Level Up Lounge

This is a really cool bar. The bartender, Lee, is friendly and mixes fantastic cocktails. I would love to rate this place higher, but there’s no more karaōke AND the closing time is WAY inconsistent (often far too early) and does not at all correlate with how many people are in the bar. For example, I was here tonight and there were at least a dozen people in the bar, with more filtering in, and the bar closed at 11. The Midtown scene tends to just be starting to party at 10:00/11:00. :(

Love the food they have here. The spring rolls are still bomb! the dirty noodles i forget what they are called but they are absolutely delicious. I got this steak thing with rice and it was absolutely delicious. It’s a small place above thai basil and is owned by the same lady. But what’s cool is that the small place above is a nice place to chill at for happy hour! Don’t miss this spot.
Unfortunately it looks like their website is down. But they are open and their happy hour food choices are worth it! On thursdays happy hour goes til 8pm!

Keep it simple with the drink orders and enjoy the chill atmosphere. No one is in much of a hurry here. Including the bartender. That could be good or annoying depending on your mood. On nights with live music it’s especially nice. We enjoyed the jazz trio very much with our drinks.

Level up is awesome! It’s located above Thai Basil in a cute Victorian style living space. It feels very homey with the hard woods, chandelier, cushioned lazy chairs and end tables. You can order food from downstairs which is a huge plus because Thai Basil is amazing. It’s great for big groups even though it’s a small space, the layout is very accommodating for an intimate party. On Fridays, Spectra hosts karaōke and it’s always a fun time! Bartenders are always cheerful and pleasant… They also participate in karaōke which adds to the homey feel… such a great family vibe!

Hella rude bartenders with overpriced drinks. I’ve had great service here before but not today. Christina and her counterpart today suck. They act super busy when they’re mildly busy compared to other midtown locations and stingy poor. 2 thumbs down.

Level Up Lounge is an upstairs bar and lounge overlooking the corner of J & 25^th streets in midtown. You’ll find a couple beer taps, local art on the walls, and a place to relax for an hour or two. Ask ahead about live music, and food; they often serve from a pop-​up menu. Inside seating only.
We’ve stopped in on several occasions; recently for a happy hour on Friday evening. We liked the idea of a HH ending later; this one goes until 8 pm.
What we liked: live music, dispensers of refreshing infused water, second floor street views, a casual and relaxed vibe.
What we didn’t: the food. The evening’s pop-​up was a Southern food truck (can’t remember the name) that served heavy, greasy fried foods. Okra and the like. We didn’t finish either of our forgettable orders.
All in all, a nice place to relax, talk and meet a local artist or two. Your food experience will depend on who’s in the kitchen that evening.
Roundup:
Food: 2-​? — Changes daily, so ask ahead!
Service: 3 — Sometimes the bartender gets busy.
Setting: 4 — Upstairs, atmosphere, live music, laid back.
Value: 3 — Right in the middle.
Date worthy: 4 — Great location for walk/​bikes, with a dozen good restaurants within a few blocks.

I Love Level Up! Love the comfy, classy vibe, the retro décor and furniture (those swag lamps!) and the overall old-​timey-​ness of the place. The bartenders are friendly and the drinks are good and reasonably priced.
Overall a great place to bring friends and hang out.

So I have been a huge fan of Thai Basil (you can check out my review). This place is owned by the same friendly family. I live next door to this fantastic building that houses Level Up and Thai Basil. It is a swift walk to pick up take out, or a great place for a first date being close to home and all ;)
The staff is all very friendly and welcoming. The bartender last night (my receipt says KIMO) was awesome. Very friendly and really knows his stuff.
I will return often and I will be hungry and thirsty when I do :)
Love,
Your Favorite Neighbor!

Level Up Lounge, you have a friend in me… this will be a great, though purely platonic, relationship. How do I like thee? Let me count the ways:
1. I like your casual loungey-​ness.
2. I like your cheap drinks (Hubby appreciated the $ 2 draft beers, even though I was the one running the tab on her credit card).
3. I like that you’re situated right above Thai Chili, so you have a great assortment of Happy Hour bites from which choose (mmmmm…fried, meat-​filled spring rolls! And chicken satay with kick-​ass peanut sauce!)
4. I like that you introduced me to Redd’s Apple and/​or Strawberry Ale, apparently knowing that I’m not a «beer» person, but those things were so fruity I forgot they were an ale.
5. I like your nice staff. Unfortunately, I wish there were just MORE of them on a Friday night Happy Hour. The place was pretty busy, and there was usually only one guy working the crowd.
6. I like sitting in the back area, above the red lights, being able to look out on J St and watching the action from above.
7. I like that your Happy Hour on a Friday goes until 8pm, not just the usual short/​cheap 6pm like a lot of other places. Gives me time to go home after work, relax a bit, get changed and gussied up, and still find a great Happy Hour deal in Sacto.
Glad to meet your acquaintence, Level Up Lounge. I can see us being friends for a long time :)

Well, I didn’t have the best experience here. I feel like I’m kind of cheating since I didn’t technically consume anything here, but I’ll tell you what I know.
We showed up here on a Friday night because our friends had chosen this location to meet for a pub crawl. Even though we showed up on time, we were told that we couldn’t order drinks, because the bar was closing in ten minutes, which turned out to be an hour earlier than what was advertised on the website. It was like 9pm – what kind of bar closes this early on a Friday?
The upstairs area was kind of cool. I liked the enclosed window area upstairs, but we were asked to keep the noise down twice, and no one had even been drinking yet. Okay.
So in summary, I would definitely recommend this place to my grandparents, but that’s all for now.

Been here three times now, so i should Unilocal about it. Very good, authentic and consistent! Love the sticky rice, the pad thai, curry chicken, and the specials that’s I’ve tried have been great.
Friendly service, and the atmosphere can’t be beat, such a cool little place.
I go here for the happy hour and the special events. Love it

It was a Wednesday night, my week was more than halfway over, and my girlfriend and I were in dire need of some good well-​priced drinks for Happy Hour. However, as many of you probably know, most Happy Hour’s end at 6pm (and at the latest, around 7pm). Well, look no further because we found out that «Level Up Lounge» had a Happy Hour go until 8:00pm!
I had not been to this place in years; and considering I frequent these neck of the woods quite a bit, its somewhat surprising that I haven’t stumbled in here after dinner or while bar & club hopping at some of the hipper venues down the street. Now one nice tidbit is that «Level Up Lounge» is actually affiliated with «Thai Basil» that is located directly downstairs (as both places conveniently are owned by the same person). You also have the option of ordering food from «Thai Basil» and having the bartender bring it to you upstairs to the main bar area!
Since we were both not very hungry, we arrive around 7pm as the upstairs area isn’t too busy at all. The whole inside décor is classy yet divey at the same time; bright red lighting gracefully lit the entire upstairs area. Additionally, there was neat little features such as a disco ball, chandelier, posh sofas, and tables for the larger parties. You also have several walls where it provides more of an intimate atmosphere on the slower nights.
Since I hadn’t been here in about half a decade, it definitely has changed quite a bit. I vaguely remembered it being more of a ‘club’ atmosphere complete with a DJ, strobe lights, and a much louder bar experience. When we went (which was on Wednesday, November 6^th), they had a jukebox playing jazz and some old school R&B music. If I do end up coming here on a Friday or Saturday night, I can give you full details of their music and/​or events.
As we were ready to order, the bartender recommends many of their exclusive Happy Hour specials, most notably their «Third Shift» Amber Lager (for $ 2.00), «Jameson» shots with a side of soda of your choice (for $ 3.50), and $ 3.50 well drinks. I give the «Third Shift» a try; actually I liked it so much I ordered a second one! And at $ 2.00, this was a bargain all in itself and way better than most bars that only offer a «Pabst Blue Ribbon» or «Miller High Life» for that price. I also ordered the $ 3.50 Jameson shot as the days of my early-20’s party life immediately came back to me. My lady kept it a little more conservative as she ordered a Corona but also a Malibu Rum & pineapple juice.
We stayed for over an hour as it was a very fun experience by going to a bar that isn’t overrun by the young crowd. And considering this was midweek, I like avoiding all of those crazy weekend warriors. It definitely is a spot worth checking out; not to mention you have a nice view of J Street overlooking the cars and neighboring businesses.

I give it two thumbs up for one because they have awesome bartenders, great happy hour specials and live music almost every night. I have never been here when the staff wasn’t happy and every experience has been an enjoyable one. It’s a fun place to go because they create themed events like 80’s week and movie nights. There always seems to be something going on and the Lounge is slightly ecclectic but also has an air of intimacy that makes it easy to mingle and hang out with friends or go for cocktail hour. I love their late happy hour from 5−8pm every weekday!
Thursdays are my favorite because they almost always have live acoustic guitar music and local musicians playing a random array of instruments. An inviting place to stop in for a drink or a discreet meeting place for a love affair. hah!

Me and my mates came to Level Up for happy hour after we were somewhere else. This place is nice since happy hour goes til 8 and not many places in the area has that. You go upstairs which is kinda neat. I got the Thai Pizza which was $ 5 on the menu. When they brought it out, it looked like a pizza my little nephew could have made. Eating it wasn’t as bad as the lunchable’s appearance, but it still wasn’t that great, but I guess for $ 5 cant expect any more, unless you’re getting the 5 for 5 deal at dominoes, thennnn you can expect more. Drinks were alright, it was kinda empty when we went at 7ish, but I hear the place turns into a lounge/​dance floor?
Overall, average place, not to happenin on a Friday at 7, but happy hour prices and hours fairly decent.

Happy Hour Review
This lounge was a great 2^nd stop for our weekly friday happy hour. It starts at 3pm and ends at 8PM!!! We got there around 7ish and ordered our drinks and some food. Drinks ranged from $ 2 beers to $ 3.50 well drinks. Food was kinda mediocre. The «thai pizza» was just a green onion pancake with cheese and chinese sausage. The fries were decent, they toss it with a ginger, garlic and spicy chili mixture which was different.
Overall, great place to hang out and grab some cheap drinks and food.

Came here for happy hour on a Friday, I’m not sure when happy hour ends but I am pretty sure my friends and I walked in after 6pm. I ordered the iced sweet tea and it tasted great! If you want something refreshing that tastes just like your sweet tea, I would recommend it!

Happy hour until 8 pm is a definite plus! I don’t know of any other places that do that. With that being said, when I came in on Friday around 6:45 p.m. the place was empty. Within the next 30 minutes, the place did get busier though.
Anyway, about the happy hour. They have bottles of Third Shift beer for $ 2 and wells starting at $ 3.50. They also have a pretty good sized food menu ranging from fries, to noodles, fried rice, tacos, to pizza and chicken wings. I tried the thai pizza ($ 5) and the fish tacos ($ 5). The pizza was interesting. It’s personal-​sized but enough to share if you’re just in the mood for a small snack. It has «asian sausage,» which was like the Chinese «lop cheung.» It also has some creamy red curry and it’s on a flakey flat bread, that is like the Chinese «scallion pancake.» As for the taste, it’s pretty interesting and worth a try; I’m not really sure if I’d want it again though, necessarily. The fish tacos were meh/​so-​so, not really much to say about those though.
It’s a good option for happy hour, as the drinks are cheap and the food is decent.
Notes:
–some interesting artwork on the walls too!
–bartender was very friendly.

This is my new favorite bar.
I always saw the sign for Level Up but I kind of just lumped it in with the Thai restaurant downstairs. When I actually walked in the door I was stupidly surprised to find that it is, quite literally, a level up. Mounting a set of stairs a friend and I discovered a very modern but still inviting lounge and bar area. Colorful lighting mixed in with low overhead lighting makes it feel warmer than it should, with seating set up where you sort of have to intermingle with other patrons (which is a good thing).
The food, of which I tried a bit of, was excellent — the menu isn’t gigantic but it has some interesting choices that are put together very well (try the Thai Beef Jerky). The drink menu is pretty straightforward, and while there isn’t a crazy variety of beers the house cocktails are fantastic. Also, small individual bottles of champagne for $ 5.
The best part, though, is the folks behind the counter. The bartenders and kitchen staff were just really personable and seem to really enjoy working there, so the conversations they have with people at the bar or otherwise doesn’t seem forced at all. A DJ adds a nice live element, but the dance area really isn’t large enough for a lot of folks to cut. Oh, and there are two televisions for viewing if you’re into that. On a Friday night it was really, really quite until maybe 10 p.m., and even then it wasn’t packed shoulder to shoulder.

Easy-​going crowd, great bartender (neck tattoo man), nice room overlooking J Street that’s off the main floor, so you can have an easier time with conversation. Minus one star for what sounded like a blown speaker and I can see it getting VERY cozy with a big crowd. I’m sure I’ll be back!

I met up with a few Unilocal friends here and I must say, I was pleasantly surprised. I have always seen the glowing lights in the windows that periodically change color and decided I would never go in there based on that alone. You see, I prefer the kinds of places where it won’t be THAT big of a deal if I somehow end up with no pants. This seems like one of those places. I shouldn’t have assumed that this was a popped collar, frosted tip kind of joint because that’s not what it is at all — well, I don’t exactly know how it’s like on the weekends and to be honest I don’t want to know. But on weeknights, it is a very easy going spot to relax with 2, 6 or even 10 friends and enjoy a beer or cocktail and still be able to engage in conversation.
I wouldn’t really recommend going there hungry because even though they do serve food, the portions are way small for the price.