Downhouse Lounge and Restaurant

I do not like this place at all. The set up is just strange and doesn’t make sense. Not crazy about the food or service.

Great concert events, that’s why we come here. Good food for a lounge. Finger sized treats and if you want to have a full course — you can do that too, everything we tried was exceptionally good.
They have very good desert and tea selection. Maybe a little overpriced, but then, where in south Brooklyn do you come and see such flamenco events, Alex Fox and other worldwide known performers?
Getting drunk and passing out behind the bar is not up my alley. So I really can’t comment on the club scene, except for the fact that it’s super packed and very in demand on Saturday nights, therefore it attracts all sorts of people, hence the negative reviews.

This review is for the nightclub specifically, as I did not try the food, just the drinks. When you first enter there is gorgeous velvet and leather furniture, and dim lighting with candles and fancy hookah pipes and a huge bar, that ambience is night and rather romantic. But we came to party and try to enjoy ourselves, we proceeded to the backyard which was pretty much under a large heated tent. When we arrived after midnight, the DJ was not even at the booth, they were just playing some stuff off an ipod, tacky house music. The waiters there that were able to seat us were probably 17, they were at least hard workers. When we got our table we were greeted by a Russian waiter who hardly speak English, to me this isn’t a problem, but to others this may be a big issue as the whole crowd wasn’t Russian. The menu consisted of bottle service, which was on average between 130 – 200 bucks, which is decent compared to other places, shots of vodka or whiskey were 10, and cocktails were about 12 bucks each. I decided to go with a bourbon mojito, thought it would be a cool twist with jack daniels, but wow when I received it, there was too much mint and it was way too strong. I had to ask the waiter to put more lemon soda to water it down, but at least he was a good sport about it. The setup of the place is odd too, in the middle of the whole place was one large banquet table with fancy chairs, and that one single table had couches and furniture to the right, probably seats for bottle service, and to the left of this long table was smaller tables like ours that sit 2 – 4 people with chairs you would find from a retirement home, super uncomfortable. The crowd itself made me blink a few times, not that I care since I have dated every possible culture imaginable, and Ive gotten to learn about the ways of many cultures, but this crowd consisted of old Russians, young Puerto Ricans, a group of Indians, and Georgians too, and even religious orthodox people were there. In a way I found that cool because it shows how diverse the place is and that they are happy to cater to all people, compared to other places in Brooklyn where they only intend on having specific clientele. however the music doesn’t seem to match their incentive, as the DJ booth came at almost 1 am, the only music he was playing was one old Whitney Houston song with a house remix, and the rest was old Russian songs from the early millennium, luckily the people who weren’t Russian were so wasted to the point that anything sounded good at the time, but I don’t think that is fair, there should be more of a variety.
Speaking of the crowd, my girlfriend and I had an old man sit at our table that we didn’t even know, he was desperate and wasted out of his mind, it was so uncomfortable and not polite, and the tables next to us were also loud and rowdy, trying to set their friend up with me, because he was too shy, what are we in high school?
Even worse, one of the people from the groups who wasn’t Russian introduced himself, and was friendly, but he reeked of weed, probably smoked several blunts before he arrived, its like this place doesn’t even mind allowing drunk or intoxicated people to come in, hence there was so much drama in this place, one girl was wasted and lost her phone and kept checking all tables and tried to fist fight two du dudes herself, the other girl lost her coat so she was checking all tables thinking another patron took it. Speaking of coats, don’t even get me started on the dress code in here, it isn’t clear, some women came in dresses and heels, others came in jeans, sweaters and sneakers, I guess people just dressed according to the occasion, but on average most lounges do have some sort of dress code like no hats or sneakers.
At least this place doesn’t have an entrance fee and some sort of decent security staff to deal with these issues, the manager was very friendly, she checked up on every single table and tried to minimize all the drama, but shes so tiny theres no way she could do It all by herself, shes a tough cookie though.
A funny thing I noticed is that leaving an hour after boredom, majority of the girls from this lounge went over to the same lounge as us after, gee what a surprise.
Until this place gets their image together, and become more organized, and get a new DJ and new clientele, I will not return, it was the weirdest experience thus far.

Horrible service. Stay away!!! Went for a birthday party. Spent four hours there and never received my drink or entrée that I ordered. Do not give this business you hard earned money.

I suggest you come with absolutely zero expectations because if you end up here, its that kind of night… If you are not Russian, please do not go, its almost impossible for you to have a good time.

Terrible food, terrible service. Cute backyard in the summer to go to and get drinks with friends but if that’s not open then this place is pretty much empty. Not a place to visit unless they have the back open

This place is horrible. The hostess is extremely rude. The security don’t know how to work at all. One of him punched my girlfriend and kicked her in the street at her birthday party just because she said to the hostess stop being rude to her. The manager doesn’t want to show up to solve the problems. The food is garbage. There is not enough place to dance. There are only Russian customers who don’t knw how to behave on public. NEVER GO THERE if you want to have a good night with your friends

Not impressed at all. I’m never coming back here based on horrible service alone. It shouldnt take twenty minutes to bring a glass of water. Takes same amount of time to order. The fact that they tacked on a 20% tip on our bill (bill was for 4 people) was ridiculous, particularly because our waitress really deserved no tip, thats how bad service was.
While I am Russian/​Russian speaking, our group was mixed Russian/​American and the waitresses kept speaking Russian to everyone which made non Russian speakers uncomfortable. To me it was very rude because even though they cater to a largely Russian crowd, you are situated in Brooklyn and should really speak English unless the person is already talking to you in Russian. Having to translate for non-​Russian speaking friends is a little ridiculous in NY.
The place was disorganized, the hostess didnt know who I was referring to when I told them I arrived for a reservation that was made under a particular name and instead kept offering names of other people who made reservations which I didnt understand… I knew the name of my party, were they expecting me to change my answer?
$ 10 charge at the door for men is obnoxious considering the not so great neighborhood and the not so fancy venue. Don’t really understand why thats a thing.
When our party arrived for our reservation we were told that we would have to pay $ 50 a head, something that we were not told upon making the reservation. They did however relent when the person whose party it was told them that there was absolutely no way that was going to happen because they had never told her that this charge applied when she booked the place.
Overall…I am not returning. The vibe is okay and the furnishings are decently cozy but the staff really need to step it up. Service is just AWFUL, and the place wasnt full enough to excuse poor service on the basis of them being overbooked. Food is also not anything special.

If you are Russian, and want to hang out after work, this place is for you. Americans? Sure they’re welcomed as well, but this is primarily a Russian venue. Prices are decent, food is pretty good (try the seared tuna salad!). How about getting a hookah!
The place keeps getting better and better. They put a giant tent-​like thing in the backyard, and it’s so cozy and awesome. I mainly go there for the concerts. There are a lot of really good musicians, YES EVEN NON-​RUSSIAN ones performing there.
Saturday nights are not my thing though. However, if you’re into uttsss utsss utsss music, this is it. And you can meet a nice Russian chick.
Overall, this has become an extension of my living room. It’s very cozy and most of the time it’s a pleasant experience.

Came here on a Saturday. Great vibe, great crowd, great music. Forget about tables if you’re arriving late. Huge heated backyard area was great.

Came in for Halloween party. It would have been great, but…
1. Called to make reservation, they said $ 50 buck min each person, nothing about cover charge. We show up the night of the party turn out there is $ 20 charge for the guys, do you think this should been mentioned on the phone?!! Since the security is not up to current pop culture he thought that my husband’s outfit was not a costume there for he has to pay $ 30. I tried to argue as a matter of principle but it was loose battle because the doorman (oh I am sorry security/​costume judge knew best).
Oh yes plus he does not speak more then 5 words of English and thinks its ok to talk down to customers.
2. Table, we were party of 8, while there were plenty of good size table we were given table for 6 and we had to sit on top of each other. I saw smaller parties sitting at large tables, so no clue how to manage the space.
3. They seemed understaffed or overbooked as service was super slow, it took forever to get anything from the waitress.
4.Overbooked, ok so the point of Halloween party to come and show off your costume and dance, but they put in so many tables that there was no room to really dance, unless you pack your self like a sardine into back tent but it was not fun. I do not need alot of space to dance but people walking over your head with drinks, it was plain idiotic. I understand trying to make bottom line dollar but come on this a party we need to be able to dance.
5. Drinks were weak and food was blah, fries were super soggy as if they were sitting for hours.
6.Someone stole my wig!!! So where is mean mr. Security, oh wait he is busy judging costumes outside, lol.
Over all crowd was ok, no cheap looking girls or other wise know as J1 visa.
I did not care for rude front door, nor did I care for gross food.
Will not bother on coming back.

Truly guys, this place is awesome. The food is excelent, the vibe is great, and the service is right on. You can tell when ownership and management cares, and these people do. No matter if I’m there on a weekday when it’s nice mellow, or out with friends on weekends, we always have a great time.Always.

I thought this place was alright, and I am not into the Russian club/​lounge scene at all. In fact, I usually try to stay away from it, but a few friends decided to go here, so I went along. It was a Friday night, and it wasn’t too horribly crowded. We got seats by a fire pit outside and just hung out and had fun. No complaints, really.

Wanted to come for dinner sat night. but was told since i have a groupon cant have dinner reservation because they have a club at 10 pm and they have a cover charge and they wont be making $ of me so I should come a different day.

Great place to hang out during the week nights.
I love about this place:
1. that is has an open backyard
2. they serve hukkahs including (around $ 25/​big one)
3. very good sheaf and menu changes from time to time
4. Decent life music concerts.
I don’t like about this place:
1. can get really loud and i don’t particularly like this crowd
2. from time to time they organize concerts and they block access to backyard
3. Saturday night is so crowded it is hard to get a table
4. Waiters are rather pushy and it is somewhat difficult to keep occupying the table if you stop ordering.

Simply, I would not want to come back here.
Unless of course I’m in the mood for freezing my buns off, extremely loud music, not speaking with anyone because of the extremely loud music, questioning my sanity because of the trashy extremely loud music, up and down stares from people who actually like extremely loud trashy music, rolling eyes, mini skirts, cashing out my weekly savings and not eating. I would certainly come back here if I was looking for a young (ish) hot Russian wife. But I am one (ha!) so I don’t need one :)
If it wasn’t for my best friend just trying to get some party on for the night, I would never be here. A tent in the middle of January, even with some heat lamps is just not worth the effort. The food (if anyone actually cares to come here for the food) ranged from average to inedible. My taste buds (as hungry as they usually are in site of any food) lost all their appetite after a few bites of this and that (Salmon tartar, Downhouse Shrimp, Chicken ceasar, calmari, etc)
Not my thing. Not my scene. I’m getting too old for this, blah, blah… Call it what you want, there are numerous more lovelier/​exciting/​yummier/​enjoyable ways to spend an evening with friends.

Used to go there 2 –3 times in week
used to love spending long winter nights with my friends in warm and cozy place
That is what usually happens when owners don’t care about customer service anymore…
Service –star
Price –star
Atmosphere –star

You can’t really set the bar high, especially when you’re at a Russian lounge in Brooklyn next to McDonald Ave. I came here for a friends bday and we got in w/​o paying the $ 10 cover. We got some seats outside and I spend my night on the dance floor dancing to mediocre clubby music. If you’ve got Russian friends in Brooklyn, there is a high likelihood that you’ll run into them here. Drinks were decent, even though I choose self-​service and went up to the bar myself. Wouldn’t come here by choice.

So i love the décor inside: nice dark goth as mentioned by previous Unilocaler’s…and they have a really nice outside area which is perfect for summer… there are swings… and a tent… which gets hot as hell but its great on a cool summer night.
I honestly hate the service (minus 1 star) — awful is not the word!
But its a lounge and that means you shouldn’t be in a rush anyways right?
I’ve been spending Sunday afternoons there and the reason for this other than the brunch menu and the really good music is that there aren’t many outdoor options for brunch in Brooklyn especially after 3pm.
The food… well prices are that of any lounge… brunch is cheaper… the steak and eggs is awesome… but my real favorite is the salmon off the regular menu… it is a must have!

While visiting my parents in the old hood, my boyfriend and I decided to meet up with some friends for a drink and settled on Downhouse. Now I’m a Russian lounge pro, I’ve been to the best and worst of them and this one was actually a pleasant surprise.
The goth style interior was probably my favorite part. We settled in our plush chairs around a small round table and watched the fireplace which may or may not have had a real fire going. The drinks are Manhattan prices, but that is the norm at Russian lounges like this. They also have hookahs available as well as a full menu.
The food is hit or miss. I hated my crepes with red caviar and avocado. Especially since they were served cold and there were chunks of unmelted butter in there. However the chicken someone else had ordered was delicious.
I hear there’s a really nice garden area that’s open in the summer that I would definitely come back to see. In the winter the area is open for smokers to step outside which kind of sucked since people would keep opening the door and the icy breeze would pass through the place. I sat in my winter jacket the whole time.
Overall, I’d come back only because it’s conveniently located next to the train.