Nighthawk — Restaurant in Redwood City

Well, how do I begin. I had the most humiliating experience at this place last night. My fiancé and I got a table here and were joined later by 2 other friends. We then decided to move outdoors as the weather was great. I was 2 drinks down and I wanted to use the restroom. There was an Asian lady bouncer at the entrance who stopped me. The music was really loud and she repeatedly said something which I couldn’t hear but later figured it was something on the lines of me dropping her stuff and that I didn’t apologize. The moment I realized I dropped her stuff I immediately apologized and picked up her pen. By no means did I do it cos I was too drunk to know what was happening around me. (This can be proven since we spoke to another bar tender later who said I seemed fine and he was not sure why she wouldn’t let me enter). The issue was her unexpected outburst. She said very rudely I could not enter the bar when I was at that place for almost 2 hours. I was in shock and went to explain this to my friends. We went back in to talk to her and she started screaming and yelling and asking us to back off and holding torches to our faces. Was it our background? Our accent? Or just general hate. Irrespective of them all, we are customers at the end of the day and do not deserve to be treated the way we were. The funny part is I loved the vibe of this place and the drinks were on point. Thanks to her, never...

Well DON'T come here if you want to have a fun night. Totally rude staff. We are locals and literally had been coming here for years to celebrate our girlfriends birthdays. That night we were probably one third of the bars revenue as it was pretty dead and we brought a fun crowd. We got alot of drinks 🍸 and brought a few small cupcakes on a tray with candles and tossed a bit of confetti when my dear friend blew out the candles. After I went to socialize and when I came back the table was cleared and tray gone. I asked the bartender/owner? If he had found a tray and he had literally thrown it in the garbage!! Mind you this is not a disposable item. I've used it for years taking snacks to my children. It had sentimental value. But ok no biggie but he Totally gave me big time attitude saying the confetti, which was not alot btw. Was too much and giving me the worse vibes ever!! Umm I'm sorry you probably already have to mop and sweep as your normal clean up. Just brought such a downer to the night when it's a place that you go to enjoy. They also said a DJ was coming and none ever showed up. Drinks are expensive so go support someplace that is happy to have...

When nighthawk first opened, it was awesome. A dark, moody, and intimate cocktail bar - a perfect spot for a drink on a date night. The 1930s era art deco decor, red leather seats, and iconic namesake painting above the bar made for a really cool space.

For whatever reason, they've decided to pivot from the cozy cocktail bar concept to a loud night club vibe instead.

Starting around 5pm most nights, they blast their music so incredibly loud that you can't even have a conversation with the people you're there with. The bartenders even struggle to hear people's drink orders.

I'm not sure why they would do this, since the bar right across the street, "the Blacksmith" (same owners) is already known for being the loud, clubby spot on the block. Nighthawk was a great change of pace from that, but not anymore. It's virtually the same as the Blacksmith now and has lost pretty much all of its charm.

Maybe one day they'll turn the music down and return to the original concept, I'll be happy to go back if that...