The food is delectable and the service is top notch. The vibey ambiance is what keeps me coming back as my weekly post- work watering hole. Ali, the manager, is kind and present. The bartender Masha serves the drinks cold and strong!! read more

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We had cocktails here and appetizers from the restaurant next store. Masha the bartender is the absolute BEST! We stayed longer than intended, had another round and almost missed our subsequent dinner reservation! This is an excellent option for drinks, appetizers or dinner. read more

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Thanks Masha and Sal for an amazing Morocco and Brazil World Cup game. Amazing service and we felt very welcomed. We were able to enjoy two amazing games! read more

Bar Loretta - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Menlo Park, California

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Great place, yummy food, GREAT bartenders Masha and Diego know how to do it right!!! Honoring the Grateful Dead at the original Magoo's Pizza Parlor, i mean ya can't go wrong! read more

Bar Loretta - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Menlo Park, California

Very cute bar- serving cocktails (and they change their menu often!) Theres ample parking in and around the area which made it a good place to try after work! The servers were nice and swtiched out the tequila for a mezcal when i told them I like mezcal cocktails. They have olives and a cheese plate for nibbling along side the cocktails. The drinks were pretty delicious but definitely on the pricier side! A nice place to visit for a drink (or two) before heading out for dinner! read more

Bar Loretta - Seating - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Menlo Park, California

Hate to leave bad reviews but had an awful experience here, their hours are not accurate. Saturday night and the bar looked like a ghost town, our bartender made us feel rushed and we totally got the vibe that he wanted to leave ASAP ... it was 9pm... he started to clean everything and not even bothered to check if we wanted another drink (4 people sitting at the bar) there was a nice girl that tried to take our order but unfortunately we got this other person. Definitely not coming back! read more

Menlo needed a great bar and Loretta delivers!! So happy to have this spot nearby-- came in with some friends for the first time this past weekend and had such a great time!! The drinks are great, service is quick, and the vibe is wonderful-- the perfect late night spot that Menlo desperately needed. Some of the other reviews mention bright lighting, but that was not our experience at all. It was dark and moody-- perfect for a bar, in my opinion. Also, we didn't notice any issues with it being too loud. We were able to hear each other just fine. Anyway, can't wait to come back!:) read more

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I think this was a furniture store of some sort in the past? The folks say it was a pizza place in the 60s but that is way before my time. Still in a very soft opening phase, in fact they cut the number of patrons after a certain time and had to close early (full hours after a period of soft open). Had come here because I was meeting an old friend for dinner and had just walked on by. Very nice upscale styling and the full bar is pretty stocked. Interesting older crowd off mostly locals. Staff are still training so I expect it to get better as they progress. Good to see an actual new bar in the area that is not necessarily also a restaurant (there are bites from next door I think) and eventually being open past 10pm. read more

Very disappointing experience at Bar Loretta. Their posted hours state they're open until 11:00 PM, but when we arrived at 9:50 PM, we were immediately told they were closed. Before we could even ask a question, the staff shut the door in our faces. If you're going to stop serving customers more than an hour before your advertised closing time, you should update your hours accordingly. The rude dismissal and lack of basic hospitality were unacceptable. We specifically came here expecting to enjoy a cocktail, only to be turned away without explanation. Won't be returning, and I wouldn't recommend making a special trip here unless you're prepared for them to close whenever they feel like it. read more

bartender, Masha makes great cocktails and loves Deadheads! Food is fantastic! Grarefuel dead guitar is must see read more

It's a nice stylish bar with some good lounging areas. The service was great and knowledgable about cocktails with a full bar. It was a bit loud even on a week night but it was a nice experience overall. read more

Thank you for opening a bar in MP and brining so live to this town! We love this place. The interior is beautiful & elegant with the wall papers and nice furniture. The staff are nice and make the drinks relatively fast. Some new staff still need some training but overall everyone is working hard. The owner is the best! He comes around, greets his guests and work as hard as his staff. We love the cocktails from the menu and also have ordered items off the menu - all great. The calamari is also fantastic! One of the best we've had. read more

Bar Loretta - All cocktails are good - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Menlo Park, California

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I had a reunion with some of my old college friends. 10/10 Lychee Margarita, thank you Masha. Best drink I've had and I'm an alcoholic!!! read more

Bar Loretta - Masha made us these lychee margaritas best drink I ever had in my entire life and I'm an alcoholic - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Menlo Park, California

The owner - Ali Elsafy - was extremely rude. We went with a friend who didn't drink. We ordered a whiskey, martini and an ice tea. Ali comes over and makes a joke 'who ordered the ice tea'.. we play along and said 'make it a long island...' Ali then comes back, doubles down and tells my friend "if you're ordering a non-alcoholic drink, at least order an expensive one - i paid 1.5M on this place. this is not a coffee shop or a juice bar!! " WTF??? Who talks like that to a paying cusomer? We left - unacceptable!!! read more

Bar Loretta - Ali Elsafy - the owner - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Menlo Park, California

Says it closes at 11pm ? We were told they were closed at 9:50pm and not super friendly, closed door in our face - live in town, won't be back :( bummer read more

I went to Bar Loretta in Menlo Park for a night out with friends. I was excited because the building was one of the first places the Grateful Dead played in and I assumed the establishment therein would inherit or be somewhat true to the deadhead vibe. I was the Designated Driver so I ordered an Iced Tea while others in the group ordered expensive double whiskeys and top shelf cocktails, The owner of the bar comes up to me and says, and I quote, " I paid 1.5 million dollars for this bar, you can't come in here and order iced tea, It's not a coffee shop, you need to order something more expensive" Despite a lifetime of experience of ordering food and drink, apparently I ,the customer, ordered wrong. Not having Iced Tea at a bar is like not having vanilla at Baskin Robbins. There are non-alcoholic drinks here which I was well aware of, but mocktails are usually full of sugar or zero-proof alcohols which often taste like salted donkey anus, So that's not happening with me. After taking a second to process, I put 2 & 2 together and thought this was a money issue, So I said "I don't care, charge me whatever, but I would like an iced tea" and the response from the owner was " I don't care, GO FUCK YOURSELF, GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY BAR" as he pulled all of the entire groups drinks back over the bar and started gesticulating wildly. At which point further "Pleasantries" were exchanged across the bar and at the end of it all no additions to police records were incurred and we parted ways. This gatekeeping and aggressively inappropriate behavior seemed wildly incongruent with the mantra of "What would Jerry do" ( Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead ). Regardless, I am never going there again, nor their sister restaurant Bistro Vida. This pretentious, overpriced, clown show of a venue can collapse in on itself as far as I care. The bars decor of cosplaying as a secretive 1920's speakeasy burnishes the venue's lack of differentiation which is in direct conflict with the bars new money aspirations of being elite or exclusive. The ridiculous idea that the owner spent X dollars necessitates you ,the customer, spending Y dollars breaks all social conventions that I have known throughout my entire life. There is no reason for a host/owner to behave like a foul mouthed spoiled child when asked for the basest of requests. The kicker is that this is not new behaviour from the owner and has been a long running aspect of the business https://yelp.to/rVUTLHQ53y ( review from 9 months from my encounter ) I refuse to support businesses that don't respect their customers. GFY read more

Bar Loretta is exactly what downtown Menlo Park needed -- a stylish, welcoming spot to grab a drink with friends. The space is beautifully designed and the cocktails are creative and fun. It's not your typical small bar attached to a restaurant. There's plenty of booth, bar, and table seating. I look forward to coming back again and again. Cheers to a fantastic addition to the neighborhood! read more

You walk into this establishment and it seems to be the perfect place for Menlo Park: excellent interior design, tasty cocktails, and a good buzz of people. However, as you sit down, you get the sudden urge to pump your fist in the air and grind on random people as you hear dub step music emanating from the speakers. For a cocktail bar that is situated in the same location where the Grateful Dead had their first gig (and uses the Grateful Dead for cocktail names!), this music is a complete disservice to the legacy of the band. I would respect it if this were all some social commentary, using the hallowed grounds of rock lore to play atrocious electronic music as a parallel to how tech has taken over the Bay...but I don't think that is the case. Everything about the place points you to a fantastic speakeasy, but the music turns the place into the vibe of a high school dance were some weird old guy shows up and tries to play music that is for the cool young folks. Based on the average age of the clientele, I doubt they enjoy the music very much. I am 27 years old, and I can tell you that such music will not attract a younger crowd. This place has so much potential and it is honestly almost there...but regardless of the quality of cocktails, the design, and the energy of the people, I walked out deciding to write my first ever Yelp post because of how taken aback I was with the music choice. Live piano, jazz, Grateful Dead, soft house, even no music at all would be better than what they have right now. It just opened, so I do hope this music was just a testing of the waters...and I will likely go there again because the other features were good enough to make up for the music. One thing I can say is that making fun of the music will make for great conversation! read more

Great place. The owner is Deadicated! Thank you for such a warm experience. Julius read more

Other the rude owner, everything is great. Especially the location and the Grateful Dead memories!

A great addition to his Bistro Vida! Not just a bar, a place to go with friends after work and have a nice happy hour experience!

Highly recommend the dirty martini, and great fries! Stopped for a drink friends, there was good vibes and service. read more

Bar Loretta - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Menlo Park, California

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I had a great time here and the food and drinks were amazing! Can't wait to go back!!

This bar is absolutely gorgeous and the drinks are fabulous! Ali is the owner and his restaurant Bistro Vida is right next door. Highly recommend and would give 10 stars if I could! read more

Finally a bar for adults! Good drinks and great atmosphere. Right next to the French restaurant Vida.

Loretta tried.....very excited to have a bar in Menlo Park. Three things have to be fixed for Loretta's to actually be a place to want to hang out. 1. Turn down the lights! This is a bar not a restaurant. Bright lights destroy intimacy and fun. Hate, hate, hate, brightly lit bars! Takes all the fun out. 2. Soften the hardness that makes it painfully noisy. Put some sound dampening on the ceiling, add some carpets, anything to deaden the sound a bit. It is too harsh and you cannot hear the music or even each other. 3. Allow the spaces to be filled in. It is too open, too many dead spots, not enough close spaces to encourage people to hang out, drink, sway to music, get to know others. Bars are places that need to foster community. Loretta's location and owner are excellent. It needs to warm up and be an actual bar, a place to hang out. Right now, it is way too harsh, too sterile, to invite repeat business. The drinks are frickin' amazing. I really, really, really want Loretta's to be a smashing success so, turn down the lights, soften the acoustics, and let people get close. read more

came two times in two nights. Finally, a cocktail bar in Menlo Park! perfect place to unwind and have craft cocktails made with love. Shoutout to Diego for making bomb drinks and even experimenting with different cocktails! 10/10 recommend, plus the bathrooms are nice read more

Bar Loretta - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Menlo Park, California

My friends and I had tickets for a live show at The Guild and decided to stop at Loretta's for a drink beforehand. It looked like a fun spot, big mistake! We will not do that again. It was a chilly night, and before ordering a cocktail, I wanted to warm up with some hot tea. Is it wrong to order hot tea in a bar? If it is, I was not aware of this! My friends ordered their cocktails, and when I asked for tea, the owner/server aggressively shut me down with a blunt "No." He stated emphatically and aggressively that they didn't serve coffee or tea. This was confusing, considering one of their cocktails contained espresso and there was a restaurant right next door. Instead of handling it professionally, he bragged about turning away another group of guests who had asked for coffee or tea, as if denying customers basic hospitality was something to be proud of. My friend then asked if I could at least have hot water with my cocktail. Again, he snapped, "No," and then launched into a bizarre rant: "I didn't spend a million and a half dollars renovating this place so people could order coffee and tea. This isn't Starbucks!" As if that wasn't bad enough, he kept returning to our table every 30-45 seconds, aggressively demanding my order. I was so flustered by his hostility that I needed a moment to decide, but he wouldn't let up. He even sent two other servers to pester me. After I finally ordered a cocktail, by one of the less threatening servers, they still sent someone else over to take my order, as if I hadn't already given it. When my drink finally arrived, the owner still couldn't let it go. He made yet another snide remark about hot tea! OMG! I told him - if he thought he was funny, he was not! What a rude man. No thank you! read more

Nice ambience, good cocktails! Glad to see much needed vibrant places such as this in Menlo Park! read more

Bar Loretta - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Menlo Park, California

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Amazing ambiance . Friendly crew, great drinks and appetizers !! Very much needed in Menlo Park

Absolutely beautiful bar/lounge! Located next to one of my favorite restaurants, in downtown Menlo, Bistro Vida! The atmosphere was throughly thought out and beautifully designed! If you're looking for a lovely date night spot or outing with some friends, the drinks and appetizers are delicious and this is the place to go!!! read more

OOh wow great excellentT spot Menlo park { LORETTA }tasty great COCKAITS AND drinks. service STAFF are soo nice however as u walk in u are in the mood WE WILL. GO BACK GREAT TIME read more

Great service and great vibe!!! Loretta has added so much to downtown. Love the place and staff

The food was delicious; little under seasoned but very tasty. Service was not very good; the waiter was really not into be a waiter.

Beautiful and upscale bar. The hovering and over controlling owner though is over the top annoying. His staff seem on edge and he's dismissive of customers who are not regulars, and definitely too hands on, and I mean that figuratively and literally. He rubs staff and patrons, touches their backs and behinds. Rubbed me the wrong way, for sure. It's not a music venue so any connection to the history of Magoo's is lost on this venue, no matter that they have a plaque and a few cocktails named for GD tunes. But if you're a well know Venture Capitalist and like to hang where the owner will stroke you and your ego, have at it. read more

Great new spot in Menlo Park. I see reviews re: poor lighting and/or dinny noise but I was there Friday evening and it was perfectly (dimly) lit and while busy , my conversations with friends were not a problem. Great mixology as well! read more

The decor is very classy and seating arrangements are upscale. Unfortunately the noise is deafening which precludes ANY conversation. Hopefully they will quickly find a solution to this very disappointing deal-breaker so the locals will be enticed to make it their 'go to' spot to gather with their friends. read more

Cocktails were so so so yummy and the service was top notch. Highly anticipated this bar given there is no other great nightlife in MP. It definitely delivered. Everyone in there having a good time with ambient lighting and great vibes. Coming back soon for sure! read more

Great new spot in town. Loved the drinks and the vibes! Will definitely be coming back.