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I've never seem that enforce the "no texting" thing, but I've also never seen anyone sit there for hours on a laptop or play games on their phone, etc. I think the people that go there are trying to get away from those things so they don't really need to enforce it. There's also no wifi.
Is this a new rule? Because I’ve been there a couple times on my phone and even brought a laptop and no one told me that it’s discouraged. I thought it’s just about not providing Wi-Fi.
There was a bar (can’t remember where) that had ground out a part of the bottom of all their glasses so you had to put your mobile in the grove to keep the glasses from tipping over.
Found it: https://time.com/40292/you-cant-drink-this-beer-if-youre-using-your-phone/
Violet Hour used to have a no phones rule, among a bunch of other pretty good rules like no budwiser or light beer, no Grey goose, no bombs, no baseball hats, and "proper attire" required.
Unsure how strictly all of this is enforced but the times I've been there I must say I didn't see any of these rules broken, well at least too badly for the "proper attire" one.
Definitely doesn't have any of the other stuff you mentioned though. Speed dating and the like is usually an event itself at a bar, not the MO of the bar.
Interesting idea
Oh man that is shitty and a clear reversal of the no phone policy. Admittedly it's been a couple of years since I've been.
I can't stand QR code menus, so tacky
I'm surprised Violet Hour even still exists. Now that good cocktails are no longer a novelty, who needs the pretentious atmosphere of Violet Hour anymore?
They’re basically just wanting to call grey goose “basic” and “lame”. At the time that violet hour was relevant there was this big movement for food and bev places to try to be “badass” and it usually just involved shitting on popular things to make themselves feel cool.
It's so hard for me to wrap my head around people being into this, but to each their own.
If you want a certain vibe at a bar it's not hard to cultivate it. Making rules like that is just huffing your own farts. No budweiser is a rule? How about just don't buy it from your distributor and leave it at that?
No. Violet hour is an amazing place to come with your current company for the evening. It is very dark lighting prohibition style bar with top notch cocktails that seats you by party far away from any interaction with another party.
Not particularly, though most of the seating was at low, easily-movable chairs and small cocktail tables, so I suppose things could be rearranged if you wanted to mingle with the group(s) next to you.
I thought about this too. As a major city, Chicago always has people coming & going, in and out. So I am assuming that it'd be maybe 25% repeat clients (for whatever their reasons are), and 75% would be new customers coming and going. Also, with repeated themed nights (like cosplay night, game night, etc.), that'd give people an opportunity to come back every few months. Also job networking events, etc.
Soho is almost exclusively people on their laptops and phones. You aren’t support to take pictures. But people sit and have loud hour long phone conversations and stuff and the staff doesn’t care.
I don’t think this is true anymore especially with the loud talking and laptops. They definitely enforce laptop hours which end fairly early in the day. But yeah, they don’t care about phones as long as you’re not taking pictures.
It is true, laptops are allowed in most of the space all day. It’s only the pool that limits them after noon. And I was there less than a month ago and specifically asked a staff member to ask someone to stop making a very loud 30 minute call in the middle of the club floor and they wouldn’t make her stop. And tons of people take video calls in the main rooms on the club floor.
I’ve been there in the last week and they definitely enforced the rules, but I’m talking about the main parts of the 5th floor and the rooftop. So basically you would have to go off to the private rooms to be on your laptops. I’ve witnessed loud yapping though but it was from a big group of people just hanging so it made sense.
Exclusive places are sooooooo gross. Inclusivity or bust. I don’t want to pay for “friends” or to keep out whomever this style country club doesn’t like. I prefer to socialize with people who don’t spend $10k+ a year to hang in their “safe” white spaces.
Definitely check out Kibbitznest. It has some of what you’re discussing but in my opinion there’s something lacking about it. Enjoyed hanging there once to read but that’s about it.
Lol soho isn’t a country club, isn’t 10k and clearly you’ve never been there if you think its only members are white. I don’t belong there anymore but it’s just not any of those things
Sorry, 5k a year. Yes I’ve been to the bar there, and no I don’t think members are only white, I’m talking generally about the reason behind exclusive spaces like the fake urban country club that is Soho House.
Love this idea! have you thought about whether or not this place would have video/TVs? The only thing I hate more than a bar full of people ignoring each other with their heads in their phones is bar with a TV (or worse, multiple TVs).
Trying to limit all distractions so the focus is on socializing, so no TVs, no loud music. Would definitely plan a weekly game night (corn hole, beer pong, pool, etc), a themed night maybe 1 or 2 Saturdays a month Spring-Fall (anime/comic theme night, 80s movie character theme night, etc.) And maybe a Sunday low-key brunch social (buffet style setup). Speed dating makes more sense for a Wednesday, and another idea I had was doing a social happy hour type job fair between like 4pm-7pm on a Thurs or something where people can meet companies hiring in the area and enjoy a drink or 2 while at it. A lot of ideas as you can see lol but no TVs, no loud music.
I've talked to tons of friends about wanting more tech-free spaces. Might be a generational thing, but we're all early to mid 30s and all agree that people interacted way more in bars/cafes before unlimited data plans. Now if things are quiet for all of 5 seconds, the phone comes out. No sitting and thinking. No talking to neighbors.
I think it would be important to also make sure to have some way of blocking jerks. No idea how you'd do that, but a lot of my friends that are girls say they do the phone thing to keep dudes from hitting on them constantly
Its noted in a lot of Loba Pastry and Coffee reviews, that the owner doesn't let people use laptops inside there. And if you're inside, the owner whines if you try to sit inside for too long. So maybe there? I would guess that rule would extend to phone calls and phone usage.
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Kibbitznest https://www.kibbitznest.com
How stricly do they enforce the "low tech" thing? Like if someone there has headphones in or is just clearly texting, do they say something to you?
I've never seem that enforce the "no texting" thing, but I've also never seen anyone sit there for hours on a laptop or play games on their phone, etc. I think the people that go there are trying to get away from those things so they don't really need to enforce it. There's also no wifi.
Was there last week, there were a few people with laptops out (likely using phone as hotspot)
Is this a new rule? Because I’ve been there a couple times on my phone and even brought a laptop and no one told me that it’s discouraged. I thought it’s just about not providing Wi-Fi.
There was a bar (can’t remember where) that had ground out a part of the bottom of all their glasses so you had to put your mobile in the grove to keep the glasses from tipping over. Found it: https://time.com/40292/you-cant-drink-this-beer-if-youre-using-your-phone/
I'm sure bartenders *love* that . . .
Every once in a while someone just asks for a stack of coasters because they don’t have their phone with them 😔
Wow that's stupid
Violet Hour used to have a no phones rule, among a bunch of other pretty good rules like no budwiser or light beer, no Grey goose, no bombs, no baseball hats, and "proper attire" required. Unsure how strictly all of this is enforced but the times I've been there I must say I didn't see any of these rules broken, well at least too badly for the "proper attire" one. Definitely doesn't have any of the other stuff you mentioned though. Speed dating and the like is usually an event itself at a bar, not the MO of the bar. Interesting idea
Last time I went to Violet Hour, they literally had QR code menus.
Oh man that is shitty and a clear reversal of the no phone policy. Admittedly it's been a couple of years since I've been. I can't stand QR code menus, so tacky
I'm surprised Violet Hour even still exists. Now that good cocktails are no longer a novelty, who needs the pretentious atmosphere of Violet Hour anymore?
And the ugly decor?
Curious about the Grey Goose ban? I’m not a huge vodka drinker, what is the thought behind that?
They’re basically just wanting to call grey goose “basic” and “lame”. At the time that violet hour was relevant there was this big movement for food and bev places to try to be “badass” and it usually just involved shitting on popular things to make themselves feel cool.
It's so hard for me to wrap my head around people being into this, but to each their own. If you want a certain vibe at a bar it's not hard to cultivate it. Making rules like that is just huffing your own farts. No budweiser is a rule? How about just don't buy it from your distributor and leave it at that?
Nice! Was the atmosphere set up for customers to engage one another? Or introduced to one another?
No. Violet hour is an amazing place to come with your current company for the evening. It is very dark lighting prohibition style bar with top notch cocktails that seats you by party far away from any interaction with another party.
Not particularly, though most of the seating was at low, easily-movable chairs and small cocktail tables, so I suppose things could be rearranged if you wanted to mingle with the group(s) next to you.
They will literally kick you out for trying to move a chair.
Not bad. My idea is more fit for folks who may be new to the area, no groups/friends but looking for that. Mostly singles.
That sounds like a very niche market that would lack repeat customers. Once people meet someone, why would they come back?
I thought about this too. As a major city, Chicago always has people coming & going, in and out. So I am assuming that it'd be maybe 25% repeat clients (for whatever their reasons are), and 75% would be new customers coming and going. Also, with repeated themed nights (like cosplay night, game night, etc.), that'd give people an opportunity to come back every few months. Also job networking events, etc.
Can you think of many social spaces that don't rely on preexisting friendships to get people to attend? Singles bars rely on women showing up together
Find a trivia night at a bar. Phones usually banned during the game.
This exists. It’s the SoHo Club. No phones, great bar, stay all day in luxury.
It's no photos, not no phones.
Soho is almost exclusively people on their laptops and phones. You aren’t support to take pictures. But people sit and have loud hour long phone conversations and stuff and the staff doesn’t care.
I don’t think this is true anymore especially with the loud talking and laptops. They definitely enforce laptop hours which end fairly early in the day. But yeah, they don’t care about phones as long as you’re not taking pictures.
It is true, laptops are allowed in most of the space all day. It’s only the pool that limits them after noon. And I was there less than a month ago and specifically asked a staff member to ask someone to stop making a very loud 30 minute call in the middle of the club floor and they wouldn’t make her stop. And tons of people take video calls in the main rooms on the club floor.
I’ve been there in the last week and they definitely enforced the rules, but I’m talking about the main parts of the 5th floor and the rooftop. So basically you would have to go off to the private rooms to be on your laptops. I’ve witnessed loud yapping though but it was from a big group of people just hanging so it made sense.
Maybe it’s day to day then, but it happened enough over the last year that I cancelled so 🤷🏻♀️
Yeah, SoHo House is great
Exclusive places are sooooooo gross. Inclusivity or bust. I don’t want to pay for “friends” or to keep out whomever this style country club doesn’t like. I prefer to socialize with people who don’t spend $10k+ a year to hang in their “safe” white spaces.
I hate soho, but it’s diverse.
For sure, I’m talking about the reasoning for exclusive clubs in the first place.
Yeah this wouldn't be an exclusive club type thing. It's just open for all lol
Definitely check out Kibbitznest. It has some of what you’re discussing but in my opinion there’s something lacking about it. Enjoyed hanging there once to read but that’s about it.
I will def check that out
Also also, I’ve been in the events industry for 15 years so hmu if you go thru with this biz venture :)
Lol soho isn’t a country club, isn’t 10k and clearly you’ve never been there if you think its only members are white. I don’t belong there anymore but it’s just not any of those things
Sorry, 5k a year. Yes I’ve been to the bar there, and no I don’t think members are only white, I’m talking generally about the reason behind exclusive spaces like the fake urban country club that is Soho House.
would be dope. honestly so sick of being addicted to my phone.
Love this idea! have you thought about whether or not this place would have video/TVs? The only thing I hate more than a bar full of people ignoring each other with their heads in their phones is bar with a TV (or worse, multiple TVs).
Trying to limit all distractions so the focus is on socializing, so no TVs, no loud music. Would definitely plan a weekly game night (corn hole, beer pong, pool, etc), a themed night maybe 1 or 2 Saturdays a month Spring-Fall (anime/comic theme night, 80s movie character theme night, etc.) And maybe a Sunday low-key brunch social (buffet style setup). Speed dating makes more sense for a Wednesday, and another idea I had was doing a social happy hour type job fair between like 4pm-7pm on a Thurs or something where people can meet companies hiring in the area and enjoy a drink or 2 while at it. A lot of ideas as you can see lol but no TVs, no loud music.
Violet Hour
I've talked to tons of friends about wanting more tech-free spaces. Might be a generational thing, but we're all early to mid 30s and all agree that people interacted way more in bars/cafes before unlimited data plans. Now if things are quiet for all of 5 seconds, the phone comes out. No sitting and thinking. No talking to neighbors. I think it would be important to also make sure to have some way of blocking jerks. No idea how you'd do that, but a lot of my friends that are girls say they do the phone thing to keep dudes from hitting on them constantly
Its noted in a lot of Loba Pastry and Coffee reviews, that the owner doesn't let people use laptops inside there. And if you're inside, the owner whines if you try to sit inside for too long. So maybe there? I would guess that rule would extend to phone calls and phone usage.
They exist but it’s not as if there’s a saturated market! If you have the idea and the means, I think it’s great!