Taco Bell Commercial at Air Conditioned Supper Club
Air Conditioned Lounge: Pico Barhopping Just Got Interesting CarolineOnCrack.com
“The hip factor on Pico Boulevard just went up a point with the Air Conditioned Lounge.
Hugely popular in San Diego, this swank wine bar just opened up in Santa Monica, giving the city
a bar-hopping alternative to played-out Main Street. You can add it to the list of Pico’s overlooked
lounge bars–Liquid Kitty, the Arsenal and 310.
The Joker and the 99-cent store are the only landmarks to figuring out the location of this swank lounge
as the innocuous Air Conditioned neon blue sign can easily be mistaken for another motel or air conditioner
store on Pico.
Its exterior only hints at what you find inside–a beautiful Hollywood-esque den of drinks right there off the
beaten bar path in Santa Monica! Where has this been hiding? Right in front of my face all along, apparently.
” [More]
Business
Spotlight: Air Conditioned Lounge Gay
& Lesbian Times Published Thursday,
10-Jan-2008 in issue 1046
Since opening in May 2004, the Air Conditioned
Lounge has set itself apart from the crowded San
Diego nightlife scene by staying true to what
it really is: a neighborhood lounge. The salvaged
sign above the entrance of this unspectacular
building on 30th Street was the inspiration for
the name, and, by virtue of that name, the lounge
has attempted to stay “cool!” People
from all parts of the county make the trek to
the little nightspot on the border of North Park
and Normal Heights to get away from the congestion
and mayhem often found Downtown or at the beach.
Air Conditioned’s DJs are without peer;
the drinks are strong, and the staff rocks. Air
Conditioned hosts happy hour Monday – Friday
4 p.m. – 8 p.m. and Saturday 8 p.m. –
9:30 p.m., featuring half off all cocktails, $2
off all draft beers and two domestic bottled beers!
Air Conditioned also offers bottle service in
the Freon Room, the electric blue and wood-grained
haven (complete with a dance pole), where bottle
service and a dedicated VIP host pamper guests.
Air Conditioned Lounge is committed to the community
and gives back every opportunity it has.
In October, patrons and Air Conditioned donated
a total of $1,065 to the San Diego City Fire Fighters
Local 145 – Firestorm 2007 fund to help
the five San Diego City Fire Fighters whose homes
were either lost or damaged in the Southern California
wildfires. Additionally, in the last year the
lounge contributed to the Alzheimer’s Association,
Door of Faith orphanage, Breast Cancer research
and The Alpha Project.
Dimly lit
dance den for boho babes and beachy dudes LA.com
“Boho babes mingle closely with beachy dudes
in their best button-down shirts at this laid-back
dance club and lounge. Lincoln Boulevard isn't
known for its nightlife, but the folks behind
this stylish lair make it work. (They also own
a wine
bar by the same name in a similarly odd Santa
Monica location.) From the exterior, Air Conditioned
still looks like its previous incarnation, a Mexican
club where outsiders who dared venture in would
quickly leave with their tail between their legs.
Inside, however, the mod décor is stunning.
The shelves behind the bar are back-lit in different
shades of orange, making the bottles glow, and
there are '60s-style red leather swivel chairs
around the bar—so much better than stools.
The dance floor is tight, with the DJ tucked away
in a raised booth, but this sensual crowd doesn't
mind getting cozy. The spacious brown leather
booths leave more breathing room, yet people still
gather close together. The vibe gets more intimate
in the candlelit lounge, where the couches only
seat two. Still hungry? Air Conditioned also has
appetizers like shrimp served in a giant martini
glass and toasted bread topped with goat cheese,
cherry tomatoes and olives.” [More]
Spot of
the Week Night & Day, San Diego Union Tribune,
May 2007
“Known to regulars as the AC Lounge, the
somewhat hidden Air Conditioned has a 1970s chic
to it with posters of Sean Connery as a young
James Bond and lots of circular, warm-toned lights.
It’s easy to sink into the cushy red bar
seats when cooling down on Tuesdays for “Big
Sonic Chill” night hosted by KBZT/94.9.
But if you’re in a dancing mood, the music
is more bumping Thursdays through Sundays.
Drink prices are about $4 for basic cocktails
and shots with specials throughout the week. The
atmosphere is relaxed, and most people dress semi-casually.
So, if you’re feeling the heat at work and
could use a cold drink, AC Lounge is an ideal
place to unwind.” [More]
Big
Sonic Chill made the "“Spin Out"
article in the October issue of Spin Magazine
As
seen in CampusCircle.net
Hip & Happening
SPACE magazine, Los Angeles, December 2006
”Of the limited nightspots west of the 405,
the newly opened AIR CONDITIONED Supper Club provides
a great late night hang if you're in the mood
for a young, laid-back beach crowd. Order
upscale comfort food like Johnnies' little pastramis
or the tuna tartar sliders served on White Castle
burger buns - a taste of home for East Coasters
and Beastie's fans. The venue is an offshoot
from the original "AIR CONDITIONED" in San Diego
(named after a salvaged Plexiglas sign from previous
inhabitants). The Venice neighborhood den's
retro-modern design offers a feistier and more
spacious counterpart to its chic Pico Boulevard
wine bar in Santa Monica. Both spots host
DJs spinning the funky beats you might find at
rivals Zanzibar or Temple Bar. But don't
look for the AC lounge by name - just keep your
eyes peeled for a glowing yellow sign on top of
an orange building that simple says "Club."
It's a few blocks South of Rose on Lincoln, right
across the street from Baby Blues BBQ (one of
L.A.'s best undercover rib joints).”
I Love the Nightlife San Diego Magazine, February 2005
Here are 21 can’t-miss spots for finding fun after the sun goes down
By Ron Donoho | Photographs by Luis Garcia
(Note: Air Conditioned is at the top of their list and was the only club listed to have two full pages dedicated to the review and photos in the print magazine.)
Air Conditioned
4673 30th Street, North Park, 619-501-9831
One of the hottest new bars has a name that inspires cool thoughts. The only thing left over from when the bar was a dive called Your Place is a Plexiglas sign that reads AIR CONDITIONED. The salvaged sign inspired the new name. The exterior understates the new lounge inside. There’s a deejay, a small dance floor and a retro-modern design that lends chic to the place. Plop Air Conditioned down in Los Angeles and it’d be a snob magnet. In North Park, there’s still an eclectic friendliness. For now, at least.
"This eastern Santa Monica spin-off of a popular
San Diego lounge attracts a twenty- and thirtysomething
Westside crowd that tends more toward the casual oenophile
than the hard-core grape guru; the spaces strikes a modern
pose with clean lines, angular lamps and down-tempo tunes."
City Beat Bars and Nightclubs Guide 2005
"Voted #1 Bar to See in San Diego by the readers of City Beat, November 2005"
Air Conditioned Lounge
4673 30th Street, Normal Heights
At the retro-glam AC Lounge, the trendy and the indie mingle with ease. Whether you prefer Bond or Powers, this is the place to bring out the secret agent within as you and your octopussy cuddle on the shagadelic sunken sofas and twist it up on the dance floor at theme nights like Thursday’s “Orange Kiss” (Latin) and Saturday’s “Heavy” (funk & soul).
San Diego Union Tribune Strobe Light Diaries (Photo Essay)
Air Conditioned in Normal Heights
June 25, 2004
For this month's Strobe Light Diary, we'd planned to shoot a drum 'n' bass night at a big downtown nightclub. When the bouncer refused to let us bring in our camera, we shrugged it off and headed over to a new bar in Normal Heights called Air Conditioned. There was no cover -- $25 at the other place! -- and the chic little neighborhood lounge was a very chill place to spend an evening. By the soft light of candles and hanging lamps, we savored fruity house martinis, listened to old-school funk and people-watched to our hearts' content.
San Diego Union Tribune Entertainment Guide Club Profile By AnnaMaria Stephens
SIGNONSANDIEGO STAFF WRITER
On 30th near the corner of Adams, Air Conditioned doesn't look like much from the outside. It used to be a dive called Your Place. All that was salvageable was its plexiglass Air Conditioned sign, which inspired the new bar's name and, converted to a glowing blue lightbox, now serves as welcoming signage.
Though the exterior snarls "hole in the wall," inside it's lounge-chic on par with nightspots in L.A., San Francisco and New York. In atmosphere, though, it's a curious mix of the two. Though very hip, it's still a neighborhood bar, with no trace of aloof snobbishness. The crowd represents every possible urban niche, from college students to scenesters. Casual couples out for a cocktail co-exist peacefully with folks on the prowl. Like its name, Air Conditioned is extremely chill.
The interior design is attractive, retro-modern playfully carried out in shades of orange, brown and creamy white. Dark padded walls look like chocolate bars, while bright, round cocktail tables are painted as orange slices. At the bar, colored plastic lightboxes are a backdrop to shelves of neatly lined bottles...
Air Conditioned eschews the trendy for the comfortable – and manages to be both at once By David L. Coddon
ASSOCIATE NIGHT&DAY EDITOR
June 16, 2005
For some time now, I've been grappling with a nightclub critic's moral dilemma: Do you keep the cool places – few and far between as they are – to yourself, or do you blab to the world?
In the case of Air Conditioned, I've finally decided ... let's blab.
After all, this unassuming from the outside yet sophisticated on the inside lounge just celebrated its one-year anniversary. That's time enough for word to have traveled beyond the reaches of Normal Heights, North Park and University Heights.
So no more holding back.
First, the name. The ice-blue "Air Conditioned" sign on the building's stark facade probably dates back to 1964, when the first of several bars occupied this space, according to Gary John, co-owner of Air Conditioned. Before he and his partners, Paolo Emanuele and Richard Rosenblatt, came in, "air conditioned" wasn't a name – it was a secondary sign that told potential patrons that the place was temperature-controlled...
Today, it seems as if most of San Diego is filled with over-populated trendy bars everyone knows of. Most of the bars are either in the Gaslamp Quarter or near the beach; for the most part, they attract a select group of people.
Deep in the heart of Normal Heights, however, lies an unassuming hot spot guaranteed to please just about anyone. This secret treasure is known as Air Conditioned, which can be identified by its sole marking: a laser blue sign that reads "air conditioned." On the outside it appears to be a vacant office building housing nothing but dusty windows and cobwebs. On the inside, however, it's soaked in retro and decorated in a taste reminiscent of Argentina circa the swingin' 1920s.
It's quite intoxicating just to enter the bar, as the decorative art is stylish, classy and colorful. On one wall, a series of James Bond films can be found framed and it's almost as if Sean Connery and Roger Moore are inviting you to drink up and savor life. The bar top is underlit with an invigorating glow that seems to make the cocktails a bit more exotic. On one end of the bar, there's an exclusive room for patrons with wild spending habits, who are required to spend a minimum purchase of two bottles at $100 a pop just to enter.
Another cozy spot can be found in the back of the lounge. It features comfy fur couches, upholstered in midnight black and pearl white, which make one feel like he's in a 1920s film set. If you find yourself getting tired and need a quick power nap, mini-beds can be found next to the DJ booth. On some nights, classic films such as Barbarella or Scarface are playing on the ceiling, accompanying the sounds of the DJ and entertain those tired and intoxicated customers on the beds and couches...
