Secret Lounge

The owner is a very nice person.

Always 5 star for the amazing Hookah and managers that work here. Legit my SAFE ZONE cause if you know, you know they gonna look out for you as far as in Security, DJ, Promoters, and Managers. Secrets, Thank you for being an amazing Safe Zone.

Patted us down more thoroughly than any other place on U street. Then we got in and it was empty.

Had the place to ourselves for a while it was a great place to celebrate and have a good drink

Best club !!!

Horrible management. How do you start charging people after they've already walked through! Literally grabbing people walking up the stairs to charge them $20 per head. Bad business. Wasn't even worth $20. Fortunately, we already had people waiting, but if he didn't, I would have left. Plenty of other lounges on U st not charging a ridiculous price. I will never go back here and don't recommend others go here.

This place has pretty hookah but their service is quite less than lackluster. One of the servers/waitresses told us that in order to sit down we would need to buy a bottle. We waited for about 10 minutes and saw people sitting in the seats we were going to sit in. After watching them for a bit, no one had bought a bottle. I'm not sure what their actual rules are, but everyone in the area broke them as no one had bottles. If you don't mind the hoops and hurdles of they're seating policy, then by all means come. Their music is cool.

Strong drinks. Fun and random daytime drinking spot but felt like it was a club. Music and DJ was poppin'!

HORRIBLE SPOT!!! Service was bad and super slow not wasn't even that crowded. Waitresses were rude and frazzled!!!!!!! I had to wait an hour for a hookah to come out. Then workers at the bar just sat by dining NOTHING when the bartenders and waiters clearly needed help. I preferred at 9:26pm. It is not 10:26 Pm...... still no hookah. No apologize. Sorry for the invoice cue. Not even a cheap ass free shot for the wait. DO BETTER!!!!

Worst hookah lounge in DC!!! My friends and I were here last night, as we come here from time to time. The service isn't great, but I've over looked it because their drinks are decent. The hostess spilled an entire container of ketchup on the back of my friends shirt. The shirt was completely ruined. She gave a halfhearted apology and scurried off and wasn't seen again. We called another hostess over and asked to speak to the manager. I saw her go over to the manager he looked in our direction and never came over. After waiting about 6-7 mins, my friend had to walk over to him, because he clearly had not intention to see what was going on. He told him what happened and his response was "so what do you want? You want a shot?" This place clearly has no understanding of what customer service is. I will no longer be giving them any of my money and neither should you.

These people are refilling the liquor bottles. I ordered two shots of El Jimador as I don't mind cheap tequila and the bartender rings me up for 2 shots of Jose Cuervo totalling $30 plus change. I politely pay as apparently she won't pour until I pay. When she reaches for the liquor I asked for I request she pour the liquor she rang up for the second shot. She responds they are the same price but pours Jose gold as the second shot. She never distinguished the difference probably because they seem to be exactly the same liquor. I'm convinced they are refilling bottles with Montezuma. Will return NEVER.

I just found this spot and it's definitely a gem. The decor is reaching for luxury but it's a sports bar vibe too. Stir bartenders are a little slow but the drinks make the wait worth it. This place also offers hookah so if that's your thing definitely check this place out. There's an upstairs too so even though the spot is small, it feels like there's just enough space for you and your friends to have a good time.

I came to this "lounge" on a Saturday night. My friends and I got a section upstairs. There's a $10 cover go both men and women and then and thennnnn you pay for your section. We got there around 12:15an And then, and then do you knw they had the nerve to have the air either off or on super duper low. Either way it was a "secret" as too if the air was on that Saturday night. I mean my body was glistening and it wasn from my body butter. It was from the sweat that had accumulated on my back.

Service sucks. Bar tenders don't check on you. They charge a 18% service fee. Music sucks!!! People Ethiopian owned bar. Won't be back!!!

I came in for some hookah and whiskey and I honestly do not understand why I stayed as long as I did. We ordered drinks and hookah before our friends arrived, but the moment we got it, they turned on the ac. It was 60° outside and the air caused our coals to burn fast because we were directly under the vent. The acoustics are HORRIBLE. I enjoy doing hood rat ish with my hood rat friends, but if I have to listen to music with no bottom, turn it down! The speaker is clearly busted. Also, isn't it a health code violation to wear your hair up when making drinks? The bartender slide past the other bartender with a cup of ice that apparently was for my boyfriend's drink. She got a handful of hair in it and began pouring Bulleit on top of it. Anyway. There are tons of place you can go in that area. I'm sure you'll be fine without it.

Used to be the spot, but not worth it anymore. A group of us sat down and ordered drinks and hookah, then 30 minutes in, we're told we have to move (nowhere to go) because another group wanted to buy a bottle. Customer service is not a highlight at this establishment.

My favorite hookah spot in DC. They have the best happy hour specials, music is always good and the staff is friendly.

I really wish I could do zero stars! A group of friends and I came in and as soon as we sat down we asked for water since the AC was turned off and it was 88 degrees outside. The waiter then told us water wasn't the only thing we could order, and we MUST order more than water. He then continued to harass us about how much we planned on spending

This bar is cool if you just want a place to get some drinks and hookah. It's on a strip full of hookah bars. They play rap hip hop and r&b music. Sunday's is gay night.

Idk what it is but the bar tenders are so rude and nasty. They don't honor their own menu and treat you like you're in the wrong. I was ignored when trying to show what their menu says. Wouldn't recommend

I went for toco Tuesday and got fucked up Tuesday! The wings were supposed to be $5 and they charged me $12.80! I went to the restroom and it was gross. Don't go bad service.

Great spot if you're looking for good hookah and drinks. Would recommend coming early as this place gets busy on the weekend! On the weekdays it's a chill vibe but still fun!

Don't make the mistake of going to MK Lounge that is next door as I did, they charge a $10 cover. No cover here, and it's much nicer & less ratchet than MK. Nice hookah spot for drinks & listening to trap music. No dress code and it can get crowded & hot, bottle/table is also available.

Random bar. My buddy had to use the restroom so we went here. The actual bar was on the second floor with the first floor vacant. Bar was dark and had a limited selection. We chose Hennessy and had them straight. Left before shit hit the fan.

Today I went to Secret Lounge with three of my friends. The ceiling is strictly installation foam!!!! While we were taking shots management was doing construction and asked me to move so he could start putting lights above me. Didn't even give us a chance to get a hookah. The wait service under pours shots and soda! Not to mention they had a nasty attitude and included a 18% gratuity for a party of four without letting us know. Very disappointed in management for doing construction above a patrons head at 4:30 in the afternoon. Will not be returning!

I'd give this lounge less if I could. The host/bartender was very rude, told my friend "you talk too much". Their drinks are TERRIBLE, we asked for tequila shots, it was unsolicitedly poured out of a patron bottle but it tasted NASTY. We instantly vomited, it was not a great place.

Attended a birthday party the day of Secret's Grand Opening (08/18/12). I'm sad to say I was not impressed. I entered what looked like a three level house, and was greeted by party guest, who actually turned out to be the bouncer. I can tell he wanted to ask me to pay cover, but since he was not at his post I gave him the stale face. I was pretty skeptical at this point, but I kept an open mind since the bottom level seemed lively with lots of people doing the "dutty wine". I meet up with my crew on the top floor and they doing hookah. Since I'm usually always late, I missed out on placing my order with the group. To be honest, I'm glad I did. Our waiter was extremely hands off and not the least bit attentive. My group ordered dinner which wasn't accompanied by utensils. Not even a napkin! NOTHING. I guess they expected us to eat with our hands?! The food I was able to try was nothing to rave about. The wings were tasteless. Literally, they dipped them in grease, took them out and threw them on a plate. The waiter was clearly frustrated because "no one has tipped yet" was overheard by our group at least twice. Dude, wtf?! We hadn't even finished our food! It was problematic because every time we ordered a drink he had to bring out the receipt. o_O No bueno. What happened to the receipt coming at the end of a meal? Whatevs. The hookah and Dance Hall music was a nice touch, but the idea of this place was poorly executed. Like, where does the Sports Bar theme come into play? They had what looked like a poorly directed Lifetime movie playing on the big screen. Glad I didn't pay cover here or else I'd be pretty pissed. Perhaps Secret should take a few lessons in restaurant management. After almost a month being open I hope they've gotten better. To sum it all up, the hookah was the best part of the evening, but I feel like there are better hookah bars in DC that offer exactly what Secret Lounge offers.

Secret Lounge is one of the most random place I've been to in a while. I have no real idea how my friends found it or why they thought it would be awesome to come back, but this place is just totally off the beaten path and to be honest, it should probably stay here. It's practically a renovated rowhouse off 9th between a few blocks that town that are still developing and can still be just a touch shady. But this spot feels more like a front for the Ethiopian family/partners who run it than it does a local sports bar or hookah lounge. Obviously I'm sure everything is perfectly legit, but at the moment, without the normal DC patrons walking in and out, Secret Lounge is filled with friends and family just hanging out. The main knock I have is that Secrets doesn't know what it wants to be. On the first floor, it's got a few TVs above the bar and few tables to satisfy the sports bar aspect. It's second floor seems to be a meager attempt at a club setting with what would have been a living room turned into a dance floor with music blaring so loud that you really can't hear anything else. And the top level is supposed to be their lounge area with a few couches and tables decorated with old 80s glow sticks. If there was anything that can be called a positive, it's that the hookah itself was actually pretty good...crisp and smooth. But at the end of the day, unless things change dramatically for the better, I doubt I'll be coming back any time soon.

this place was ok, but those back stairs to get to the bathroom nearly killed me and my friend!!! not much food to choose from just mostly typical bar food, we just smoked the hookah and drank a couple drinks went next door to the MK Lounge!!!

Honestly surprised they haven't been shut down for health code violations. The bathrooms are disgusting, I can't even imagine what goes on in the kitchen and behind the bar. And on top of that, to echo what everyone else said, the service is terrible