Lounge ON20

Quick! Go to Lounge ON20 this Memorial Day weekend because it will be the last chance you get to go!
I had a lovely dining experience here, but I’m pretty sure this place is known more for its club-​like ambience and fancy drinks. The food is part art, part gastronomic feat, and more than part delicious.
I’ve admired Lounge ON20 for years, particularly because of Ali Mackani’s presence in the community and remarkable social marketing strategies (Lounge ON20 was out there in the social network long before it became the norm).
I’m so sad this place is closing, and I plan to go there for one last Bella Fragola before they are gone forever.

This review is long overdue, so let me just get to it already!
For my 30^th birthday, someone threw a surprise birthday party for me here. Although not my first time here, by any means, it solidifies why I keep coming back. Between serving my all time favorite drink — the Bella Fragola (vodka, mulched strawberries, simple syrup (i think), basil, and soda water) to shooting the breeze with my favorite bartender (Josh C. YOU ROCK!!!), to the delicious food coming out of the kitchen, to the people watching opportunities on the patio, I am definitely a fan!
For my 30^th birthday, Lounge on 20 was more than accommodating, putting together a table to seat 20 people outside on a warm summer night, keeping us satiated with drinks and delicious food, and topping off our water glasses so we didn’t leave falling down inebriated. Because no one wants to see that.

Its okay. We were there on Saturday night and the music was just okay.
There a reason why people are not on the dance floor… The DJ not playing the right music. HINT HINT
We made a few requests, and the DJ said not until 11pm. Why? Its a lounge/​club like place. Play the music if you want people to stay so he finally play the music, and people started to get on the floor. Then it got crowded around midnight.
There no cover charge for girls, but sometimes there cover for guys.
The lounge is pretty cool, the lights are dim with white curtains separating booth areas. We haven’t got a booth here, because we’re always on the dance floor.
They bartenders are super nice, plus they usually will try to make anything you request. I usually get shots, but my friends order the mix drinks (the drinks are very tasty and very pretty too).

The only straight spot in Lavender Heights!
I always forget about this boughie-​licous spot. Their artisan drinks always seem to slip my mind… well, that was until my last visit!
Two words: Cucumber Gimlet!
Holy refreshing adult beverage. This drink, all three I consumed, were delicious. Each one was made by a different bartender — which made me apprehensive, yet each one was just as delicious as the others. I appreciate the consistency these bartenders provide, all of whom were of the male persuasion.
The décor is gridy. Since when did they have a DJ on Saturday nights? It was interesting to say the least. Quite the diverse crowd, the just barely 21 year olds to the 40+ dry humping each other. Things got a little weird, but we secured two bar stools and took it all in.
The artisan drinks don’t come cheap, def don’t come until after payday ;)
I’ve enjoyed plenty of their appetizers on different occasions. This trip was beverages only, actually it was supposed to just be one, but after I tried the Cucumber Gimlet, I had to have another… and another!
You’ve done your job Lounge on 20, I’m now addicted to your artsy-​fartsy Cucumber Gimlet…

Love this place! Went for the first time with some friends last night and had a blast!
No cover charge
Great dance music
Yummy drinks
Fun atmosphere. This place looks swanky, but is laid back.
I would definitely go back!

I love coming to this bar/​lounge!!! No cover charge… Plus it’s surrounded by all of the gay clubs… What more fun can you ask for? :)
It looks nice and elegant since they remodeled. I love that there’s a diverse crowd as well.
The raspberry mojito is super delicious! I also love the garlic fries here!
This is my #1 bar in Sacramento!!!

This place looks really nice and upscale from the outside. Don’t be fooled. They have discriminatory practices and I refuse to support a business that operates the way ON20 does.
They claim to have a dress code, but their dress code only applies to «certain clientele, based on the owners discretion.» No thank you! If I can get in, but those with me cannot, I will not participate. Especially when you are claiming it’s because they have a hat and shorts on, however there are 4 other people on the patio with a hat and shorts (one of which was wearing torn jean cut off shorts, a camo cap and flip flops)… something is off. I don’t like to jump to conclusions, but it was notable that the majority of people on the patio (including the camo guy) were blonde haired and blue eyed. It seems that their dress code applies more to the color of your skin rather than the clothes on it.

Okay so after the 1^st time i went here on 11÷11÷09 I went back two seperate times I experience 2 shitty customer service experiences. So I hadn’t been back in over a year.
I went on Wednesday and the hostess was great, she smiled and asked where we’d like to sit. The waiter was decent but nothing to compain or boast about. I dont know why but I want to compare their service with Mortons and they do not live up to it. Maybe it is kind of harsh. The waiter does need to realize that every time he walks by he doesnt need to ask if we want anything. Usually you give eye contact and then you will ask. Maybe I’m still bitter about the service I received the previous 2 times. I was trying to have a conversation and it felt like every few minutes he was asking if we needed anything.
The only annoying thing from my experience was that the first glass of wine we received had lipstick all over the glass. It was all around the glass. The fact that it was pretty obvious and easy to see made me wonder how the bartender and waiter missed it. For a place that is trying to promote a classy type lounge I would expect better quality control. It just shows a lack of detail on their part.
The food review is only for the happy hour menu. The porchetta stacker, carnita taco, fried mac n cheese and niman ranch burger were all absolutely amazing. There was some mozerrella type cheese that was in the fried mac n cheese and a cheese dipping sauce on the side that made everythign amazing! I will definitely be back but only every few months cause it was $ 3 for one niman ranch slider, $ 3 for one carnita taco. So price wise it’s not the best bargain for food but it is really good.
The food is 4stars
The amount of food for the price is 3 stars.
The
So I will keep the place at a 3 star rating for now.

Molecular gastronomy. Once I heard that Lounge ON20 had started using this method I knew I had to come here!
I had already eaten beforehand, so I came here with my friends to try their desserts. When our desserts arrived I was very impressed by the presentation. Our waitress explained each dessert to us. I don’t remember half of what she said. It was very complicated; each dessert was multidimensional.
Caramel Corn Brulee– cornmeal financier, popcorn cashew crunch, whipped caramel custard
I love crème brulee, so I knew I had to try this! Judging by the name, I thought it was going to taste like caramel corn. The top part was caramelized but the rest tasted like corn. I liked the popcorn more than anything else in this dessert.
Dark Chocolate Textures– flexible ganache, dehydrated mousse, cocoa nib croquant, red and black pearls, cocoa sorbet
I’ve never been a big fan of chocolate but this was my favorite dessert of the 3 we tried. I love the idea of presenting chocolate in varying textures. My favorite on this plate was the ganache and sorbet.
Plum Tart– honeybush vanilla tea sorbet, vanilla bean rose custard, pâté de fruit, raspberry glass
The plum tart was too… tart. It was the only thing we didn’t finish.
The service was outstanding. Our waitress was helpful. The busboy was quick. My friend dropped her spoon on the floor and within seconds he was there to take it away. One of the owners, I believe, also approached us and asked how we liked our desserts.
There was a musician who was singing on stage while we were there. I felt like he was serenading to me since we were sitting next to the stage and I was facing toward him. It was kind of awkward.
They had two mounted televisions that were facing us. The screens had a pair of blinking eyes. One of my friends found it to be a bit creepy. I felt as if it was a security camera watching us the whole time.
The patio would be a nice place to hang out and do some people watching. I can’t wait to come back and try everything else!

Overall, a really average place and nothing too special for a Saturday night in Sacramento. The atmosphere is awesome — lots of places to sit, huge bar, outdoor patio and ample dance floor. All that kind of falls by the wayside though when you’re actually there experiencing the super slow service, the not so amazing specialty cocktails and the DJ who makes house music boring.
It took us forever to have someone even get our drink orders and even those took forever to get there. The waiter thought he would be cute and make small talk about it but he was just annoying. I was done with him after one encounter. I had ordered the La Fleur (the combination of ingredients sounded delicious) but it tasted like medicine and hardly had any Chambord in it. Stuck to my Chambord 7’s for the rest of the night. We had arrived relatively early and the music was whatever… I like house music but this wasn’t fist pumping, make me get up and dance house for sure. Then as the night progressed, it didn’t improve. I would like to think that your DJ would realize something is wrong when his dance floor is empty at 1145PM unless that’s normal for this place.
Overall rating: 2.5. rounded up because the atmosphere is really nice and fits the bill for a lounge. Just needs to fix up some things here and there to get me back there again.

Phenomenal!
This was the party site for my 41^st birthday!!! Thanks to everyone that came out and celebrated with me… You rock! Big shout to Leah B and CV for helping me put this on.
The newly remodeled space is very nice and upscale. Inside or outside this is a place to see and be seen. Chef Pajo and the staff were awesome. Chef Pajo is very impressive! In the planning stages of my party, he walked us through the menu items and he even gave me a choice possible set-​ups of the area we reserved. During my party he even came out a did a special presentation for my party. Wow how cool is that? I had an awesome party! I received everything I wanted and more. This was over and above my expectations!!! Our little area was perfect for standing and mingling.
The food and service was excellent! The staff here is very cool and did an outstanding job. Sure the place is a bit pricey but well worth it even if you don’t have deep pockets. I will definitely be back here again and again.

I’ve always wanted to come here after friends had raved about the fried mac & cheese.
I finally got to come out to try it. The atmosphere was nice and all but the service sucked. We ordered the mac & cheese which did not live up to the hype. We also ordered lamb sliders and hamachi tartare. It took over 40mins and honestly, I don’t think it would have ever came if we did not mention it to our waitress. The place was pretty empty (630pm on a Friday) and we saw all staff just chit chatting with each other. We ended up having to cancel the tartare. When the lamb sliders came out they were more like open faced meatballs. It had a dallop of which I believe was sour cream on top. It was BLAH. The fries tasted like In N Out fries. The ketchup had a little kick to it that tasted like it could have been tobasco.
The waitress did apologize for the wait but her explanation for the long wait was the menu is fairly new — 2 weeks perhaps? and that the chefs were still trying to get the hang of things. Wow, really? That was that.
2 stars — 1 star for nice ambience + 1 star for my $ 6 Hoegaarden. or was it $ 5? I think it was $ 6 though.
I forgot to mention… I heard the fried mac & cheese was suppose to come with some sort of creamy sauce but they failed at that too! I don’t think I’ll be back to Lounge ON20 again. What am I going to do with my gift certificate from
now? :x

Lounge is always my go-​to when I’m looking for a fun lounge-​y place in midtown that’s not crazy packed. Rather bizarrely, it’s NEVER been even close to crowded when I’ve gone in (even on weekends nights) and there’s never an issue finding a seat or getting served pretty quickly. I tend to order the carafes when I’m there with girlfriends (the femme fatale is quite good). I haven’t experienced a lot of the food on the menu, but their bites look pretty delish if you’re looking for something small. If you’re with a group, try to nab a couch and set up shop in one of the more secluded areas.
It’s a pretty mixed crowd: there’s the younger crowd starting out their night mixed with the older crowd looking for a fun place to grab a drink without having to delve into the club scene. Parking can be a bit of a pain in that area, but you can easily valet for $ 5!

Lounge ON20 is an ultra-​cool hybrid of the lounge and club atmosphere. Within its walls exists both an upscale lounge, with classy drinks and appetizers, and a let-​your-​hair-​down dance floor and bar area.
My girlfriend and I recently stopped in to see just what this place was all about. It was a crowded weekend night, but not to worry. The kind hostess escorted us over to two reserved seats (they know how important we are?), removed the «VIP» sign and guided us into the plush chairs. We savored creative martini cocktails and an olive plate while watching and commenting on all the beautiful people around us.
Be sure to enjoy the outdoor patio area on warm summer days. A great place to people watch!

Sacramento Fashion Week After Party — FEB 26, 2011.
It was a fun after party. The place was packed! Love the industry party. Lots of beautiful people all around. The cocktails were great. Had a goblet of Reisling and enjoyed the company.
People were dancing! The coolest thing too… was watching the owner busting his moves at the DJ table.
It was great!

Lounge ON20 is what it is and doesn’t pretend to be anything else. It is, indeed, an over priced, faux posh, «go to be seen or say you where there» kind of place.
I’ve had consistently bad experiences with their their door staff and bouncers. They are typically all a-​holes who look you up and down and act like they are doing you a favor by letting you spend money there. It’s true… I don’t have anything written in Swarovski crystal across my ass and I don’t get French pedicures, so I guess I don’t look like I fit in there.
Once you get past the door-​jerks, though, the inside is kind of cool. Mostly huge couches settled in little conversation circles. I know it’s super trendy but it’s also really really comfy and it is a really nice atmosphere to sit and chat with friends.
They have some spendy drinks but they also have reasonably priced drinks as well as good happy hour specials. The bartenders all give you your monies worth as well. And every bartender (and waitress) I’ve had there has always been really nice. Makes up for the door-​staff for sure.
I’ve always enjoyed the food. Some of their items are somewhat small in portion for the price, but everything has always been perfectly passable. I haven’t gotten anything completely out of this world, but it’s never been offensive or barf-​inducing. I’d eat there again.
My favorite part of LON20 is the people watching. There are lots and lots of fake tans, ladies in completely age-​inappropriate clothing (both young and old), and popped-​collar, spikey-​haired, overly-​cologned dudes trying REALLY HARD to look like they aren’t trying very hard. It’s a nice break from the «I spent $ 200 at Urban Outfitters to try to look like I shop at Thirft Town» hipster spots around midtown.
Go early on the weekends, I’ve noticed they seem to be brining in DJs that play loud later in the evenings.

Oh Lounge ON20… I still like you. My only issue is that this time around I had to buy my own drinks. I told my other 2 girlfriends I’d buy their round too. But then when my bill came and I tipped, I realized $ 39 for ONLY 3 drinks is kind of steep! However, they were good drinks.
I really wished their bar was bigger too. The place was hopping that evening though. As I walked outside to make a phone call, I realized I really like sitting on the patio and that may be the best part about the place!

I was very tempted to take advantage of the $ 5 Valet service, but decided to at least give it a shot to see if I could find street parking by looping around once. Luckily, there was a great spot about 200 feet away. Score!
We arrived at 8:30 for dinner so it was early enough that we could have sat at either the lounge area or the long, elevated tables. We chose the tables for ergonomic reasons.
They had a $ 25 3-​course special which I took advantage of. I chose the asparagus salad, NY steak, and crème broule. We also ordered shrimp skewers and egg rolls for appetizers. Do not come here if you are hungry. The shrimp skewers came out and there were a grand total of 1 shrimp on 4 skewers. When I think of «skewers» I usually envision a few pieces of food on a stick. I guess they just think «stick». Technically, they DID served skewers because there were 4. Then the asparagus «salad» came out and I think there were like 6 skinny pieces on a long plate topped with feta cheese and chopped tomatoes. I think they grilled the steak without seasoning it so I had to ask the waiter to bring something out to give it flavor. The fries that accompanied the steak was yummy though.
The food was 2 stars but I gave this place 4 stars because they had excellent service and the place looked pretty cool and swanky. My advice is to skip the dinner and just come in to lounge. If you plan to drink, you’ll need to bring a lot more than $ 20 because the drinks are a bit pricey and you definetly cannot «Lounge on 20».

Modern minimalist simple design, I thought this place looked great. I loved the atmosphere of the more lounge than club feel. Tables all over, and awesome lounge sofas.
Came here on April 17^th, Saturday night, it was pretty dead, but my group and I tried to still have fun and make the most of it. The DJ was pretty good at keeping the beat up, while mixing in some music ranging from Top 40, Michael Jackson, and then some. He seemed to be more into techno/​energy type music.
No cover, «no» dress code, no wanna be gangsta’s, no problems at all. The patrons seem to be more of the 25+ old group, that works for me. Outside patio was pretty nice, with tables for folks to sit around and mingle.
Overall, cool place to check out especially with no cover and dress code.

Tuesday nights in Sacramento are DEAD. Where are all the taco tuesday joints?! Some friends from out of town came to visit so Lounge on 20 was the only bar/​lounge open (til 10pm). Even though it was empty, we enjoyed each other’s company. Kudos for the décor, we all loved the WHITE. made the place look very elegant. The stacked wine on the walls were presented nicely as well, very creative!
I ordered the Georgia Peach and, although it didn’t get me tipsy nor slightly buzzed, I enjoyed sipping on my beautiful drink. Altogether, 3 cocktails, 1 beer, two sodas…$ 40. Not bad! However, their food menu is not friendly at all. Being broke college kids, we decided to dine at Luigi’s after. However, I’ll definitely try extra hard to come back for their happy hour. Sounds like their deals are reallllly good, can’t wait!