Sugar debuts on Washington Avenue
The scene was fittingly festive Saturday night at the debut of Sugar lounge on Washington Avenue downtown, in the space formerly occupied by KYO.
The Alive magazine party featured naughtily dressed angels, some dizzying acrobatics by Marissa Manns, and thumping music by DJ Kue, spinning the likes of Madonna, Rihanna, Mary J. Blige and Snoop Dogg.
The smallish spot at 1405 Washington was cool, though the all-white decor might not have been my first choice (or second). It’s owner Doug Nguyen’s favorite color, though I thought the place was screaming out for more color.
The address is also home to Solace, a café with a menu of offerings I can’t wait to sample. Nguyen owns Solace too.
Photo courtesy Alive magazine.



Kevin C. Johnson has covered the St. Louis' music and nightlife scene for the past decade.
Mr. Johnson,
As always, I enjoyed reading your opinion about STL nightlife. But here is my take on my Sugar Lounge experience. I will try my best to keep it short…good luck…lol.
Anyway, I also attended the Alive Magazine party at Sugar Lounge on Saturday night. Although I wasn’t totally disappointed with the new spot, I wasn’t overly impressed either.
The acrobatics added an interesting touch to the evening, but I wasn’t blown away by it. It didn’t make the overall club experience better or anything like that. But it was different, so I will give them kudos for that at least.
The one thing that I will have to disagree with Kevin about is the decor. The all-white decor was probably what I enjoyed MOST about the club. It gave off a serene, classy, and heavenly feeling, which is probably where the half naked angels came into the picture! Though it would be nice, I highly doubt that heaven will have half naked angels walking around, a hip hop DJ, and 2 bars…LMAO!!!
My least favorite thing about the club, which is really a big deal to me, is that like its forerunner KYO, the club is SIMPLY TOO SMALL. As soon as you get into the front door of the club good, you are already at the back of the club. I can imagine that it wouldn’t take long for it to become a sweat box on one of its highly attended nights! And there is nothing serene and classy about being jammed up in a club like sardines.
Overall, the club is a nice concept, but I wasn’t really impressed!