The ‘20s are back in style at Newport’s Envy Lounge
For those who feel they’re over the club scene but still want to dress up, have a bite to eat and go out for cocktails, a new club in Newport Beach may have the right mix.
Envy Lounge is taking its cues from the 1920s, with a speakeasy vibe and “Great Gatsby”-inspired touches. The craft cocktails have names such as “Bonnie and Clyde,” “Flapper” and “1205,” a nod to Dec. 5, 1933, the day Prohibition ended.
“We’re excited to bring a different concept for O.C.,” said Envy co-owner Sammy Lakhany, who opened the club last month with co-owner Ali Hojat.
Hojat also owns EnVus Motorsports, an exotic-car rental business with showrooms in Costa Mesa, Los Angeles and San Diego.
The 4,000-square-foot venue at 4647 MacArthur Blvd., near John Wayne Airport, replaces Ten Nightclub.
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“The idea behind this is a social lounge for people to come and mingle,” Hojat said, standing below one of the club’s many chandeliers. “We’re an awesome first-date spot. I don’t think you can do a better first-date spot than here.”
The idea behind this is a social lounge for people to come and mingle ... We’re an awesome first-date spot. I don’t think you can do a better first-date spot than here.
— Envy Lounge co-owner Ali Hojat
Behind him, “Some Like It Hot” — the 1959 Marilyn Monroe comedy — was showing on one of the flat-screen televisions behind the bar. Big band standards like “Sing, Sing, Sing (With a Swing)” played in the background.
One of the walls features a 3-D foam model of the Chicago skyline, with video projected on it.
The club’s small-plate, appetizer-style menu includes a shredded beef tongue sandwich, oysters Rockefeller and a pomegranate and chipotle guacamole.
Chef Tyler Nix, formerly of Pueblo in Costa Mesa and the Big Canyon Country Club in Newport Beach, said his menu was inspired by classic American hors d’oeuvres and finger foods from cocktail parties of the Gatsby era.
“We’re reverting back to our history,” Nix said as a Ray Charles tune played in the club. “History repeats itself in fashion, food and style.”
Envy Lounge won’t have live music, but it does have a DJ playing period tunes and more modern fare. Hojat said the club doesn’t have a dedicated dance floor, but patrons are welcome to dance, as they did on the club’s opening weekend.
The venue has no cover charge. It has open seating, but private tables are available.
Drinks run between $10 and $15. Food and dessert plates are about $9 to $15.
Envy Lounge is open from 5 p.m. to midnight Tuesdays through Thursdays and 5 p.m. to 2 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays.
For more information, visit envyloungeoc.com.
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Bradley Zint, bradley.zint@latimes.com
Twitter: @BradleyZint
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FOR THE RECORD
2:48 p.m.: A previous caption for a photo in this story misidentified two people. The picture showed, from right, Sammy Lakhany, Ali Hojat and chef Tyler Nix.
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