Skye Lounge opens in DC’s financial district
11 Comments »The much awaited Skye Lounge has softly opened in the space where we once found Karma (19th & Eye Streets, NW). If you love Mediterranean cuisine (the owners George Koutsoukos and Dan Allen kept the Karma chef), a relaxed lounge-like feel, mojitos, martinis, great music, flat screen TV’s and yes, a huge two sided patio for outdoor cocktailing, then Skye is perfect.
The restaurant lounge has only been open a little over a week and already they have gained a loyal following for not only lunch, but also the happy hour/playoff game watchers from around the financial district radius. But don’t think the weekday happy hour crowd is the only group this sexy place draws. After the sun goes down, many who are looking for a new place to check out before the “clubs” and have gotten into a K Street venue funk, have sauntered in to try one or five of the multiple flavored fruit mojitos (made fresh right there!). Many even have stayed through the evening and skipped the clubs because of the great fresh young professional crowd and the music (can you say Ryan Zimmerman and a few other baseball playahs Saturday night?).
The floor to ceiling windows offer great lighting, but at night, the management kindly shuts the soft drapes, offering more privacy and intimacy. The couches are soft creme leather and off-set the Chinese lanterns and blue walls, ceilings, and floors. While the place is now just “settling in” to itself and finalizing a few more very unique details (hint, every been to Red Square in Las Vegas?), including the DJ booth, Skye Lounge hit the mark on food, atmosphere, cocktails, and crowd and would be perfect for hosting a private or semi-private event.
For more information on Skye Lounge DC, please go to www.skyedc.com
(**Skye Lounge is a Special Highlighted Partner of Pamela’s Punch**)
April 4th, 2008 at 4:43 pm
Hmmm…if your looking for attractive guys or cute bartenders….this isnt the place…mostly middle eastern girls I guess….wouldn’t go back…..
April 6th, 2008 at 10:26 pm
Just because the management at Skye is Middle Eastern, you won’t go back? Shallow!
April 11th, 2008 at 10:48 am
I had a blast last Thursday night. The music was amazing, we had an awesome cocktail waitress who was very friendly and chatted it up with all my clients. We came for happy hour and ended up staying late. Very refreshing from other places in the city. Thumbs UP!
April 14th, 2008 at 6:01 pm
Well I was devastated when I saw that Karma was gone, but I agree with Pamela, this is even better! Great lounge for after work happy hour that easily transitions to clubby feel. The food is great! Although I was under the influence of several $5 glasses of champagne when I ate. Yes $5 a glass.
April 23rd, 2008 at 1:24 pm
killer music when i went but the ambiance and decor was underwhelming.
April 25th, 2008 at 4:12 pm
Had a blast last night & a good looking after work crowd. Love the outdoor patio
April 27th, 2008 at 11:17 pm
the ’skye lounge’ is the new incarnation of the space formerly known as ‘karma’. i never went to karma, so i cannot compare the two. however, i can say that i was less than impressed with my skye lounge experience.
a friend wanted to give it go. she thought it’d be a good fit for our girls’ night out as we were looking for a nice location, but also someplace the other member of our party could watch the cavs-wizards game.
skye bills itself as ‘an upscale martini and sports lounge’. first problem: identity crisis. it feels very much like a lounge and the plasmas with GOLTV seem a bit out of place.
next problem: the music is WAY too loud for it to be at all possible to enjoy a game or match. when we first arrived, there was dance music playing at a reasonable volume. as the music changed genres from pop to rap to 80s/hair bands/bon jovi, it became increasingly louder. and louder. by the end of the night, my friend was practically screaming at me and i could barely hear her. if there had been sound on the tv, it certainly would not have been audible. there wasn’t closed captioning on the tvs, so we had no idea how the game was being called or what the announcers were saying.
third problem: waitstaff. our waitress acted like we were third wheels cramping her style on a good night out. she did thank us at the end of the night, but it didn’t make up for the fact that her attitude was strange and off-putting. the bussers came to our table almost every 5 minutes to clear away dishes and glasses, sweeping everything up before i could barely get ‘i’m not finished with that’ out of my mouth. even though they would frequently appear out of nowhere, our water glasses were never refilled and eventually they were taken away along with everything else
April 27th, 2008 at 11:17 pm
my friend had to ask about half a dozen times for the tv to be changed to the b-ball game. apparently they don’t have TNT, only comcast sports net. and GOLTV.
the location is convenient for world bankers, IMFers, other various K streeters, etc and it does have prime outdoor space, but there are better bars for a drink after work. i like the circle lounge. they have a nice happy hour and those frites are soo yummy. moreover, there are definitely other places around to hang out and watch the game. and you won’t have to listen to ‘867-5309′ at obscene volumes while doing so.
May 20th, 2008 at 3:26 pm
I just had the BEST lunch EVER at Skye Lounge with two friends visiting from San Francisco. The service was outstanding and truly attentive and the food was spectacular. I was so impressed I had to rush back to the office and look up all their info. After taking a look at their well equipped bar I am for sure having a girl’s night out with my friends at Sky Lounge. Not to mention dinner parties, I just can’t say enough about the great food and service. Not to mention one of the hot owners giving us free hummus and baba ghanoush, but everything was flawless! This place rocks!
May 29th, 2008 at 12:43 pm
went to skye lounge no less than one hour ago for lunch. i ate a skyewich that tasted like a fried Kraft Lunchable, and wich is now fighting a war of attrition with my internal organs. i think it was actually the 6 strands of scraggly bitter lettuce accompanying the skyewich that actually tipped me over the edge though.
that said, the ginger ale was fine and the bartender’s attractiveness was above average for the hybrid cocktail bar/sports bar scene, so I’ll probably go back with the girls tonight.
June 10th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
As someone who works nearby, I have found Skye to be an enormous improvement over Karma and other options in the area. I’m not a big fan of their food, but for drinks after work or coffee during, it’s a nice place to hang out. I’m amazed at some of the negative comments. The staff is extremely nice and attentive each time I’ve visited.