Aqua Resturant & Bar

Unexpected hidden away nightclub in NE DC. Which both pro/​con place but overall a great place for those wanting a good time without the haste of inner downtown.
The place is very manage and open atmosphere club with a sunkin dance floor and great lighting & sound system for a small club… enough to mix/​mingle and not get lost in Also a open patio for smokers and bar as well. Just did the DCfetishball première last night in which everyone had a great time and fantastic experience. But one thing it close parking lot is good and of close its in the middle of new york ave which you easily missed getting there or getting pick up.

If I can give this 0 stars I will. Let me begin, this place is as shady as the palm trees in Florida.
We came here for the kick off of Howard homecoming and to my surprise, it was drier than a giraffes pum pum. There was literally 10 ppl in the entire club. The female bouncers were the only good thing that came out of here because all the male bouncers were rude and full of themselves. Now I’m with supporting businesses, but not a shady one.
I paid for a ticket and arrived around 11, enough time to get in when the party was jumping, Lawd was I mistaken. I ordered a drink and tip cause I know the bartenders were gonna b short but we eventually got kicked out by 12:50a.m. and my tickets said til 2a.m. We requested an über and was waiting when all the male bouncers told us to get out. So we migrated to the tent outside and another rude ass bouncer told us that we couldn’t wait under it as they tore it down. Minding you we paid til 2a.m. So I kindly told him to get over himself and stop talking to us cause clearly he was spitting out that hot s (/​& but he told us that we should’ve brought an umbrella. (Hurricane Joaquin was ready to terrorize us and the rain was never ending) Nevertheless we moved on to the daycare area where we had to wait under their entrance til über arrived.
NEVER AGAIN. I hope they shut that place down. Second time having a bad experience here.

Went here for a birthday gathering I never been here before. The parking lot in front of the lounge was packed so we had to park down the street. The whole club was full of birthdays. There were 7 tables set up and personalized for birthdays and they had a few performers. Oozee was there but she didn’t perform she just walked on stage with an old lady lip singing. I think she may be retiring. Anyways the drinks were a little high and the glasses are small. I had a Long Island and my wife had a 7&7 why was her drink the same price as mine that never happens. But the drinks were good so I didn’t complain. And we paid a cover charge of $ 10 per person just an FYI. Overall we had a good time with our group.

It’s ok. Adequate spacing. Ok drinks… bartenders act busy but really aren’t. The staff does a decent job of keeping the place clean by coming around every few minutes to pick up bottles, cups and other trash.
Security is tight as well, which I appreciated.
The DJ really sucked though… BIG TIME… he did not know how to spin, mix or cater to his audience. Music really makes or breaks a nightclub… even when everything else is horrible, I will stay if the music is on one… but unfortunately it wasn’t working and we eventually left, as did a huge majority of other people. (I actually stayed longer than I thought I would, in high hopes that the DJ would get it together… he never did). SMDH.
Probably won’t return.

When I parked in the clubs parking lot I wasn’t expecting the venue to be so spacious inside.
Nice setup, spacious dance floor, drinks were reasonable & not watered down.
I went on a Caribbean night, djs were great. Definitely enjoyed my time

So here’s the deal with Aqua… It does a lot of events with Asian college student organizations in the DC & MD area and is known as «the Asian nightclub». I’ve been there a few times and each time the experience was very similar. Girls would be dancing on the dance floor and some brave men might be dancing with them. BUT the majority of the guys would either be standing around the dance floor just observing the girls dancing or creeping up on girls dancing then grabbing them for a (very horrible) grind. Not pleasant –_​_​_​_​_​-​«
I say if you are going to hit up Aqua, definitely go with a group of people who you know you will have a good time with. Or get pretty intoxicated. It’s kinda cool dancing to Asian music if you are familiar with them and like them because no other dance clubs around would offer that experience.
OH the worst part isn’t the dudes. The part I hate is how IT IS IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE AND YOU CAN’T FIND ANY METHOD OF TRANSPORTATION, unless you drive or something. Basically I go there from GW by taxi and every single time we have to wait FOREVER for a taxi back or we just have to call one. SUPER INCONVENIENT. Especially during the freezing cold winter time… Girls, if you are hitting up Aqua in the winter please make sure you have reliable rides to and from. Y’all know it ain’t fun being in those short skirts shivering outside!

DANCE ~ DANCE ~OWWW ~ SHAKE YOUR BOOTY
So I came to Aqua on gay night. I have a thing for hot gay men lol. This was my first gay club and I was a little skeptical but it was for my pooh bears birthday and I had to represent for him!
Personally I thought the décor was great. I loved the stripper poles in the middle of the floor. I thought the VIP section was awesome. There were booths against one wall that were tall so no one could really peek into your section and they were sort of shaped like a U with a small table in the middle to hold your bottles. The other side of the club had cute plush benches, which made for a great bed once I hit the max level of blue motorcycles!
I thought the presence of gay men made for a happy atmosphere (In my world). I didn’t mind being one of 3 females in the whole club.
Whoever was dj’ing that night did there thing and the drinks were beyond strong. One thing I do know is that it gets PACKED! I mean packed… Other than that I had an awesome time and if you’re into gay men then definitely go to Aqua (if it’s still open lol) They have every type of man… downlow brothers, brolic, sexy, not so sexy, one nighters, wifesters, etc.

This place has a sketchy reputation, and definitely lives up to it. The scene is predominantly – if not all – Asian. Usually a good mix of the Asian Greeks (frats/​sororities) from UMCP which is about 20 minutes away.
The DJ is extremely mediocre and the floor feels like an earthquake. Energy level is far below that of other nightclubs.
Would probably not come here again… and would have to be severely intoxicated to do so.

«Wait! Is this club connected to a Cerebal Palsy institute?!?» This rest was all down hill from there.
*This took place on the gay black night. I’ve never experienced the Latin or Asian promotions, so I can’t speak on all that.*
When I was a twink, I used to HATE seeing dirty old men skulking around the club, droolin’, winkin’, stratting bar stools in tight jeans with their legs spread showcasing their junk. *Excuse me… I just threw up a little bit in my mouth* No ma’am. I promised myself right then and there that when I became old I would NEVER be seen in these places: «As God as my witness, by 34 years-​old if I’m not married, attached, involved or being handsomely compensated for my talents as a houseboy for some older rich gay white couple on Fire Island, I will NOT be seen lurking in the shadows of the club! Amen.»
Fifteen years later: I was invited to go to «the club» with some younger friends of mine after a small get together had died down. I guess; I really just wanted to go home, peel out of these ridiculously expensive, white True Religion jeans I was still kicking myself for buying, take out these dry-​ass contact lenses, pop a percocet and watch The Golden Girls. I had gone to the dentist earlier in the day where a simple check-​up turned into a root canal before I could scream my discontent, and I was just starting to feel it. I hadn’t taken any medication because I knew I would be drinking later that evening. My buddy gave me a tube of Orajel and told me to suck it up. Sympathy… I love it.
We drove down New York Avenue and stopped as if to make a left turn. «Uhhh, why are we turning into this cerebral palsy building?»
«Boy, shut up! You’re stupid.»
«Nooo, THAT reads, United Cerebral Palsy Center.»
«Oh! I’ve never noticed that.»
WTF?!
We parked and walked up to the door, where we were each given a free testicular and prostate cancer screening – they may call it frisking, but I ain’t never had no one that deep up my ass without dinner first (cuz I’m classy). As we walked through the door, I was flung back to my youth with a whiplash effect that was just as painful: twirling twinks, fashinonistic fembots, posturing powerbottoms… a pedophile’s wet dream. I immediately felt… dirty, paranoid. «I shouldn’t be here.» «Oh shut up! You need to get out more anyway,» was the retort. Fine.
The music was muffled, decent enough but not nearly as clear as it should be – or maybe my hearing is just bad now too. There wasn’t a line at the bar as much as there were a bunch of guys just kinda standing there facing the bartender. Okaayyy. I made my way through and ordered a scotch on the rocks that was served in a small plastic dixie cup. Wow. I found a seat in a corner where I hoped no one I knew would see me and began trying to adjust my slipping contact while sipping on my scotch. Of course, my lip still being numb from the Orajel, I dribbled the drink down my shirt and onto my jeans – «SH*T!” – and my contact fell out and onto the floor – «F*CK!» I immediately began rubbing at the stain developing on my thigh (that was by now oh-​so-​noticiable in all that damn black light) while looking on the floor between my legs for my missing contact lens. And that’s how my friends found me…
…drooling, winking, strattling a bar stool in tight jeans, with my legs spread, «seductively» rubbing my inner thigh. Yeah, Karma is a bitch; but her sister Kismet and cousin, Irony, are a MF too.

I have been here for Fridays event and also Fuego on Saturday.
Its not all that and if you dont drive it is a pain to get a cab out of this location.
Would def. steer clear unless you have a DD

I went here last evening (wednesday) for a comedy night. I got in free because of my flyer and thank God for that. If I had to pay I would have been highly upset. The jokes were out of date and nothing worth remembering. And the male host kept calling the group of girls I was sitting with and me lesbians. it became a cheap running joke for the rest of the night. never mind that we came with a group of guys who just so happened to be all together… we were all celebrating one of our friends birthday, she’s turning 23… but yea the comedy sucked, the drinks were overpriced,(avg $ 9 – 10) the only good thing was the chicken they bbq’ed and provided for free. I doubt I’ll be back unless I was there to support a friend. *kanye shrug*

one and the only oldest asian clubs around…
its like being in high school type club…
i have lot more blast experiences then this one.
most of the times water isn’t here…

I went here while visiting a couple friends who live in D.C. Let me start off by saying that my friends told me to never tell anyone that I went here as it is «embarassing» to them.
That said, I had to get completely blacked-​out wasted in order to enjoy myself. All I remember was that there were a lot of kids in there. I’m a little past my mid 20’s… so this was absolutely a negative. I can’t deduct too many points for that considering most Asian clubs are packed full of delinquent underage drinkers — and though my age is old, I look super young — so I’m sure I was mistaken for one of those kiddies. SO, my 1 star has nothing to do with the patrons of the club.
This is random but I really dislike that we got bottle service — and they didn’t have diet coke. They brought over our Grey Goose & Black Label… and then it was tonic/​cranberry/​coke. How is there no diet coke? I asked the waiter if we could have diet coke — and he said they don’t carry any. That is ridiculous. I went over to the bar and asked the bartender — and the girl was like «oh. here.» — she handed over like 10 cans of diet coke???
The layout of the club reminded me of a club I used to go to when I was 17 in the suburbs of Chicago. It’s also not exactly cab-​friendly (but then again where in DC is it cab-​friendly?).
I can’t exactly write too much on this place because I was completely blacked-​out intoxicated for about 70% of the night. It’s pretty rare for me to get blacked-​out drunk for a majority percentage of the night — so let’s just say, I had to get super drunk in order to enjoy myself here.
I think the tip-​off should’ve been that people told me to NEVER mention I went here when I am asked where I went while I was visiting D.C.
BTW: Unilocal,Is this correct? The full name is «Aqua Restaurant & Bar» ?? The phrase «Restaurant & Bar» is hardly ever part of the name of a club that’s a hot spot. No?

Aqua: an establishment of ethnic discrimination.
If you’d like to now what it feels like to be turned away at the door because you’re not a certain ethnicity on a certain night, then visit Aqua. This use to be my favorite spot to party in DC, but now I would never go there after an incident on Saturday night (4÷18÷09) when I was turned away at the door for not being Asian.
I was waiting for a friend of mine who is Chinese American and he was running late so I decided I would go ahead and meet him inside. Before getting to the rope (there was no line, hardly anyone there) a bouncer came up to me and asked if I was there for a private party. I said no, I just came to party. He said it was Asian night and that I couldn’t get in because I’m not Asian, and that I could only come in with an Asian person. At first I thought he was joking, but he was serious. Even after I stated that his claim is discriminatory, he mentioned the same applied for Spanish night; you have to be Hispanic to get in.
Since I’m Black, he mentioned there’s a Black night too. Oddly enough, the bouncer working there is Black. By then I was so pissed off that I didn’t want to be there anymore. I told my friend about it and he text his contact who works there about the incident. His contact didn’t even apologize, he only said he could get me in.
Just comes to show no matter how far this country may come discrimination will always be apart of our culture.

The absolute worst club I have ever been to in my life. If you read these reviews and STILL decide to venture into this sh*thole you must. MUST be lunatic.

Are you a pedophile?
Do you like to watch underage drinkers consume copious amounts of alcohol and then try to swagger/​dance as if they have Giselle Bunchon’s body?
Is the college Asian fraternity/​sorority scene your bag?
Do you want to commit a potential misdemeanor in your lifetime?
If so, this club is for you. The few times I went here was due to friends’ enjoying that particular scene (although thankfully none are guilty of #1). The place smells incredibly of cigarettes, has plenty of drunk boys running around trying to hook up with drunk girls (I use those terms intentionally).
I guess the only charm of the place is the parking — you do have a private lot on both sides of the building that can be used. Otherwise, there is little else that sticks out to draw you in.

If your looking to party with 15 year olds, then this is your place. Otherwise, i’d suggest another place. Grant it, this isn’t the worst club, but parking is easy and its conveniently located off 295/​rt50. This place used to be pretty fun, when i was a freshman in college but times have changed and so have I.

I went here once and the place was kinda nice. nothing bugged me too much about the place (staff/​décor/​level of crowdedness/​etc). The music will be crappy, people don’t know how to dance, and the energy level/​vibes are lacking.
So unless you go with a bunch of friends you’re not gonna enjoy it. I left that night and went to 9:30 instead.

If you’re looking for an Asian under 21 nightclub, this is the best and only in the area. Otherwise, you might find this place a bit immature. This nightclub is the only Korean nightclub in the area and they even play Korean-​like music at the end of the night too. The club also holds a lot of Asian college parties and Asian fraternity/​sorority parties.

The only Korean nightclub in DC. Fun in a kitschy sort of way.
Felt like lots of under 21 year olds partying and having too much to drink, but it does keep the energy level up.