Stingaree, the highly anticipated, three-story (to an airy roof-top deck) 22,000 square foot restaurant, night club and event center in the Gaslamp Quarter in San Diego, is definitely a new twist on nightlife that the burgeoning scene has not yet experienced.

For anyone familiar with the San Diego scene (a word that can barely be attached to the biggest laid back of Southern California cities), this is not simply a copy of On Broadway.

Modeled after night clubs from Miami to New York to Las Vegas, the most stunning aspect is the concentration towards VIP service. The proprietors and co-owners are the founders of Side Bar, a widely successful New York City style lounge – it’s difficult to enter this smaller lounge (think NYC space) without a pre-reserved table after 10 pm on any given weekend evening even after several years.
 

Anyone with a spare $2,000 sitting around can purchase a Sting Card, which will gain free admission through a completely separate VIP entrance for you and three friends for a year, as well as 5% off food & drink and invites to exclusive events.

As a pure night club, this is not where Stingaree succeeds or even aims for – the standard is still On Broadway for the time being. This being said, this is quite simply a club built for VIPs.

I hope that there is some level of success here – it’s a stunning glass-encased, multi-level and essentially multi-area venue that will hopefully serve its purpose, although only time will tell.

The front first level hosts large open windows to the street, where nightlife pods show off bottle service and an open area, mostly room to stand in at least relative removal from the dance floor.
 

The middle bar has a waterfall – impressive, but slightly over-hyped. On the opposite side of the middle bar is where the VIP tables really take over – there must be 20-30 tables each of which carry a hefty fee and/or bottle minimum. Between the bar and the tables is what would be considered the main dance area, although tables always are smaller versions of dance areas in VIP areas.

Up through a glass spiral staircase, the second level hosts more tables and another bar. There is also a VIP section overlooking the dance floor that is fully glass-encased – yet another display of welcome and excessive celebration. Essentially, this floor is useless for general admission goers.

Up again to the third level is the open-air rooftop deck. Again, there are well appointed cabanas, heat lamps for chilly nights and lots of to roam and have an actual conversation. The rooftop by itself resembled the newly opened Jbar, as well as having some nicer appointments such as many plush VIP booths.

Cover charge is $20.

The crowd is slightly older, even seemingly more so than even the typical Gaslamp crowd. It would be expected to stay this way, especially with the VIP twist.

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