But we are in luck, Saturday night, I found out that the old owners of Queen Street Café are now located at Paparazzi serving their delicious ahi poke salads/​bowls and their awesome furikake garlic chicken! Prices are still pretty much the same and their menu actually has more selection!
They still have the same specials, I am not sure if it is keawe grilled items though since they are located in a restaurant… Sides still include brown rice, white rice, and garlic mash. I had their salad today and it still looks like they use romaine lettuce!
Gwen and Mai did say that the only price that did go up is the price of their drinks, so now bottled water, soda, and juice is now $ 1.
Highly recommend!

See, I’m a little biased, because some of my friends promote/​DJ a weekly event here on Saturdays. So, in the spirit of supporting them I will tell you to go check it out at least once if you’re not a local. It will be new to you so you’ll visit with un-​jaded perspectives than those who live here and have since gotten bored of the scene.
Last time I was there was during labor day weekend. Whenever I’m in town they welcome me with aloha. No lines, no cover. a round of shots to kick off my return & we hang out at their table all night. I even had to use the restroom, and they took me to the employee one in the kitchen of the restaurant area. I think on the way there I met a chef and one of the owners who was totally cool about me wandering back there. lol. If that didn’t happen, my bladder would have exploded because the line to the girls restroom in the club was insane. I’m telling you. Best people on earth live in Hawaii. Swear to God.

Only come here when friends decide to throw their bdays or for whatever reason why they chose this place to celebrate an occasion. Place is always packed and the dancefloor is super small and i swear the waitresses comes off as snobs and this is in general everyone i know whose been served by any of them had the same reaction. coming here or any other club in fact reminds me of why I no longer enjoy the club scene!

My first experience at Paparazzi was horrible.
I went just shortly after they first opened…
At first it was okay… there was a lot of people, so I take that as a good sign… However, ordering drinks from the main bar in the middle was disastrous. Not only for myself, but for the other people ordering drinks as well.
My drink of choice: 1 Grey Goose straight up, 1 water
My boyfriend: Heineken Light or a Grey Goose Soda with Lemon.
Not hard.
However, after my boyfriend CALLED his drink, «1 water, 1 Goose UP, 1 Heineken Light» he received a Heineken and a Ketel One…
The Heineken mistake is almost believable, but the Ketel One and Goose mix up was sad. And where was the water? Still in the gun. boo.
It may sound like I’m being a drama queen, but WAIT! I’m not done. lol.
After one of our friends bought a round of shots, they didn’t receive their backs… so I went to grab them. 1 cran back, 2 pine backs… The bartender looked VERY confused and he ended up giving me a coke back and crown!!! And he tried to give me someone else’s order… Most people would be excited to get free alcohol like that… not me because I don’t drink crown anymore. haha. So I broke it down for the poor guy behind the bar: CRANBERRY JUICE IN A ROCKS GLASS AND PINEAPPLE JUICE IN 2 ROCKS GLASSES. He got it right that time. Good job, guy.
I understand that he may have been confused because it was busy… but sorry, it’s not my first time at a place like this… Hopefully by now the service has gotten better.
Oh, and BTW. they played Lady Gaga’s song «Paparazzi» at least 5 times while we were there… and we weren’t there very long.

My girlfriends and I went to Paparazzi for the first time last night. Here is the breakdown:
Cover: $ 10 but you can go back and forth to Ka
Service: Fast and friendly
Music: OMG! It was beautiful to hear transitions without lags. We danced throughout the night just taking breaks to drink.
Overall we loved it and will definitely return.

Wannabes. Just as pathetic as the name and slogan.
«be seen at paparazzi» gag.
was here last night will never be back.

Never been here for lunch or anything but I am here almost every Saturday night. I have rarely seen a «slow» night here. The crowd is nicely mixed and the staff and door people aren’t snobby like some other clubs out there.
It’s a pretty large place and has open air seating too. Lots of tables around so not too hard to find a seat to chill earlier in the night. There’s a lot of parking since this is inside of Ward Center where Brew Moon used to be. Valet is available but I think I saw a sign that says the close at 1am. I cab it so no biggy to me.

Went here for the Pre-​Pre-​Pre Party kickoff for the Hawaii Salsa Festival on Tuesday. My first time here under the new name. I like that there’s a dance floor now – but it’s not exactly the biggest dance floor if you’re with a host of other salsa dancers. The fact that there is a dance floor at all should have me jumping for joy!
Lots of nooks and jutting protrusions to keep your brain interested in exploring the walls.

We attended a fundraiser here, which was really cool that a bar would host something like that. Let me say that this is probably one of the only ways to get me out to a bar. It’s just not my thing and never has been. Anyway, of course the crowd is more into winning the prizes and getting smashed, but hey, it raised money for a kids program. Always a good thing!
We’ll start off with the good things since we’re working off that last note. The club is modern and upscale looking. It has a nice outside area where you can see the rest of Ward Center and cool off if it gets too hot inside. It really is a nice club.
We asked for water on more than several occasions and the servers never got it to us. Paid drinks, well that’s another story. I got a $ 3 soda where 50% of the glass was filled with ice. That’s some brutal economics going on there. I’ll also note that most of the time people don’t go to bars or clubs to drink, so keep that in mind with the following critique of the food.
The event initially had a pupu table in which they had a few different things. The skewed beef was one of the worst thing I’ve had in a while. It was dry, slightly fishy tasting, delivered in huge chunks, and impossible to chew. After chewing on it like gum, I had to spit it out because it was too large and I was never going to get it to a size that I could swallow safely. The soy beans were over cooked, but they were edible. The shoyu chicken was dry, but I put the tzaziki sauce on it (that was supposed to go with the crab cakes that I was told was pretty good) which made the chicken a lot better. Let’s just say that the food isn’t the draw here at all, not that most people go to a night club to eat. This is why I rated it on the higher end with three stars, plus the fact that they helped disadvantaged kids.

Merry Christmas Fellow Unilocalers and Shining Stars! Here’s a review for you to talk about. Where can you go on Wednesday night? Who goes out on a Wednesday night? If you’re thinking of ideas of where to go, we heard that the old Brew Moon was called Paparazzi now. So, we decided to make our way to Ward to see where the «stars» were. When we entered at 9:30 p.m. it was totally empty. Of course, who would head to a club/​lounge so early? Our excuse was that we’re on vacation… who cares? Don’t worry, it did fill up. :O)
The renovations from Brew Moon to Paparazzi was great. It looks more upscale now and it reminds me of places in the Bay area. The deejay was spinning a variety of music and his transitions were done well. The staff was very polite and courteous as well. On top of that, drinks were only $ 4 on Wednesday nights. We didn’t find any stars, but we definitely felt like one! :O)

This is a new club/​lounge that is now located where Brew Moon used to be. The inside is really spacious and decorated beautifully. From a coworker of mine who also works at Paparazzi, he said the furniture is from Ikea. oOo. We got there and it was DEAD. It was a warning sign for us to get outta there but we decided to stick around for a drink or two. Bartenders were really friendly and so were the waitresses. Since the club part of it wasn’t really bumpin’, it was a chill environment. I really liked patio area where there are sofas, tables, and a projector playing music videos.
I can’t wait until they start promoting because I can envision big things going for Bar Paparazzi.