Laguna Lounge

Living in the Hoboken area as a mid 20's professional means you inevitably wind up in Hoboken on Thurs, Fri and Sat (and sometimes more) nights.  Downtown JC has its spots (notably Beer Garden and Barcade), but by and large, the action is centered around Washington Street in Hoboken. A buddy and I sought a change of pace recently, and wanted to hit up some of our other local establishments to expand our horizons, so to speak.

The first stop was Laguna Lounge, a place familiar to me because I pass it on the way to the bank on Central Ave every now and then, and because I used to see a ton of mini flyers at my local barber shop advertising their weekend parties. Oh, and I almost forgot - the place comes up in the local papers every so often as the scene of huge brawls / stabbings / melees / general unruly behavior. Not exactly the best marketing, but I digress.

Showed up after 11 on a weekend night.  The signs at the door clearly state the dress code, which I guess was enacted as a way to curb some of the undesirable element. The place is also 23 and up for dudes, (21+ for ladies).

A quick patdown by the bouncer on the way in confirmed that this was not your typical Hoboken bar. Don't worry my dude, this is my old hood and I'm not packin any heat. I just want a couple of beers, thanks.

The music that evening was all salsa and other older school Latin music (i.e. not Daddy Yankee / Don Omar).  A few TVs adorned the bar by the front, with a couch and small table good for a moderately sized group nearby.  A little farther back was the "main" dance floor, which only held about a dozen or so people.  All the way in the back was a pool table and another smaller bar.

My friend correctly identified the place as resembling "a typical Latino backyard party", similar to the ones that we both grew up attending. Crowd was almost entirely aged 40+, and we were definitely the youngest bucks there (aside from the bartenders).

Happy to report that the brief stay there passed by without incident. I'm guessing that other nights are catered to the younger, "don't look at my girl or I'll shank ya" crowd.  Don't think I'll be stopping by again to find out though.

Pros:

Cheap beer ($3 a cup)

Cons:

Older crowd
plastic cups for the beer