Betty W.
Yelp
Loretta tried.....very excited to have a bar in Menlo Park. Three things have to be fixed for Loretta's to actually be a place to want to hang out.
1. Turn down the lights! This is a bar not a restaurant. Bright lights destroy intimacy and fun. Hate, hate, hate, brightly lit bars! Takes all the fun out.
2. Soften the hardness that makes it painfully noisy. Put some sound dampening on the ceiling, add some carpets, anything to deaden the sound a bit. It is too harsh and you cannot hear the music or even each other.
3. Allow the spaces to be filled in. It is too open, too many dead spots, not enough close spaces to encourage people to hang out, drink, sway to music, get to know others.
Bars are places that need to foster community. Loretta's location and owner are excellent. It needs to warm up and be an actual bar, a place to hang out. Right now, it is way too harsh, too sterile, to invite repeat business.
The drinks are frickin' amazing. I really, really, really want Loretta's to be a smashing success so, turn down the lights, soften the acoustics, and let people get close.