Red Lounge

Funky music, hookah & tasty cocktails in this hidden gem. Baseball fans will like the big screen broadcast while couples can choose a table in the limelight or a bench seat with more personal space

Don’t be fooled by the appearance! This place has great drink, great food, and great hookah! Service is great too. Thanks for a great night Red Lounge!
Try the Wonder Wings. On point!

very small, hole in the wall with tacky décor. the music was on point though. With the right amount of liquor I can see this place having the potential of being a fun place. But it honestly reminded me of a high school party with everyone posted up on the wall.

Red Lounge is very much decent, but I can definitely see myself walking right past this spot on any other day/​night. My party decided they wanted some libations after dinner and suggested something close to the restaurant Eatonville.
Enter Red Lounge – at someone’s insinuation. Being very early, around 8pm, on a Saturday night, the spot was fairly empty – to be expected. It is a very tiny venue (1^st Floor) that would probably cause me to hyperventilate at a busier time :) The 2^nd floor is bigger and used for dancing and mingling.
However the music was really upbeat and the drinks were tasty. The bartender even gave a free round of complimentary shots. Me and my guy passed however, not being snotty or arrogant, but we don’t, rather we can’t, drink cheap liquor. I’ve definitely learned my lesson the hard way a few times before. Sheesh. But I thought that was really great; on the house, at no charge.
Didn’t try any of the food here, but I hear tell it’s supposed to be good. I guess I’d have to give this lounge another go during their more active times and see if it’s worth regular frequenting.
Oh and the restroom (women’s) was clean as well. But again, it was still early.

I liked the Wednesday night with my boy K. Great crowd. Would come back here for food and drinks. The open mic was cool!

Don’t be scared. This place isn’t as popular or as packed as some of the other 14^th Street options but I would say that the music is on point. They offer hookah with plenty space to whip and nae nae. The drinks are okay, nothing crazy strong or too weak, but the prices are dc. The music was good, current hip hop which was great. I wasn’t stuck in a time warp with music from high school dances. The interior is okay, decently maintained but nothing impressive. This is a good place to come with a group and dance to some good hip hop music. They charge guys after a certain point in the night, I was able to get in free but I don’t think it’s the norm. This is what I would consider a coin flip venue, you’ve got a ⁵⁰⁄₅₀ shot.

My husband and I used a LivingSocial voucher for 4 drinks, 2 appetizers & 1 hookah. Upon entering, I completely didn’t understand why a reservation was needed. There were only a few people there. We like a good «hole in the wall»; however, the environment did not warrant the bill we received. I let the bartender know we would be using a LivingSocial voucher. Before ordering, we were told certain items are not part of the voucher. We ordered wings and shrimp. Both tasted average. My husband ordered beers and I had sex on the beach. The 1^st one tasted like a very sweet juice. A female bartender made the 2^nd one after I expressed the 1^st one was not up to par. The 2^nd drink was much better. We ordered hookah which was fine as well. We decided to order a couple of shots then close out. When we got our bill, it was $ 45! We were charged $ 5 for the «vodka rasberry» hookah (It was listed among all of the flavors and we were not told it was «extra» when we placed the order), 2 Ciroc shots were $ 24 and they added the tip themselves! When is the tip automatically added for a party of 2? The bartender proceeded to show me that the bill was higher and he deducted the $ 38 value of the LivingSocial voucher from the bill. This is a «been there, done that, won’t do it again» experience.

Definitely a fun place if you’re into reggae. It looks sketchy as hell on the outside, but definitely go inside.
The clientele is really vers friendly, definitely a mixed crowd and the drink specials are good. The owner is great, kind of a hard ass, but she pours pretty strong drinks… and happy hour goes until 11. The 20 dollar minimum for credit cards is kind of high though, but get trashed, smoke some hookah and enjoy.

Another great night with friends celebrating a birthday. «It’s Saturday night and we’re in the spot. Don’t believe me…» See for yourself. Grown and Sexy.

Went on Mlk day, upstairs was close, the staff was a little short handed, but very nice. Music was chill. Enjoyed the evening.

Yeah, it looks a little sketchy. Yeah, it looks a little janky. BUT, this is a great place to let loose and have a good time! The selection of music is just my taste– mostly hip hop… you know… the kind of music you «turn up,» to lol. They play some Reggae as well, but that’s not really my thing. It’s always a fun time here and LADIES ARE ALWAYS FREE. FOREVER AND ALWAYS. I can’t remember a time when there was a cover for a woman. And I greatly appreciate that.
P. S. The drinks are strong.

I cannot believe I have never written a review about good ol’ Red Lounge! It may not be the most appealing visually, but on a drunken night on U street, this may be one of the best deals you find. They have happy hour til like 10pm while others stop around 7−8pm. The drinks are always strong. They do not skimp you like Pure! The music is always amazing with a mix of old school/​new school hip hop and reggae towards the end of the night. I discovered this place in like 2010 while I was in college, and it has def salvaged many a boring night. Everyone free before 11 and ladies free all night. They have within recent years added hookah if you’re into that. Little Seating available, and they have 2 floors sometimes. Most times I’m too drunk to realize the logic behind closing one of the floors. I feel like when the second floor gets crowded, so they close the first floor, but I don’t know if its a particular time or based on the crowd, Who knows? One thing’s for sure, I always have a good time here. I haven’t been in awhile so I may have outgrown it, but if you’re like 21 – 24, I think you’ll enjoy it.
If you come during the happy hour, you will find that the place may be a little empty, but if you can stick around. Party starts jumping around 11:30p-12a.

I had a similar experience to Diana C. I purchased a social coupon through Homerun by Deem for $ 15 for drinks and an appetizer. The restaurant doesn’t understand how social coupons work. I had already paid $ 15 to the social coupon website and then at the restaurant they charge me $ 15 again for getting the two drinks and appetizer. So I was double charged. I will NEVER set my foot in there again!

Red lounge gets the job done. Come as you are, listen to all the ratchet hits and they make strong drinks. They even have hookahs at $ 32 each which was a major plus to me. Red Lounge provides the tools for you as a place to start your night or end your night. I went last Saturday $ 10 for guys $ 5 for ladies. It has 2 levels but I went up to the top. Went with a mixed crowd of men and women. The only bad thing is that bartenders are swamped so you better think fast, and all drinks are $ 10 even if it is rail alcohol. Most clubs/​lounges I have been to will charge you more for top shelf and less for rail. but not here so that’s annoying because sometimes I’m just fine with a couple rail vodka/​tonic. All the other places that surround this place have a huge long lines with mean bouncers, but not here.

DO NOT REDEEM YOUR GROUPONS HERE. TELL GROUPON THEY WON’T HONOR IT. GET YOUR MONEY BACK.
Complete dive. Owner was rude, dismissive, and the staff treats everyone like criminals. Will not honor groupons. First of all, the décor is a sticky, red-​pleather dive-​bar with deafening music and a pauper’s selection of saccharin flavored vodkas priced at Gibson levels. It is sketchy looking as hell.
When my friend first got in at around 7, she said there was no one there and she could not even order drinks the music was so loud. It was 7 p.m., not 11. My other friend rolled in, and said the same thing, except they made him pour his water bottle out, he even said «you can smell it if you want, it’s just water.» No dice. When I came, they asked me what was in my bag (a jacket) before they let me in. My initial thought was, what kind of clientele do you typically get where you are checking bottles and purses at 7 p.m. Imagine if you will, my friend who was asked to pour his water out is a 26 year old senate staffer from Maine. He looks exactly the way he is described. I came out of work dressed in work clothes from NW DC; a 5’2 Asian woman. We do not look like the type to sneak in alcohol in a bottle and did not expect to be treated as such.
A friend of mine gave me her groupon for 8 martinis (drinks) and 4 apps at this place (A $ 40 groupon) and I had both the print out and the PDF of the groupon on my phone. They adamantly refused to redeem the printout, nor the PDF. I even had my friend messaging me on the phone and they wouldn’t listen. You cannot gift groupons via the app after they are purchased in some way so that it shows up in an app. It can only be printed at that point. Keep in mind redemption via phone is a service groupon offered AFTER paper printouts were used when groupon first started. The owner proceeded to call me «baby» and told me that people photocopy the groupon so she’ll only redeem it via the app. Keep in mind that groupons are kept track through unique barcodes. So as long the business redeems them, groupon issues checks to the proprietor. I’ve never had a

Went here for happy hour while bar hopping around looking for good deals. The deals were great. $ 5 rails, long island ice teas, and more. The only problem was that the bartender (after asking 3 times to make sure) said that a blue motorcycle was $ 5. But it was actually $ 10. Was frustrating to pay 2x the price when I expected to pay only $ 5.
The DJ was live and they also offer hookah which is a nice change from some bars

Bar hopping with the ladies… Stumbled across this place, because we had to wait 2 hours for a table at the Gibson… (and yes, stumbled! LOL)
DJ was amazing, the drink specials were on point as well. Didn’t know this was a hookah spot, but, I will be back to try that as well. The crowd was grown and sexy, and really friendly.

Pros: Amazing spot. Great food, hookah, and service!
Con: Foot traffic in front of bar can make you a little uncomfortable. Not their fault.

Red Lounge is a odd spot right near 14^th and U Streets. It isn’t great to look at, with an odd staff and customer base.
I was there on a Saturday around 10 and the place was almost empty. There was only one lady customer in the place not that I was looking for women and she hit me in the back of the head and told me to wake up for some odd reason. I wasn’t even close to sleep. So the crowd was quite odd.
Drinks were actually decent even though it appeared that the bartender didn’t seem to have much experience as a bartender. Drink glasses are on the small side though, maybe they can invest in some adult size glasses in the future.
I will also say the DJ was pretty good, nice mix of old school hip hop and r and b with some modern hits as well. He kept the party moving decently.
While I didn’t have a horrible time there, I don’t think I’ll make Red Lounge a go to spot or return anytime soon.

I definitely understand why people think this place is sketch. Even I have passed by here dozens of times en route to Marvin’s or The Gibson and at least half a dozen times I stopped, assessed the exterior, took one step forward, two steps back and then kept it moving.
However, this weekend when I walked by I decided to forge through. Onward and upward towards the booming hip hop and $ 5 martinis.
What we walked into was a pretty empty, small lounge. Not at all swanky. Not at all plush. Not particularly clean.
I could tell it was going to be a one drinker, quitter.
Martinis were only $ 5 and fittingly, I went for a dirty one. The bartender was very nice and actually made me a decent cocktail. There were only a few people there, most at the bar and absolutely none on the dance floor.
I walked to the back to see what the private, «reserved» room looked like and I gotta tell you, it looked a bit sketch. The room was enclosed by glass and had a curtain that was pulled back. There was a sign to let people know there was a surveillance camera installed, so no funny business.
Me thinks’twas odd.
But damnit the music was good. If you’re into mainstream hip hop, you would have really enjoyed the DJ. He was killing it… all by himself.
Overall, I’m giving this place a 2.5 rating but rounding it up to 3 because it’s not entirely fair for me to deem a place sketchy just for the look and the vibe. Nothing sketchy really happened while I was here, but I don’t really have any plans to return.