Ei8ht

Douchebag city. High priced drinks, no one shows till 12, no one dances till 1. Afterward there is a long line of guys outside looking for «bait.» So disgusting. There are cops around, but they don’t do anything.
Will never go back.

I was invited to a Christmas party here, so it wasn’t open to the general public, but the space here is very cool. I could definitely come back and check it out when it’s jumping on a Friday/​Saturday night. The bartenders were great and even made me a special drink… of course I’m sure that’s what he tells all the girls!

The first time I was here, I struggled to put an identity on the crowd.
After a few more trips here, I realized why — the club itself seems to search for an identity from night to night.
— I’ve seen a line to get in, a young and pretty crowd, and met professionals from other Washington area clubs
— I’ve seen it fairly empty, with everything from flannels+ballcaps to seventy year old pimps just drinking pints
— I’ve seen it «urban»
— I’ve seen it young professional
…and this is all within a month to month and a half span. Not hardly enough time for some sort of paradigm shift. Perhaps it’s become enough of a fixture that people have their favorite nights, and so it’s almost a revolving theme sort of thing.
— The patio is nice, but expect the tables to quickly be monopolized by the hookah peddler.
— Nearly half the interior square footage is devoted to bottle tables. If you’re going with a group, that’s probably your best best. There isn’t much room left over between the bar, one long standing table, and the patio.
— The dance floor is small, but always seems to have at least two or three people on it.
— There’s always fairly visible club security. Whether they do anything but police the bottle tables… I have no idea. And that’s a good thing. Visible, but unobtrusive.
— Agree 100% with Tamara I’s assessment of the DJ: all over the place.
All in all, if you end up here on the night that’s catering to your crowd, you’ll probably have a good time.

It’s an ok place I don’t know if it was because I was there @ 12 but it seemed kind of empty. But it was still ok.
One thing I didn’t like is the $ 20 you must pass in order to get a drink with a card.

Well after we couldn’t get into Kung Fu Saloon, we got in here, but it was not too bad. The DJ was pretty weird. His music was all over the place and after you would dance to a cool current song, he would play some 80’s weird crap. Also, the crowd was a bit all over the place too. There were tents outside and no outside music, and some people were dancing, not dancing and all sorts of everything. There was no theme. I really wished that I could open my own restaurant/club…it would be so much fun!

HOLD THE PHONE y’all. I love to dance just as much as the next yuppie recent-​ish grad missing the good old sixth street days BUT… they charged a $ 10 cover (on Saturday night) AND then added an automatic 20% gratuity on my already outrageously overpriced drink? That’s just not classy. But I guess they gotta pay rent on Washington, so it’s only (kind of, not really) fair.
The only enjoyable part was the upstairs patio deck area which is very conducive to people-​watching, my favorite (and potentially only) hobby.

Not sure what happened here in the last year or so, but the doormen are all mellow now, and dare I say, nice? Gotta give them a few stars back.

WOMP.
So, I’ve been here before a few times. The first two times were back in 2008 and 2010, so I can’t really use those times for my review, but I can include that all my visits here, the drinks were WAY expensive.
Let this be your last stop of the night if you don’t want to pay so much to get trashed.
There was free cover and I’m all for that.
We tried to hang out in a private area, but it was private… of course! The bouncer was real nice (maybe he was just security in the club, not a bouncer).
I guess I made my way into someone’s VIP area?
Put it this way, from what I remember, the music was decent, I had a free glass of champagne, and we left right after that. Didn’t stay too long because not everyone in our party was having too much fun (some were down for the count!)
I think this is a great place to dance, not so much drink. (I’m a cheapo)

As I drove toward Ei8ght, prior reviews of Ei8ght went through my mind. Even though, it was a Wednesday night I had my doubts. «Will I have to wait in a super long line? Will it be sooo crowded it is unpleasant?»
A bouncer guarded the door, requesting IDs and invitations to all those who passed. The bouncer was friendly and fast at ID checking, didn’t have to pull out my invitation as others had to. Sweet.
Was this place racist? No. We had probably the most diverse group which included Black, Asian, Indian, Hispanic, and White, all enjoying the experience. I can’t say what it was like on other occasions.
Yagermeister sponsored the party.
The yagerbombs were like liquid licorice.
After 2 – 3 drinks, I was feeling good.
Bartenders, both male and female were hot.
I deducted 1 star for the rigging the Halloween competition. The DJ said the person with the most applause would get into the top 10, top 5, top 3. The top 3 was chosen by the DJ. #1 was chosen by the DJ. Grrrr for changing the rules. My fav didn’t win.
In the end, everyone forms their own opinion.
Last night, my experience was awesome.
Written on 10-​27-​2009

My friends and I come here a lot, this place is our go to spot on Washington Ave.
Everyone’s pretty much covered the basics you know good music, nice patio (s) and a small dance floor.
From my experience of coming here everything is overall what I expect a nice club/​lounge to be. The drinks are fairly priced anywhere from 4 – 12. The staff is overall friendly and respectful. Table and bottle service is reasonably priced and a great mixed crowd. I’m talking like really mixed you’ll see every race out on Saturday night. Music-​wise you will hear all the top 40 tracks and a few oldies here and there.
There is so much more I could write about this place but really go check it out for yourself.
Only negative they have is the small dance floor.

Ei8ht is a fantastic bar/​lounge but I only gave it 3 stars because it has some serious flaws. First, the good stuff: The music is fantastic. The entire bar is pretty big, with a big outside patio section and an upstairs patio. The crowd is stylish and high energized. The entry way is upstairs with red carpet and a backdrop resembling a première event. Good photo op but there’s no place for the photographer to stand since it’s just a narrow walkway. Bartenders are hot and scattered throughout 4 full bars. Inside is a good place to party wild and get lost in the crowd. Outside patios are good chill places to have a conversation.
Ei8ht has some major flaws which turn away customers like me. The line outside is always a mile long. Doesn’t matter if you arrive at 10:30pm or 1am, the door guy will always make you wait unless you have 1guy-​3girl ratio. POINTER: have your hot dates go up to the guy to let them in, then say, we have our brothers with us. Always works. Another flaw is that inside dance floor is way too small. It gets so crowded that it’s impossible to really dance, you don’t even have room to wiggle since it’s packed shoulder to shoulder.
Depending on your mood, Ei8ht could be very fun, but a couple of problems compounding together could kill your mood and make the night seem rather exhausting rather than fun.

On a super packed night, it’s pretty good when you can get in. They keep a good ratio of guys to gals, so I can’t hate on that.
The place is pretty nice, but the dance floor is super tiny. I love the fact they don’t charge a cover. The outside patio area is pretty roomy.
I came here over a labor day weekend on sunday, and it was dead. Yeah, I guess the fact that Monday was a holiday wasn’t enough of a reason for everyone to go out and party.
The few times I’ve come here I thought it was okay, but it’s not as fun as other clubs I’ve been to — or maybe I’m just getting old.

Happy Hour on Washington seems to be the place to be. I say this because at 6pm on a weekday, Washington was just as messy as it is on Saturday nights! No parking, crazy traffic and of course. the never unwelcome eye candy!
I went to ei8ght for happy hour on a Thursday, and was not really impressed.
The stuff I liked:
The patio was nice
Live music outside!
The drink menu
The appetizers looked good, although I wasn’t hungry
I was there ½ hour at most and it took the waitress 15 minutes to even come to my side of the table. There were about 10 people at my table, but she seemed to just go to the side closest to the walkway. I managed to call her and get her attention. I ordered an apple martini and a pineapple juice (for Reina). Took another 12 minutes to get my drink, and only because the manager came over to ask how we were doing and I told him: «Better if I would get my drink anytime today!» My drink arrived within 2 minutes. One minute later I paid my tab and left. I gave them three stars because although my experience pretty much sucked, they do have potential. Plus, the manager did get me my drink right away. Yes, I will probably have to try it again… but maybe MUCH earlier…

I checked out the Ei8ht happy hour since it’s hh all night (4PM — midnight) Tuesday and Wednesday — ½ off cocktails and food, $ 2-​$ 3 beers, $ 10 carafes of Sangria.
The cocktails are okay and the sangria had very little fruit.
For food, we chose the tx chicken philly and grilled cheese. The philly tasted just like the grilled cheese except it had some chicken and peppers thrown in there. The sandwiches are 2 pieces of wheat bread with the cheese in the middle, stuck into one of those panini makers (so it seems).
The sandwiches also go with a side order of kettle chips which are potato chips mixed with blue cheese, green onion, and bacon bits. Eat them in a flash because they get soggy pretty fast.
The best thing we had there were the tuna nachos. It’s cubed pieces of tuna sashimi (poke style) on top of a slice of cucumber, anchored by guacamole and another sauce, with a foundation of a nacho chip.
Service was nice enough. The feng shui of the place was kind of weird. Entrance on the side, huge patio area and narrow inside. If I go back, it’d only be for the tuna nachos.

I am definitely not hip enough for this place. We were here on a Wednesday night at 6pm for the ‘Miracle Berry/​The Berry Fair’ event benefiting MD Anderson. We arrived right around 6pm and the street parking was all taken. We opted for the $ 5 lot right across the street (I read some other posts about it being gravel, but it’s paved now).
We walked up and there were some great decks overlooking Washington. It looked like a great place to get a drink after work. We headed inside, checked into the benefit and proceeded to enjoy our ‘miracle berries’. It was a nice set up with multilevel seating. I was really impressed by the bartender when I only asked for a water. It was a fanciest poured water I have ever received a bar. She made it feel like a $ 10 poured drink instead of a free water.
Would I come back here? No, but only because it’s not my scene. It seems like a cool spot to hang if you are into the Washington bar scene.

This place was bumpin’ when my girls and I arrived around 11:30. There was a line, but it wasn’t too bad since we were ladies with no boys. The crowd was pretty random. The patio was really nice and met some «happy» people out there. The music/​DJ was on point… I liked all the remixes! The drinks are pricey, but that’s expected since we were in the Heights. The only con of the night were creepy white dudes undressing you with their eyes. eck! It got really packed by the end of the night too.

In the words of 50 cent «Go, shawty. It’s my birthday. We’re goin to party like it my birthday»
This place was such a great choice of venue to celebrate the Big 2 – 6! We have passed by Ei8ht a couple times before not knowing what it was, due to lack of sign. Hello, a sign for your business might be nice. F.Y.I: This place is located across Urban Living Real Estate Company. Anyways, we strolled in fashionably early. Early you say? Yes, early. This is due to the lines forming outside at 10 o’clock, and these stilettos aren’t meant for standing! Some friends made it there around 11 pm and were not able to make it in. Sorry guys. =(Also if you get there early enough you might be able to snag some street parking and save some bucks.
This place is huge due to the large patio downstairs and the decent sized one upstairs. The inside was especially nice, with all the glitz and glitter. The lighting was spot on and the red carpet runway upstairs is great to take those paparazzi poses! The drinks are a bit pricey here, but hey this is an «upscale» place so the price is «upscale» as well. There was a good mix of people, a bit of geriatrics, a dash of skanky and a sprinkle of normal. Whoever was there made for great people watching. I will definitely visit again! Ei8ht is great!
Oh yeah, shout out to my fellow Unilocaler David N. for making it out that night. Homie you rock!

This place has a rreally nice Patio. My sis and I went on a Thursday evening… mostly a happy hour crowd. They were charging cover, only if affiliated with an Aggie party that was going on that night (not us).
Door man was nice, and we found a table pretty easily, though the downstairs patio was packed… someone happened to be leaving right as we arrived. Nice people watching spot. Flat screen TV’s, ceiling fans, and water fountain were a nice touch to the outdoor seating… no bar though. Upstairs had a bar, but less seating and much more crowded. We were greeted pretty quickly by a cute server (they all wear sexy red dresses), however the service thereafter was less than satisfactory.
Drinks came out pretty quickly, but the food was another story. We ordered Tuna Nachos ($ 14) with our server, and waited 20 minutes; no nachos. Another server asks if we were waiting for something, and we told her our order; she claimed she ‘saw them on the line’ and ‘it’s probably our order’. Well another 20 minutes pass, and we realize our original server never even put our food order in, and therefore we were starving after waiting 45 minutes for nachos (it was just tortilla chips with spicy salmon on them… not exactly timely gourmet). Although they were DELISH, the service was awful. We saw a lot of other people getting food, hot dishes, before we did.
Maybe a hit or miss with the food service, but drinks were tasty and people were kind. 2 sets of bathrooms, which I loved, and lots of room inside. I’ll be back soon, just not for food!

So quick word of advice: unless you’re a single blonde female, I wouldn’t suggest coming here late on a Saturday night. After reading the (mostly) positive reviews, I suggested this place to a co-​worker for happy hour, and though I was unable to attend, she came back with rave reviews. As such, I was excited to check this place out. No such luck.
After a whale of a time finding the place (thought it was closer to Citizens; I thought wrong), we stumbled upon a gigantic clusterflux of people hanging out at the entrance. That’s right, ladies and gentlemen: there’s officially no line to get into the place; instead, just fight like cattle to get the golden ticket. If you’re blonde, don’t worry; you’ll get your name called quickly. Stunningly attractive blonde? In. Well-​endowed blonde? In. Cougar blonde? In. Butterface blonde? In. Not even good enough to be called butterface blonde? STILL in. Brunette? Nope, sorry, back of the line.
So seriously, our group had a healthy girl: guy ratio, respectable attire, and were not unattractive. But hey, being Asian generally means being not blonde, so after 30 minutes of futile waiting, we hightailed it out of there, leaving the handful of brunettes and gigantic sausage fest waiting and living on a prayer to get in. Good luck, gentlemen. I hope you enjoyed your 30 minutes before last call. We hightailed it over to Manor and got in, lickity split.
I don’t mind waiting (much) to get into a trendy place. What I mind is the ridiculous method of entry, for which Ei8ht more than earns its lonely one star rating. I’ll give Ei8ht this… the place looked real nice. If I ever make it back there (not likely), we’ll try this whole Unilocal thing again.
Oh, valet or self-​park is now $ 10. Yikes.

For those of you who’ve driven by this soon to be «it spot» along Washington and noticed a killer patio and upper deck, the wait is over. Ei8ht is officially open.
I came here last night for some pre-​Latin Wave drinks with my girlfriend Jody. Apparently they opened the day before, so naturally we wanted to check it out now before word spreads to the masses and we can no longer get in. Yeah, I know.
Owner of Pub Fiction, Michael, is the man behind Ei8ht: «where the evening turns to night.» The concept is to start the evening off with drinks and light bites in the lounge area and patio, then once night comes (9pm), doors to the dance club open.
So, back to my experience. Getting in was a breeze, and the gentleman working the door was welcoming. That was a precursor for the night, because the *entire staff* was just as kind – and incredibly attractive I must add.
I think it was the service that impressed me most. Sitting at the bar and out on the patio, every time my wine glass or water got a bit low, someone was there to refill them. One of the managers, Dardan, even stopped by our table to get my opinion on the wine, gave me his card and said to send over any suggestions to him. Apparently they have a huge wine wall inside the nightclub that they’re ready to stock up with patrons’ favorites. My suggestion? Let’s get some malbec and nero d’avola on the menu. But from what I did imbibe at Ei8ht, the Bitch Grenache ($ 7/​glass) is my recommendation. Girls, it comes in a pretty pink labeled bottle with the word «Bitch» elegantly scripted on the front and with a heart on the twist-​off cap.
When I asked one of the gentleman for a small tour so we could peak into the club. He hesitated for a second, but then agreed. The nightclub area is is complete with a lengthy bar and booths for bottle service. They’re going to start Champagne Thursdays, where the bubbly is complimentary for those who snag a spot. I wish I could describe the interior better, but I can’t really put my finger on it. There’s a natural element added from the use of a lot of light wood, but there’s also the contemporary feel brought on by the use of red and LED lights. Speaking of red, don’t wear it here. You might be confused for a bartender or cocktail waitress. Just a thought.
Other highlights of Ei8ht:
*The cocktail menu. The strawberry lemonade is perfect on a warm summer night outside.
*Food menu. I spotted people noshing on meats and cheeses and tuna nachos. If they’re any good as Pub Fiction’s addictive nachos, sign me up!
As for the parking situation, you can valet for $ 7, park it yourself in an adjacent graveled lot for $ 5, or find street parking.