Urban Lounge

Urban Lounge

Location: St. Louis City, South Grand

Address: 3216 South Grand Boulevard, St. Louis, Missouri 63118

314-772-3308

Times Frequented: Plenty

Type of Bar: Lounge, Trendy, Relaxed

Website: http://www.myspace.com/urbanloungestl

First of all, I'd like to apologize for my blogging infrequency. I have been out of school for about two years and thus completely out of my element concerning creative writing. I'm going to try to post at least once a week starting today, but bear with me. ANYWAY.

In honor of Urban Lounge owner Nhat Nguyen's recient crowning as St. Louis' Best Bartender of 2009 by the Riverfront Times, (and also in celebration of the establishment's prior wins; 2008 Best Drink Menu and 2007 Best Place to Have a Cocktail) I decided to bring my next review to the City and to a place I know quite fondly.

The South Grand area was first introduced to me in college as the out-of-the-way ethnic restaurant and art scene. After getting lost on Cherokee my freshman year to see my poetry instructor read at a trendy urban art gallery, I swore I would never venture near and never past the South Grand Schnucks for fear of my life. Granted, I was 18 at the time, fresh out of the womb of West County and chauffeuring a car of equally lost fellow Wash U freshmen, but that night did indeed keep me away from any locale past Tower Grove Park. That is, until I turned 21 and realized unknown, ethnic and artsy equals cheap, cheap drinks. Low and behold South Grand and I met again and instead of the creepy-crawlies, I got the warm fuzzies all over and marked my territory. The rest is history. Laugh now at my naivete. This is only my second entry.

Urban Lounge, being one of the classier joints on the South Grand stretch, was not where I got my South Grand feet wet, however. This is probably because it was closer to that dreaded South Grand Schnucks and not the Bread Co, Qdoba and Tower Grove. I didn't start frequenting Urban Lounge until last fall, around September 2008, after being introduced by a friend from SLU who often went when she was in college. Her friend often DJed on the weekends, (Urban Lounge is known for its trance/electronic live sets) and although it was a relatively unknown destination for a typical college crowd (Wash U and SLU), she told me it slowly caught on the more and more she went. And, after time and time visiting, I too slowly caught on to its allure. From everything from the eclectic drink menu, the wit and charm of Nguyen, to the especially random times I encountered while at Urban, I can call this bar one of the most welcoming in St. Louis, let alone the once scary South Grand. You'll see what I mean.

Atmosphere: If one word could describe the interior and atmosphere of Urban Lounge, it would be relaxed. It is a lounge, so I guess by default that's apropos. Even when the DJs come to spin on Friday and Saturday nights in the offshoot "dance" room, the main bar is still cozy and slinky with enough dark corners to share a private conversation and enough couches to sit back and kick up your feet. The bar itself has a nice luminescence, with low hanging pink and red-tinted lights, full view of every variety of liquor Nguyen has to offer, with minimalist art hanging on the smoky, sultry dark peach walls. It's not upscale, however, in terms of typical lounges; the baby-blue bathrooms are nothing to commend with hardly-working locks and worn tile, and not to mention and the chairs and tables in the lounge have an aged, battered feel. If I could put the ambiance of Urban Lounge to a song, it would be "Breathe Me" by Sia. If you don't know who Sia is, think trendy, relaxed, comfortable. Urban Lounge is just as accommodating on a Tuesday night with 3 patrons in the entire bar (including Nguyen) as it is on a Friday with the second enclave dance floor steadily increasing with bodies to keep up with the beat of the DJ.

People: Like any South Grand bar, there is no rubric for the clientele to be found. Give me your hipsters, wanna-be hipsters, average joes, politicians, and young women in dresses and heels (i.e. me) and you will find them at Urban Lounge just as well as at CBGB, Mangia, Jade Room, Absoluti Goosed--reviews all to come soon. However, the crowd at Urban Lounge is a little more cleaned up that the average South Grand dive, since, it is NOT a dive for all dive standard's sake. The preppy county dweller and college guy might bop into the mix as well as the underground lounge dance crowd on the weekends, really spicing up the soup here. As far as my visits have gone, everyone, no matter if he is wearing a blue stripped polo and khakis with a specialty cocktail in his hand donning a confused look and wondering "hey, what's in this?" , or if she's wearing a man's undershirt and black skinny jeans puffing away on her last Marlboro Red--everyone--is friendly, welcoming, and relaxed. The atmosphere lends itself to easy mingling. If a warm stranger comes and lays down on the couch next to you, it's nothing out of the ordinary at Urban Lounge, so don't be frightened.

Service: Nhat Nguyen did not win Best Bartender of the Year for no reason. Nhat Nguyen not only is an excellent bar tender, but he makes Urban Lounge what it is, and why I keep returning. Working with a small staff on the weekends, and flying solo on the weekdays, Nguyen calls the shots and calls them with spunk, charm, humor, snark, and a touch of drunk wisdom. And that drunk wisdom goes a long, long way. He remembers his customers by not only their name and their drink, but by what they do for a living, who they're dating, what they've been up to. The man has the gift of gab and a heart of gold, not to mention a knack for making an amazing drink. He's attentive and efficient when it's busy, and when it's not, he will be more than happy to drink a few right with you and share his knowledge on any subject, you name it. And Nguyen has an interesting history and past. But it's not my place to share his business; it's yours to patronize Urban Lounge have him share it with you. And he's really cute and short and has a great smile and does not look a day over 25, even if he's 10 years older than that.

Drink Selection: I'm usually a beer and whiskey type of lady, (oh, so classy, right?) and I usually skip the mixed drinks, but not here. No sir. Urban Lounge has some of the most innovative, unique and delicious specialty drinks I've ever had. The first time I came to Urban Lounge, my friend insisted I tried the "Strawberry Demure," a blend of balsamic vinegar (yes, you heard right) gin, rum, fresh strawberries, and simple syrup. With a texture like thin jello, and a unique taste of something sweet yet potent with alcohol, not only was this drink delicious, but the creativity behind such a concoction kept me asking for more. Nguyen also offers an array of other hand-crafted specialities, including a blackberry version of the Strawberry Demure and far-eastern inspired cocktails, using everything from ginger to elderflower, cucumber to hibiscus. There must be a rain forest growing in the back of Urban Lounge somewhere, who knows, but the exotic shines on this menu and tastes even better. Also, in terms of exotic, there is Red Stripe if you so dare.

Drink Prices: Don't expect that blueberry-dandelion-passion fruit-Venus fly trap drink in your hand to come with a clearance price tag. If you order from the specialty menu, expect to pay upwards of 7 or 8 dollars. But it's worth the extra few Washingtons you would have spent on a few standard beers. As far as beer though, it's pretty average, 3 dollars at most. But if you're me, and it's 10am, beer is free. I'm getting there.

Adventures that Ensued: Now we get to the fun part. Unlike The Corner Pub and Grill, I can really call Urban Lounge home. Yes, home. To cut to the chase, the couches at Urban Lounge are very comfortable. I laughed the first time my posse and I stumbled into the bar around 1 in the morning and my best friend at the time decided to ditch her drink and dive into dreamland. But then I did it myself. And this time, without my friends to wake me up and take me to our next location. Yes, folks, I have spent the night in a bar and that bar was none other than Urban Lounge.

One night, back in March, I wound up all over town per usual. I remember starting at Urban Lounge, then meeting a friend in Soulard, then coming back to South Grand, running into Nguyen at another bar, making my way back to Urban Lounge, then waking up to the sun shining into the window illuminating my smeared mascara-streaked face. I was back where I started, 12 hours later, only this time hungover and alone on the couch. Oh shit, I thought. I fell asleep at Urban Lounge. Now what. How do I escape? Never fear, Nhat was here. He laughed off the night, filled in the details, and explained that when he opens his doors, he really means it. We drank Bud Light for hair of the dog's sake, shared war stories until noon, and parted ways when a liquor distributor arrived and I needed to man up and head to work. Nguyen still doesn't let me forget about that night to this day.

Less exciting nights involve being the only customer in the bar along with another friend and chatting up Nguyen until the bar closed. We were there all night and the bar was our oyster, but I had just as much fun engaging in conversation than I did dancing in the second room with sketchy DJs, sharing embarrassing stories with a gaggle of girls in the dark corner, or hitting on random tattooed men just for the hell of it. Only at Urban Lounge.

Overall Rating: Urban Lounge is unique. It's familiar. It's everything you'd want in a bar when you have no expectations but secretly want to be impressed. It's the place you bring your friends who have never been, it's the place you bring your friends who always have been. It's also the place you convince you sheltered Wash U freshman friend to try even if she's scared of the South Grand Schnucks. And if you ever get tired, there's always a couch to lay your pretty little head. The prices might be steep and it might not be your every Tuesday hangout, but Urban Lounge is a gem, and let's keep it that way.

9.2/10 totally unscientific and random beers on the wall.

Bonus: Red Stripe is from Jamaica.