Entertainment in Venezuela
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Gohka Club
DJs, pulsing lights and smoke machines cast a hypnotic spell upon the crowds of well-heeled 20-somethings who crowd into this cavernous hall each weekend for equal doses of electronica, Latin Rock and Caribbean rhythms.
reviewed
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B
Cordón Bleu
Just up from Plaza Venezuela, 'the hipster bar' is a 50-year-old lounge with a retro vibe and good music. The decor reflects its earlier use as a bordello, with red plush sofas around the perimeter and kitschy art on the walls.
reviewed
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Maroma Roots
The Rasta bar. The upstairs lounge is where the real skanking goes on – a dim, smoky environment where a DJ works from the front section of an old bus, pumping out a righteous blend of dub, dancehall and more commercial reggae.
reviewed
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D
Rumba y Salsa… Con Aché
Some of the city's top salseros play Friday and Saturday nights at this upstairs supper club. Caraqueños are famed for their inexhaustible energy, and you can expect the rumba to roll till daybreak.
reviewed
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E
Aula Magna
Check the program of this university theatre which hosts performances by the symphony orchestra, usually on Saturday afternoons and Sunday mornings. Tickets can be bought from the auditorium's box office directly before the concerts.
reviewed
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Greenwich Pub
This supposedly English pub (No lager? No English speakers? No shepherd’s pie?) is small, dark and dungeony, with a rock-and-roll attitude. The crowd gets progressively younger and the music more up-to-date as the weekend draws near.
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
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H
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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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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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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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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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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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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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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O
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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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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Q
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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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Y
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