Poka Lola Social Club — Restaurant in Denver

I hosted my company's 2024 Holiday Party at Poka Lola, and we had an absolutely incredible experience!! Poka Lola is already sexy and swanky, so it is the perfect place for a party, but to pull of a 60-person Holiday party, everything has to be done well. I was amazed by the quality of service and professionalism they showed throughout the entire process. There were so many things that they did well, that I will have trouble naming them all.

Our event coordinator, Jazmaray, managed to pull off being both laid-back and super-organized at the same time. She was flexible when I made changes to the menu, made special arrangements for a band, and brought in some personal decorations for our group. She also was very responsive when I didn't love a couple of the cushions, and she brought in the perfect, soft blankets that not only covered the cushions but added a warm, fireside feel to match the already amazing Christmas decorations at Poka Lola. Her attention to detail on the night of the party was nothing short of perfect. She had everything absolutely dialed in.

The waitstaff/bartenders/barbacks during our event were seemless, friendly, communicative, and knowledgeable. In additional to a full bar, they had several holiday-themed drinks and even offered to name a custom drink for our group. The food was presented beautifully, was kept fresh and hot/cold, and we never once had to ask for assistance. They anticipated our every need. The food quality was the only item that was not 5-star, but it was definitely very, very good (4.5 stars), and my guests were quite pleased.

The billing process is easy, invoiced very clearly, and quite reasonable for Denver. We also brought in a live band, and they had all of the AV hook-ups that were needed for our group or something much more sophisticated. Having the outside patio with heaters was such a nice addition that I felt like I had gotten an extra event space for free!

I am currently the hit of my company right now, and I have Jazmaray and Poka Lola to thank for my current popularity. I highly recommend Poka Lola for your next party. The only word I can think of to describe the entire experience...

The bar looks nice, however the bartenders are extremely unsanitary and unpleasant. In two of the drinks we ordered they used big cubes of ice they stamp but one of the bartenders used her bare hands to try to separate these cubes then proceeded to take a payment with someone’s card at the register then came back to fondle these cubes of ice without washing her hands and put them in the glasses when asked if these were our drinks, she gave a very snotty “i don’t know, maybe” (we no longer wanted the drinks) we decided since the other bartender was already mixing the drinks we would take them, but we didn’t want the ice we told her can we have just a regular scoop of ice instead, she didn’t acknowledge us and just dumped out one of the ice cubes, the bartender that was mixing our drinks, proceeded to squeeze out and cut up a lemon, without washing her hands as well, we were disgusted, but as this was the start of our night, we just went along with it and gave a really low tip, the bartender, then proceeded to come to our table with a newly printed receipt, (trying to embarrass us) and said we left unpaid, and I said no we paid and we signed the receipt and she said yes you paid but you left a really low tip, I explained to her why the tip was so low because she didn’t wash her hands or wear gloves. Her response was oh we have gloves and I said OK but you didn’t wear them I said we paid, are you done and she walked away, we could see her go up to the other bartender to gossip about what happened so on the way out, we went up to the other bartender, and said the drinks were actually really good. It just wasn’t sanitary, but since they so tight for tips I gave her five dollars and told her that it was disgusting the way they handled the drinks and she said they’re usually very cleanly. No shocker the next morning I was actually throwing up. Needless to say we will never be going back to this bar again, nor will the other people...

This place looked so cute and me and my friends couldn’t wait to enjoy a meal n some drinks here! However, when I went to the counter to order some food, the bartender looked annoyed and was very curt and short towards me. I then waited 30 min for the pork sliders and seasonal jam charcuterie board, so I walked up to the bar to ask if it was almost ready. The bartender (same one) again did not pay any attention to me. It took me 10 minutes to grab his attention when I told him my issue. He said “it should’ve came out already I’ll go check for you.” I appreciated his helpfulness. He then brought out my pork sliders and the wrong charcuterie board after i ordered it and reminded him of my order twice. I think he would’ve got it right if he paid any attention to what I said the first time. When I asked him nicely that it was not the charcuterie board I ordered and if he could bring me that one, he once again was rude and asked where I even found that board on the menu. I then showed him and he walked away to the kitchen. We didnt get any apologies or anything taken off our bill. We did get to keep the charcuterie board that we didn’t want though. To be honest, dont waste...