Here's the scoop!
Everyone knows that working for the press has it’s advantages. This week I was lucky enough to check out the new El Dorado bar before it even opened. Located in the East Village where the Hong Kong Club used to be this is going to be a bar to look forward to.
El Dorado is not what I would characterize as a typical dive bar. The new owners have created an entirely new atmosphere by renovating and improving the previously neglected bar. The bar mixes old school dive bar decor with a slightly modern twist that exudes sophistication. The deep red booths and long 70’s era bartop inlayed with classic comics of decades past add a certain charm that together create the comfort of a timeless lounge. The East Village bar perches on the edge, hovering between a barfly dive and a hip hangout.
The four young owners, three of which are brothers, have a certain cadence to the way they pour their drinks, they put as much care and thought into each drink they make as they did into the details of the bar. From the gold flaked floor, vintage jukebox, wood finishings above the bar and hanging chandeliers this is the type of old-fashioned bar you can tell their minds envisioned going to when they got older; a type of bar their grandpa would have gone to is his heyday.
The result is an attractive, comfortable, friendly Dive-Lounge that provides independent entertainment, honest prices and consistent, cordial service. El Dorado’s purpose was to provide East Village residents and visitors with the highest quality neighborhood lounge, and I for one fully believe they have achieved this.
Oh. Right. HUH? Hong Kong Club? So I didn't know that San Diego has an East Village too. This is from the SanDiegoish blog. Anyway, for my bar and beer news in San Diego, I prefer Beer & Burritos.
I will miss Hong Kong. It was my favorite bar to go to for a nightcap after a Padres game. It was two blocks in the opposite direction of all the popular Gaslamp bars, and aside from me and Mrs. Beerandburritos, would get zero after-game traffic. You always felt like there was a lot more going on than met the eye in that place. And there was plenty that met the eye. A prostitute sat next to me at the bar once, and it wasn't until my third or fourth glance that I realized she was a he. The old Asian ladies behind the bar would give you a restroom token with each round, even if you still had your last one sitting in front of you. I wonder if I can use my old tokens at El Dorado ...
ReplyDeleteHey B&B...thanks for checking in...I really like your site.
ReplyDeleteThe Hong Kong sounds wonderful. Will you check out the El Dorado?
Seeing as how it's my duty to check out every bar I see, I probably will go to El Dorado before too long.
ReplyDeleteLast time I was in a bar with Dorado in the name, I saw former football star Pete Johnson holding court. But that was in another decade and another state.