"The atmosphere allowed for all sorts of dancing."
"The mood is set by dim lights and traditional African masks adorning the walls, among other decorations."
"Every night there is a different vibe."
"A tiny, narrow bar which plays lots of Spanish/Afro-Caribbean/Reggae/other music with awesome live percussion."
"The place is small but the music is mighty."
"A great mixture of different races."
"The music makes anyone dance."
Cons:
"It's small inside and got pretty packed, but it has a good vibe for dancing to soca, afrobeat, latin soul, etc."
"The venue is very small, sign said capacity was 74 people."
"It was packed like sardines because of the size of the joint."
"The space is very small, almost impossible to navigate and sometimes not even enough room to dance."
"ALWAYS SO CROWDED YOU CANT FIT OR WALK, BARELY DANCE!!"
"The place is super tiny, music is not Latin, horrible music, no place to sit."
"Extremely packed, tiny little lounge."
Music & Entertainment
Pros:
"The music and the vibe was cool."
"Incredible venue for latin dancing, live band occasionally."
"Bembe is a fun place that plays a great variety of Latin and Caribbean style music."
"Music is mixed from all genres."
"The music is upbeat Latin dancing/pop music."
"The beats the DJ is spinning will give your behind a life of its own."
"Good music with live drums."
Cons:
"The music was just confusing."
"It was just drums and the same rhythm all night."
"Music is not Latin, horrible music."
"The music was disappointing."
"This music played for 2 hours, and my feet could not bare to salsa dance anymore."
"Came to dance salsa and bachata but the dj played carribean Soca 90% of the night."
"The DJ started to play regular music after a while so I left."
Service & Staff
Pros:
"The bar backs were super attentive."
"Staff was very friendly - the bouncer, the bartenders, and the woman at the coat check were all pleasant."
"Everyone from the door man to the bartenders were super friendly."
"Friendly atmosphere, accommodating staff."
"Great hospitality."
"The staff was very friendly and attentive."
"Bartenders were great."
Cons:
"Try standing at the bar for 20 min. and being ignored because of the two inexperienced bartenders."
"I am shocked at the lack of professionalism and how quick he was to escalate a situation where there was no altercation between him or anyone in my group."
"Security guy with hat on tonight the black man from New York was so rude."
"The staff was incredibly rude and uninviting."
"A bouncer is screaming we can't go two at a time but I was confused because two white females just came out so how did the rules change when my black self walked in?"
"Front door staff very unpleasant and rude."
"A cocktail waitress arguing with the customer at a table."
Drinks & Pricing
Pros:
"Drinks aren't very expensive."
"Drinks were pretty strong."
"They have a great assortment of Brazilian and regular drinks."
"Really delicious specialty drinks, and only 7 bucks for a cocktail."
"The drinks are also great. I always get the coconut drink which is so plain and simple- coconut vodka and fresh coconut water."
"All four of us decided to try the rum punch, advertised as homemade. I personally enjoyed it quite a lot."
"I definitely recommend the rum punch (best I ever had!)"
Cons:
"The $10 cover is too much for the venue in my opinion."
"I don’t understand the $15 cover charge when it’s just a regular bar with music like anywhere else."
"The price is have gone up significantly though. The mojitos are $13 (as of July 2019)."
"The drinks are $10 per shot, or $15+ for a mixed drink."
"Brings me two cups of toilet water with lime, because that's what it tasted like and No liquor."
"The drinks are weak and expensive."
"The mixed drinks are watered down."
Cover Charge & Entry
Pros:
"Saturday night was a cover charge $20. Tuesday was free entry."
"Women and male/female couples get in for free."
"Only $5 to get in."
"I didn’t have to pay to get in which is even better!"
"Our cover was $15. Worth the entry fee."
"$25 cover but well worth it."
"It's about a five minute walk from the J tran and definitely worth checking out."
Cons:
"You gotta arrive there around 10 to get a table because it does get packed."
"Had to wait about 40 minutes just to get in."
"Oh, one more negative was the cover fee. I don't know when they start that, but it's about $10 per person."
"Unfortunately, the cover was now $15 and we felt this was the worst night."
"Good music but the line was long."
"The cover for single men is about $20."
"Never coming back here again, they wont let us in after waiting half hour with no line just because we were all guys."