Photograph courtesy of baritaliastl.com
If there is one thing my friends from other cities like to rib me about, it is the generalization that St. Louis lacks cultural diversity—that our city is just another vanilla Midwest metro, full of corn-fed folks with farmer’s tans. But if you ask me, people who articulate this criticism just don’t know where to look.
With a little bit of digging, you can find pockets of authentic cross-continental culture scattered about our city. One of these anomalies is the International Night every Thursday at Luna Lounge in Bar Italia.
If you close your eyes and just listened to the different languages and accents, you might think you were in a bustling international airport bar—but with better music and no grumpy travelers. International night isn’t just about a internationally diverse crowd showing up at a given time and location. It seems like the clientele views it as an opportunity to celebrate their nationalities, at least in part due to the fact that the club’s operators go out of their way to encourage it. Since much of the clientele are repeat customers, the bartenders (Drew and Brendan) know most of them by name, often giving free shots or prosecco to birthday gals and guys and bachelorettes.
The DJ, Robel, is uber-affable and accommodating. If you let him know ahead of time that you and your friends are coming, he will be sure to include popular tunes from your country in his already worldly playlist.
The vibe at International Night is always hip and high-energy. And guests seriously dress to kill—and could, quite literally, with the plethora of four-inch stilettos.
The doors open at 9 p.m., but it doesn’t get pumping until after 10. Guys will shell out five bucks to enter, ladies three. But if you dine at Bar Italia beforehand, your entry is comped.
For more info, you can call 314-361-7010
Luna Lounge (at Bar Italia)
13 Maryland Plaza
St. Louis, MO 63108
