Kavasutra Kava Bar Palm Bay — Restaurant in Melbourne

I've been attending this bar for years and frankly have a lot of opinions. I first started coming to Kavasutra in the spring of 2022. I started drinking Kava and Kratom products in the fall of 2021 when I moved to Melbourne. I first started coming after car meets that were held close by in the LA Fitness parking lot since it was Kava (something I had been enjoying for 6 months prior) that was close to where I was and they were open late. At the time, the cleanliness of the bar was very good and staff were very nice. So, my car friends and I would pop in and enjoy.

The bar has always had a "standoffish" clientele, since a lot of them are not super welcoming, but the staff more than made up for it with engaging conversation and trying to get you to break the ice and you into the new environment. We started to create relationships, and then staff started to invite us to have car meets in their side parking lot.

Over 2022-2023, I had been many times for car meets, to watch local bands, attend their events, go on dates, and for personal enjoyment.

In the summer of 2023, I noticed things started to go downhill. Cleanliness of the bar was poor, They started making the bar a lot darker, started limiting events that they had, and I noticed a lot of disrespect from male staff--especially toward some of my friends, who they claimed "were ugly." On a separate occasion, my friend, who happens to be a model, was told that if she flashed them, her tab would be free! The female staff were very unfriendly and gave me and my friends eye rolls and no attention since they assumed women-to-women wouldn't tip as much as the male patrons.

I ultimately stopped going to the Palm Bay location and started going to other alternative Kava and Kratom spots nearby. I was very excited, though, when they opened up the Eau Gallie (close to my home) and Viera (close to where I worked at the time) locations and had tried both of them. Eau Gallie is very small, and all the staff except one were very unwelcoming. I've never had issues with Viera, and it's the BEST Kavasutra location I've been to--but I've only ever gone when there was a male kavatender.

Unfortunately, Kavasutra has always had a reputation for being "crass." During COVID, they told people they would not be allowed to attend the bar if they were wearing a mask! I feel as though if you want to wear a mask, you can, and if you don't want to wear a mask, you shouldn't have to.

Recently, though, they have come at other bars (specifically Nocturne) that have opened up in close proximity to Kavasutra and dragged the businesses openly on social media! Kavasutra was even running an event to trade another bar's tea for their tea to show people it was superior. HOWEVER, every single time they have opened a location, it has always been near another existing bar! They opened the Eau Gallie location 2.5 miles away from Island Root EGAD and opened up the Viera location 1.7 miles away from Island Root Suntree--which is just hypocritical! I feel as though what they were doing was super unprofessional, very immature, and it's just not the vibe that the Kava community should have

I really hope this bar can turn around, but as it stands right now, I will never be attending again. I hope they have a change in staff and actually start hiring people with better customer service...

For almost a full year, I was a loyal regular to the Kavasutra Kava Bar in Palm Bay. Being located so conveniently next to Florida Tech, this was a hotspot for students to congregate and chill while working on their homework and studies. Unfortunately, after a year in the kava community and dutiful daily trips to Kavasutra Kava Bar, I decided to branch out and try a new bar opening in my area, Pau Hana Kava Bar.

Pau Hana Kava Bar introduced me to an entirely new side of the kava community - friendly bartenders, open and communicative owners, and an open and welcoming customer base. I quickly came to realize that the kava community was truly meant to be based around community - NOT sales. The "you must buy at least 1 drink per hour or get kicked out" rules of Kavasutra were missing here - the dark, dismal ambiance suddenly brightened - the depressed bartenders replaced with cheerful pillars of the community, and the management shocking seemed to care about their community, instead of utilizing slurs and deleting customer comments on social media to isolate and trap both employees and customers.

Pau Hana truly opened my eyes to a culture far deeper and much richer than I was even aware I was a part of, and I quickly grew to realize this sentiment was shared not only within Pau Hana, but with several other bars in the area as well. If only I had ignored the warnings of Kavasutra and branched out earlier! Higher quality drinks, more affordable prices, loyalty programs that reward their customers, and honest employers can be found around every corner outside Kavasutra!

Today, I visit one or more kava bars every day. None of them are Kavasutra Kava Bars. The horror stories I've heard from both customers and employees proved to be true one after the next, and the negative perspective shared by those outside the kava community are only still present because of bars like Kavasutra. If 0/5 stars were an option, that would be my rating here. I am an advocate of the kava community, and I encourage all those interested to pursue their interest at a...

This is THE place to drink Kava whether your an avid kava drinker or if you've never heard of kava before. I've been to dozens of kava bars all over Florida and never once has any Kavasutra let me down. All of the bartenders are great. The bartenders each have their own strengths and weaknesses but you'll never be disappointed with them or the products. The products are great and they're the strongest while simultaneously being the smoothest. If you want to have the best first experience drinking kava or trying kratom there's no better spot than Kavasutra. Especially considering the reverse tolerance that kava has. Normally the very 1st time you drink kava you will need to drink more for the desired effect but not here, I've seen first timers do an "Ed Shell" and get the desired effect after about 15-20 minutes. No other kava bar's product has done that as far as I'm aware.

I suggest taking the negative reviews with a grain of salt. I saw 1 person mention having to wear an arm band; what they failed to mention is there was an event going on where people were dressed in a way that the bar wanted to protect them from any form of harassment, and those talking about the district managers comments are taken highly out of context because they either 1 weren't apart of the probably 4hr long conversation it came from or did it on purpose because they have a personal grudge against him. Some are former employees and/or customers who believed they held a level of control/power that they didn't and got upset when told they did not hold such control/power. And even a few now work at and/or manage for a competing kava bar hoping that leaving negative reviews will turn people away and boost...