Entertainment in Venezuela
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La Cotorra
One of the city's first gay bars, La Cotorra is a dark, old-school pub with a barricaded door and a conspiratorial air, appealing to a mature crowd who'd rather hear Wham! or Gloria Gaynor than electronic beats. To find it, take the escalator one level up from the cinema, turn into the parking garage, then left along the perimeter. Afterward, you could head over to the other end for the more youthful Royal Club.
Caracas has by far the most open gay community in what is still a relatively conservative country. When looking for gay-oriented venues, the code phrase to watch for is 'en ambiente.' For additional options, check the websites www.vengay.com and…
reviewed
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Royal Club
Entrance to this vanguard club is from the parking garage, up the ramp from the cinema level. Beyond an acclimatization zone with three bars, you cross a curtained threshold to reach the main attraction - a cavernous, strobe-lit dance space.
Caracas has by far the most open gay community in what is still a relatively conservative country. When looking for gay-oriented venues, the code phrase to watch for is 'en ambiente.' For additional options, check the websites www.vengay.com and www.rumbacaracas.com (in Spanish).
reviewed
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Estadio Universitario
Béisbol (baseball) is the local sporting obsession. Professional-league games are played from October to February at this 18,500-seat stadium, home to the Leones de Caracas (Caracas Lions; www.leones.com), on the grounds of the Universidad Central de Venezuela. Tickets may be purchased up until game time, usually 7:30pm Tuesday to Friday nights, 6pm Saturday and 4:30pm Sunday; or in advance between 10am and 5pm Monday to Friday at Galerias El Recreo in Sabana Grande.
reviewed
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D
Trasnocho Lounge
The Trasnocho cultural center's minimalist bar is a place to pull up a beanbag chair, sip a martini and chill out with friends as guest DJs work their magic.
Caracas has by far the most open gay community in what is still a relatively conservative country. When looking for gay-oriented venues, the code phrase to watch for is 'en ambiente.' For additional options, check the websites www.vengay.com and www.rumbacaracas.com (in Spanish).
reviewed
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E
La Terraza del Ateneo
The breezy, upstairs terrace of the Ateneo cultural center, La Terraza del Ateneo, becomes an after-hours gathering place for a diverse, arts-minded crowd in the mood for relaxed conversation and off-the-wall music. Meanwhile downstairs, the Café Rajatabla, adjacent to the famous experimental theater of the same name, is an even more laid-back, open-air affair frequented by performing arts types.
reviewed
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Moulin Rouge
Behind the flamboyant windmill facade is Caracas’ leading venue for live alternative rock, with two environments: the performance hall and an adjacent lounge for drum and bass, trance and techno sessions by resident DJs – and, of course, a mock stripper pole just for fun. The crowd is under 30, pleasantly mixed and all too willing to rock until the metro conveniently resumes operation at 5:30am.
reviewed
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Gran Pizzería El León
In Caracas nightlife terms, this famous beer-guzzling spot is known as a predespacho (pre-party), the first stop on a bender that can go until sunrise. It’s an open-air affair on a vast terrace below towering buildings. At the weekend, you’ll find masses of college-age drinkers and beyond jovially debating over row upon row of beer bottles, but it swells on most any night.
reviewed
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Rosalinda
Backpackers will be shooed away, but hipsters, icons of fashion, the rich, famous and an odd mix of out-of-place misfits clamor for face time inside this Las Mercedes club, the hottest spot in town at the time of research. The shotgun-style space is backdropped by backlit stenciled mirrored walls that beam the merengue, reggaetón and Latin pop right back at ya.
reviewed
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Malabar
Nouveau-vintage Malabar is one of the most sophisticated choices in Las Mercedes. Down a long hallway that heads behind the seemingly closed daytime-only restaurant of the same name, you’ll find the jet set sipping classy cocktails and nibbling on Ital-Asian fusion on a gorgeous terraced seating arrangement split down the middle by a cascading, Zen-like stream.
reviewed
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Birras Pub & Café
Almost deviant in its lack of security, Birras is a rough-around-the-edges pavement bar at street level, totally exposed to the realities of sundown Caracas – no foliage fences or palm walls to hide behind here. Revelers flood its haphazardly-strewn plastic tables, where the Polars and Soleras pile up into the wee hours, but without fuss over class or status.
reviewed
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Ateneo de Caracas
Next to the Complejo Cultural Teresa Carreño, this cultural center is home to the Grupo Rajatabla, the country's best-known theater company, as well as a concert hall, cinema (outside-the-mainstream alternative), bookshop and several lively bars.
Another good source for play info is the 'Eventos' page of www.caracasvirtual.com (in Spanish).
reviewed
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360° Roofbar
This innovative open-air lounge atop the Altamira Suites attracts hip scene-makers, who come to chill out on hammocks and sofas in the 19th floor restaurant and sip innovative cocktails over startling panoramic views of the city on the circular rooftop terrace. Access is through the hotel’s rear entrance on 1a Av – and subject to a coolness size up.
reviewed
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El Sarao
A longstanding destination for middle-class rumberos, this massive, subterranean space provides a continuous flow of rum, copious plasma TVs, great live music and enough wicker furniture to fashion an apocalyptic ark. The BsF70 is recoupable in drinks and is often waived for tourists. Access is through the parking garage.
reviewed
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Uvas
This cozy wine bar feels as if you’re drinking in a wine crate. The vino is concentrated on Europe and South America, with oddly little by the glass; accompaniments range from Spanish tapas to heartier fare such as coq au vin to an ample cheese menu. Lots of space for single travelers to mingle but service is irritating.
reviewed
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O
Auyama Café
The rumba never stops at this boisterous, open-air lounge with a broad front terrace and various brightly lit salons. It’s for a slightly more mature set, who may want to engage in more animated conversation than sweat-soaked shamelessness on the dance floor, but it doesn’t stop the karaoke singing or salsa dancing.
reviewed
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El Teatro
This eclectic newcomer on the rise offers two dueling rooms, one usually devoted to rock, the other electronica, drum and bass or hip-hop. It skews towards wealthy, alterna-twentysomethings, who appreciate the more casual door (only rule: no shorts) and expands its artistic edge to stage plays and stand-up comedy on Mondays.
reviewed
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Lola
There is Japanese fusion at this trendy, bi-level restaurant, but it’s all about rubbing elbows with the cornucopia of hotness that permeates the bar at this Altamira hotspot, full of Caracas movers, shakers, and those that look so good, it hardly matters if they just stand still – there’s no room to move, anyway.
reviewed
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Restaurant Metrolandia
For something completely different, check out the terrace in front of this restaurant, just east of the Plaza Venezuela metro stop. From around 19:00 to 22:00 each evening, local singers clad in cowboy hats perform karaoke versions of Vallenatos and ballads, some quite soulfully.
reviewed
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El Maní es Así
This is one of Caracas’ longest-standing and hottest salsa spots, where everything revolves around the dance floor and the live combos. The intense rhythmic ensembles that perform here regularly will inspire rump shaking in the staunchest lead-footers. Take a taxi in and out.
reviewed
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Juan Sebastián Bar
A longtime bastion of jazz in Caracas, the refined club remains one of the most attractive environments anywhere for hearing jazz. If you wish, you can grab a seat right at the bandstand – there’s a counter to place your drink along the front of it.
reviewed
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Discovery Bar
A down-to-earth, genuine alt-rock dive, catering to a hyper-aware crowd who come for the alternative rock, reggae and ska that permeates the shotgun-style room all opening nights besides Wednesday, when they wax intellectual with Latin jazz fusion.
reviewed
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Mi Linda Llanura
For a taste of Los Llanos in the capital, this rooftop party terrace has ensembles playing traditional music of the plains on amplified harps and cuatros (small, four-stringed guitars). It's easy to find - you'll hear it from street level.
reviewed
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Samoa
The self-proclaimed 'Island of Happy People' takes up the top level of a mock jungle hut, where groups of 20-somethings share mega cocktails through multiple straws while surf videos play continuously beneath the glare of Polynesian gods.
reviewed
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Rumbar
Bodies are pressed together here on the small dance floor like a Mumbai passenger train at rush hour. Salsa, merengue and reggaetón fuel the sweat-soaked atmosphere, only relieved by a mild-by-comparison outdoor patio seating.
reviewed
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Wassup
This youthful, American-style bar-restaurant provides plenty of distractions for its clientele, from bands on the front terrace to dominoes to at least a dozen TVs tuned to the baseball. So why is everyone staring at their cell phones?
reviewed