First off, this place should still be called Stag Bar but the inland douche bag owners changed the name when they bought it. Hey that's their right, but when it was the oldest bar in Newport, that's just stupid to change the name.
The bros that hang here not Newport bros, they're inland and 909ers, as Newport people abandoned the place years ago.
How do I always end up at The District? Well, here are a few reasons, I guess.
"Dude, there's pizza and tacos right around the corner!"
"The line isn't that bad compared to Woody's."
"Dude/Chick and his/her friends are there!"
As you can tell, none of these are great reasons to visit. Â The District is a mediocre bar even by Newport standards. The crowd seems douchier than at other nearby places such as Malarky's or Commonwealth. This can probably be attributed to its close proximity to Sharkeez. The District also refers to itself as "lounge". A few tables, a handful of dancing patrons, and one photo booth count as a "lounge"? The drinks are also hit or miss. I came here last weekend and ordered a White Russian. I received something resembling a Whiskey Sour. As Bill O' Reilly would say - "You can't even explain that." Finally, this place gets crowded as hell.
On a positive note, the bouncer is really nice.
Pro-Tip: The District Lounge in Orange is MUCH better.
I'll probably get suckered into returning by my "friends".
This was a marvelous location.. It's a good size..long bar ... Large selection of alcohol.
We came here on a whim after doing a cruise in the Newport harbour area.. And I was not disappointed, the greatest part was the random phone booth (yes an old styled phone booth) near the end of the bar where the pottys are.. So random...but fun.. I liked it.. We spent most of the night in there... Lol, there is two little pool tables.. And I left out 1 star since the photo booth stole a dollar from me.. So they need to get that fixed... Lol
Overall fabulous time!
I came here recently on a Sat. night, I was surprised
by the crowd at this bar, considering that is in newport beach. I was expecting it to be more douchey, but apparently you would go across the street for that.
There was a good mix of people here, and all dressed very differently from club attire to casual.
It's nice that they have couches and chairs for people to sit on. Â They also have a pool table in the back, but it was pushed to the side to make room for a dance floor ( I'm guessing during the weekdays it is taken out ) .
This place was also a lot larger compared to how it looks from the outside.
There are lots of bars in this area, so you can always start here and work your way around. Drinks are $5 or $6 each, not that strong.
There is nothing that special about this place, but it'd be a chill place to go after work.
The District is pretty small & located across from Baja Sharkeez. It's pretty slow during the day but it gets really busy at night because it always stays open late. They have free food for MNF, pool tables, a jukebox, and a photo booth! I love everyone that works here- all of the bartenders are super nice and friendly. Lots of locals and regulars. Great place to end the night.
Review Source:3 1/2 Stars
The District Lounge is a small bar in Newport with a pretty nice victorian-ish interior. The drinks are pretty cheap which is nice, and unlike Sutra they actually contain substance. The venue is small containing one long strip hallway of a room with tables on the right, the bar on the left, and a tiny dance floor in the back. But the people that go here are usually attractive, fun, and memorable times can be met. The guy-girl ratio usually isn't the greatest, but you can still meet some pretty fun people, dance your heart away if you would like, or buy milk jars full of beer.
There is also a pizza place around the corner so after you get the munchies you can dabble around the corner for a slice or two.
A little tricky to find the first time, but it a good sized bar with plenty of amenities (plenty of bar seating, two pool tables, DJ some nights). Â Problem here is the service. Â Waiting almost 5 minutes for the bartenders (yes, there were two) to notice me as a new patron on a dead night. Â What galls me is that the bartenders not only ignored me, but did so after they served the guy right next to me! Â
Needless to say,  I will never  be going back here.  Plenty of other great bars in Newport Beach to spend my money at.
Eh, okay from time to time for a drink if everywhere else is packed or invaded by your exes (i.e.. my last Friday night). Can be a good place to stop by if you are already wasted. I tend to think of it as a "last call" type of place.
Youngish crowd, medium douche factor, bathroom always smells like vomit. In the day time, pretty dark and dingy. Good for one shot and a beer if you are on a pub crawl.
Cheap drinks, music is decent, not a ton of places to sit and no dance floor.
Overall, pretty average, but nothing horrible.
Randomly stopped in this place with some of my friends. Â I can see why this place gets poor reviews but I had a pretty fun time but that could be the fact that I was drunk and my friends are pretty awesome so they kept me entertained. Â Other than that, there was an insane amount of guys. Â Not that I should really complain about that. haha
pros: photo booths are always fun, no cover
cons: drinks were a bit pricey from what I remember
I dont usually go to Newport Beach bars/lounges because its a Douchebags homebase and its not my type of crowd but hey I went for a friend's bday and I admit I had a great time. *the alcohol kicked in* It wasnt overly packed like what everyone else had mention but maybe because I came on a thursday night who knows.
I just wished they played better music and have better bartenders. It was an OK spot but I doubt i'll be coming back. It was one of those "ones is enough" kind of thing! But hey if your up for douchebags and enjoys a wanna be trendy-hip venue by all means get your ass over there then!
All I can say is when this place was Stagg Bar, it was way better. Â They tried to turn a little dive bar by the pier into an overly trendy nightclub where you can't walk in the place let alone order a beer. Â If you can, they do have cool milk jugs to drink your beer out of, but on weekend nights they're near impossible to order.
It's too dark for daytime drinking, so your best bet for this place is a random weeknight. Â The District is alright, but surely you can do better.
One star for the photo booth - 5 buckaroos a pop.
One star for the very delish Washington Apple shot.
No cover, but very bad music, and an oddly placed dance floor. Not my type of crowd at all -- too beachy, pugnacious and valley girl? Maybe I had the stick up my a** that night, but nooo really, I had more than enough drinks and this place still made me yawn.
The only word that really comes to mind when I think of The District Lounge: Douchebags. Â As this is definitely their home base.
But even with the crowd aside... my opinion of The District is still pretty negative. The drinks are pretty reasonable (price wise) although it really depends on what bartender you get, as to whether or not the they'll be any good. Â
The place is dimly lit, uncomfortable as far as lack of seating. Not well kept as far as cleanliness is concerned and the decore (or lack thereof) is pretty shabby.
Usually on a happening night its standing room only. Â There are a few pool tables in the back which seem out of place, a juke box (ie: no dj) and televisions on the wall.... all in all, keep looking, there are MUCH better places in OC.
Meh Ive had better, like the rating suggests. Â I mean it is an OK bar, but compared to the other bars that are out in newport, this may be one the bottom tier. Â I mean don't get me wrong, extremely nice venue, and good location close to food if people are serving food late at night. Â Kind of has an old vibe to it.
Well anyways the actual venue is very very very small but they just let enough people in so that your touching a random stranger at any given time. Â The bar is a good size but not enough bartenders for how big the actual bar is. Â Every time i've gone its always been crazy packed and i've gone over 10 times. Â I feel like they let the same amount of people here as they do in sharkeez yet sharkeez is almost double the size.
A good thing about this place is they sell big milk jug beers here so cheers to that, but other than that I cant really enjoy my self here. Â You know with all of the people dancing to music in a crowded room not made for dancing...go to woody's wharf my dude. Â Bartender service is slow compared to other bars, and for some reason a lot of the D-bags of Newport are really attracted to this place
GO GET DRUNK!!!
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Jordan
2nd stop of my bar hopping in newport nights...
I come here to be able to breathe and walk from 10-12am. I guess it's a lounge, not really. There's nothing lounge or chic about this place other than the tables but there's not many tables at all. It's a bar that plays less loud music in comparison to other bars (or at least Sharkeez). I was able to have a conversation with my friends, awesome.
But starting at 12AM, this place this retarded too. The crowd is ridiculous and people start getting the idea they can start a mosh-pit to Usher. This is not rock concert, bro and I need to get out of here..
Onto Rudy's...
It was so hot here that my friend's glasses fogged up. haha.
The crowd is ... not very classy. In the hour that we were here, we witnessed a drink being thrown at someone and ice spit at someone else.
The bartender didn't seem too happy but he still made pretty good drinks.
There was a "quarter game" machine (I don't know what else to call it) on the side of the bar but the games were free to play. Our DDs enjoyed a few games of PhotoHunt.
I wouldn't come back.
I've been @ this establishment several times and its not bad/ not good. Â Parking is an experience itself, if you're lucky to find one.
Location is not bad, its literally 30 yds from Sharkeez and I think Blue Beat/ Moon still exists which is next door?? Â don't remember.. Â Prices are reasonable and they have a cool DJ jukebox. Â I was playing all the 80's from OMD to Flock of Seagulls to Pet Shop Boys ::)) - had to be designated driver.
The crowd is cool, you'll always seem some douchebagettes (girls) who are loud, trampy , and did I mention Loud. Â Been coming here since college but just been lazy to write a review. Â I recommend you go and if you don't feel the vibe, Corona Del Mar is an area you should hit up (just down PCH)
I agree with Rui N in that this place is better than Sharkeez. I agree with every fiber of my being. (I really dislike sharkeez)
3.5 stars.
I actually prefer the (dive) bar scene to the club scene. I may be totally wrong but the people are more casual and a bit less pretentious (relative to hollyweird people). There are always going to be douchebags abound, but I don't come to these places on a romantic quest so I'm unmoved by all of that.
One thing I will point out before  I go into a brief anecdote, douchebags (self proclaimed casa novas who think they're the shit) don't bother me, but assholes do. There's a difference.
The scene here has always been decent, good mix of girls/ guys. For some reason, the girls always love me here. Females approach me more than guys do. Or maybe i'm just more accommodating to females, I think. Beers are fairly priced.
I won't delve into the specifics of the asshole story, I'm realizing this may deter you from coming here. And it really shouldn't because it could happen anywhere. Let's just say I nearly socked some guy in the face, and I'm usually (if not always) really laid back and  refrain from being anywhere near asshats. Â
On the upside, the retard did get himself thrown out of the bar.
I like the district, and would definitely come back.
I swung by here on a Sunday evening when nobody was there so yeah of course I'm gonna like the place. Plus...I'm pretty much a sucker for any place with a photo booth.
Hell to the yeah.
But I'm sure it's different on any other given night. It looks like one of those spots that make you wait in line while scantily clad women get to walk in ahead of you. Ahh yes, the power of breasts.
Fab Morvan and Rob Pilatus blamed it on the rain. KC blames The District.
Much like The Hangover, we just had that sorta experience last night. Found a receipt for $83 in my pocket. Seems The District could be to blame. Must call police departments and Coast Guard to find friends.
On a boat in Newport Harbor at 1AM?
This place is OK. Â Get some doucherey in here on the weekends. (probably just spillover from Sharkeez across the way). Â
Nothing special about this place other than some pool tables in the back. Â They pay no attention to capacity as its a challenge to move a few feet when it gets busy.
Id suggest Malarkys, Woodys, Newport Brew Co, Rudys, Cabo Cantina, and even Cassidys before id recommend this place.
C-
I used to love love love this bar when i used to be hot into the OC bar scene and went practically every Saturday night. If you happened to get there late and a line had started...if u were a hot chick with 1 or 2 hot friends the bouncers would pick you out and send you right in (as it should be).
The good times here were had right after the place changed hands from its previous persona "Stag Bar" 2007 - 2008? I've been back a few times in 2009 and I have to say the fun crowd vibe is gone...nothing but douche bags now. Guys shove you out of the way to tackle their dude buddies and wasted chicks step on ur feet and spill drinks all over you. My boyfriend had FOUR different wasted people spill drinks on him within an hour....and it was only 10 o'clock!!! DING DING DING time to leave before a fight broke out.
I will say two positive things: Â #1drinks are good (especially the women bartenders and they still truely do their best to serve you quickly no matter how packed the joint is) #2 the place is clean (at least till the drunkies start a spill'in)
If your not gettin' waaaasted don't bother anymore.
I have been here most Fri/Sat nights since the beginning of Summer, and I have always had a good time here. Â I never went to this bar before when it was The Stag Bar though. Â The bartenders are fast, and I never have to wait so long that I get annoyed. Â The bouncers are nice as well. Â Â This is prob my favorite bar on the peninsula, despite how many people think it's "ghetto." Â Everyone seems to be enjoying themselves in there, IMO. Â My only problem is that it gets so stuffy and hot when they let too many people in. Â
I've always had fun, and I've never encountered any problems here, up until recently. Â This is actually a funny story, I think? haha...
Recently, my friend and I were confronted by a bitter guy there (we didn't want to talk to him because he was annoying).  He came up to us at the end of the night, and proceeded to tell us that we thought we were too good for everyone!  When we asked him what he was talking about, he then mentioned we had an attitude!  Well, I definitely had an attitude with him after that and told him to leave us alone, which resulted in him insulting my appearance.  I didn't know whether or not to be offended because he was short and looked like a weasel.  LOL!!  My friend then got extremely upset for him insulting me and started yelling at  him, "Who the eff are you to talk crap to people you don't know?"  But, it didn't stop the short weasel from running his mouth, as he continued to insult my appearance. Â
The weasel then got his Sasquatch-looking friend in the argument, and he too, started insulting us. Â At this point, I'm just speechless that they are such losers who want to fight with women because they are bitter, when my friend suddenly knocks Sasquatch's beer out of his hand saying, "Eff you and your apple juice!" Â As it reaches the ground, it soaks both of them in beer, and they are rendered speechless. Â They were both shocked at first, then kind of snickered and looked at us after that, but they didn't dare say anything to us after. Â
I think they picked on the wrong girls to confront that night. Â What kind of losers are that bitter? Â LOL!!
Used to be Stag Bar.. then it was at least known for being a decent dive bar... pool tables, cheap drinks, room to breathe.
Now with a new name and some used up bouncer at the front door, it's got that "brah" tude that many of Newps bars are known for. Especially don't bother going on weekend night cuz you will for sure find yourself in a long ass line not worth waiting for.
Seriously, District, don't kid yourself. You're still the same lil dive bar you always were, now you just have cheesy meat head guys that don't know their head from their ass and the slutty chicks who dig them.
3 stars for the long bar (no need to rub elbows with anyone here) and the clean, sparsely decorated space.
1 star for the crowd. Â Trios of Larrys, Moes, and Curlies in their salmon polo shirts (with popped collars) and the Frat "brah" mentality saunter around the dark bar in hopes to engage in conversation with women who give a shit.
This one is dubbed  "THE HALLWAY"
because it is a rectangular shaped place that is way too small to try and smash pool tables into. Â You will be squeezing by and having people squeeze by you all night.
Don't go there after 11:30 if you are a guy because you will have to wait in line. Â They are not so nice to guys.
If you are a girl (and have ONLY girls with you), stand off to the side and motion to a bouncer. Â He will bring you in the back door, but if you make a scene at the door then you lose your chance......boyfriends/guyfriends get in line.
It's extremely loud in this place and they place some pretty crappy rock with a sprinkling of hip hop. Â Get ready to hear Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" every single Saturday night forever. Â Forget dancing here.
It's not my favorite but will go here to mix it up from time to time and definitely still better than the 909 crowd you will find at Sharkeez.
This place is hit-or-miss. Â It's often crowded and good for mingling. Â I usually go with a group of my twenty something cute friends (4-6 of us) so we have had the benefit of being hailed down by the back door bouncer to enter sans line VIP style (there's almost always a line after 10:30). Â Keep in mind that Mr. Bouncer With No Emotion in the suit at the front is rarely as friendly in the later hours, even if you're cute (I've seen many a hottie freezing to death in line).
I've been here maybe 4 or 5 times and it's ALWAYS a sausage-fest, which can be GREAT if you're a single girl because you're bound to get some attention and free drinks (wanted or not!) Â They people have generally been pretty friendly and you'll see t-shirt and jeans mingling with cocktail dresses.
*Another benefit to this place is that even though they don't have "official" dancing (for some reason the city of Newport charges an arm and a leg for that license) you can usually still dance here anyway... so it's another option when you don't want to go to Woody's or Landmark.
Sharkeez closes at 1, so people apparently come here afterwards.
They have a jukebox here which is interesting. Â This place isn't really that divey.
I was able to enjoy about a good 10 minutes (and I had a full tokyo tea in hand) when the bouncer waved to me. Â One of my girlfriends was stuck at the door b/c the bouncer didn't take her driver's license from Thailand. Â It says her birthday but apparently he didn't care. Â She's 30 years old but apparently he said "no passports or foreign ID." Shows how welcoming NB is for tourists now isn't it? Po-pos were standing right outside the door and she asked if they could verify it. Â Po-pos weren't helpful at all. Â They said they can't force a private business to allow you to come in..which to me is fine..but they didn't even wanna verify my friends ID. Â It's like they had mroe important things to do like stand right next to the bar and chit chat. Â
I wonder why my friends go to places where they obviously don't care for your kind. Â Yeah I said it. Â
I downed my $7 Tokyo Tea (which was weak as well) and left. Â The bathroom was clean. I give it that.
A brief stroll brought me here for a really quick drink after I downed a donut from Seaside (I just realized that most people would have reversed the order of these two activities). Â
It wasn't as crowded as all the other reviewers made it out to be; I mean, it didn't take me long to find an opening at the bar, even though there were people just taking their sweet ol' time chatting it up around there (get your drink, and get out!). Â Oh, yeah, and it was a late Sunday night/early Monday morning. Â
My drink was decent but not as stiff as I expected. Â Prices were reasonable.
I sure miss them good ol' days when this place was The Stag Bar. Drinks were cheap and pretty stiff. You could enjoy the jukebox and have some room to move. My friends would always go here on thur or Fri. night and there would always be enough people to have a good time there....now its The District Lounge...blaeh!
This place sucks...always crowded, drinks are normal..sometimes weak. Most of the time its a sausage fest, music is too loud and you have to wait forever to get a drink. not worth the whole hassle.
The only good thing about this place is that they have no cover but all they did is improved the design of the place and give it a different name....nothing really special or a good enough reason to go. sometimes people want to dance but cant because THERE'S NO ROOM.
It's frustrating to see such a gem turn into this overrated bar.
Things that you will find there are snobby girls and meat head guys singing to tasteless overused bar songs like AC/DC, Def Leppard, etc.
Wow compared to Kat N., my time at the District Lounge wasn't all that bad. This was the first bar I've been to in this particular area in Newport prior to going into Sharkeez. Now don't get me wrong, I was a bit skeptical at first but Tiff convinced me, just to check it out and so I did. Although the night I went it was a bit more vibrant (compared to tonight which was dead (until about 11P.M. when people started actually showing up).
Upon entering the premises, I like the nice dark feel of this place. It's my typical vision, whenever I come across a bar. The eye candy was definitely happening (but like Sharkeez, I wish there were more diversity). As we approach the bar, in the beginning it took 5 minutes before I got the attention of the bartender.
If I can recall, I believed I ordered the following in the first run....
2 Buttery Nipples
2 Scooby Snacks
So girly drinks aren't my cup of tea, but being the good sport and friend I am I took two different ones for the team. Next round I believe that's when things got interesting with a different bartender. I believe I ordered the following:
2 Blowjob Shots
2 Long Island Ice Teas
2 Jager Bombs
2 Rum and Cokes
And Boy did it hit, right after finishing all of those. Thankfully for the blowjob shot, I didn't attempt it the way it should have been done. Felt that Brokeback Mountain status, if I continued along with the procedure. This bartender was also pretty entertaining which made our night even more filled with fun. So like Sharkeez, I was satisfied with how things turned out. Maybe, I'll return here with a bigger group if it happens in the future (possible U.Y.E.?)
The Stag Bar on the peninsula boardwalk is now officially The District Lounge (yes, same as the one in Orange and Fullerton.)
So it's Saturday night. Just had dinner at La Cave and even though I'm probably the last to be down for a Newport Beach bar crawl, I went a long with a girlfriend to check out the revamped bar.
Wall-to-wall people, yaaaay, my favorite. (Yeah no, not really.) Couldn't move an inch without having to forcibly maneuver your way through, elbows out and of course, getting stepped on along the way. Too. Many. People. On this night, there must have been some costume party among friends because this guy with the most awesome costume sidled up to the bar next to us, decked out in a white button down shirt with the sleeves slashed off, a tie, backpack, and a bike helmet ... Â a mock Mormon. Best costume ever.
But yeah, the rest of the crowd. Let's just say I saw a few guys in short-sleeved button-downs with those flame designs ... no bueno.
I hate to say this because I'm not sure whether this depresses me or comforts me, but I'm just too damn old for this sh*t: Waiting in line to get in, then jostling for standing space in a bar, wondering whether the kid in front of me is 21 or 22 and checking my cell phone and going, "Midnight? I wanna get in my jammies and get under my down comforter."
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