Post #693294 by Teevtee on Thu, Sep 12, 2013 11:37 AM

First post here... I have felt compelled to toss my feelings out there since I have had very different experiences at Three Dots and a Dash.

First off I have been there about 10 times since they opened... In other words I have really enjoyed all aspects of it and unlike any other bar I can recall I have really enjoyed going back often.
When I read about these crazy packed nights and bartenders refusing orders and obnoxious bouncers and so on it is so different from my personal experiences that I am really shocked.

I agree that those experiences sound horrible but again, they are not what I have ever encountered.

I tend to try and go early in both the night and the week... this avoids all of those issues. If you go anytime Monday you will find a totally relaxed, incredibly friendly lounge that is perfectly designed and lit, makes incredible drinks, serves the drinks is great (and sometimes custom) mugs and plays exactly the lounge tiki music you want. It's as laid back and fun as you can get.

It sounds like a Jekyl and Hyde experience where if you go at the "right" time you get an awesome tiki bar and if you go at the "wrong" time yoy get an annoying club. The problem is unlike Violet Hour or The Aviary they are located in an area toursist frequent and they are owned by Lettuce and therefore are very well known. So you have a lot of people who don't really know or understand what Tiki is poudning the place on th weekends.

I have been there during after work happy hour and it was much more crowded than "normal" (for me) but we waited 20 minutes... got a table and then all was great.

The key is truly going at the right time and waiting for a table is a MUST. Forget the large bowls or individual drinks... if you don't have a table you don't want to deal with drinking anything.
Another issue is that the back bar makes the drinks for tables while the main bar has to deal with everyone jammed around it... this is why they cannot keep up with orders when they are jammed.

I agree that perhaps they just need to cut off people entering the bar MUCH sooner. Maybe they need to allow it is remian comfortable inside and let people queue outside longer. But they have this notion that being a club with a DJ at late night is a good idea. Maybe they are concerned that the average non tiki person will wait 45 minutes to get in expecting an energetic club only to find a low key lounge and get thrown for a loop and turned off?

Certainly you never have this going on at The Aviary so there are some people looking for low key.

Regardless I can tell you that if you go early enough in the night you will have a WONDERFUL experience. The wait staff are great, the managers are very friendly and helpful and the drinks are great. Even the food fits the bill and is enjoyable with the drinks. I LOVE the physical menu... they just NAILED it in paying homage to the great tiki bars of the 60's with that (only drinks are $13 not .85 cents).

Anyway... if you are on the fence about it or had a bad experience try it but go early... think of it as a place to hang out before dinner. I was there on Monday, we got there at 5:30 thinking we would stay for 1-2 drinks... we left at 11:30.... had a blast... it never got crowded and was great time... ALL of my experiences there have been similar.