The Leonora

Nice venue for events, though if you’re doing a fashion show you will not find a great place to put on makeup or do tons of clothing changes. Staff was generally helpful, though & seemed to be hospitable to us. We never had issues. It’s a little off the beaten path & you’re going to have to pay attention to find it; I nearly walked past it b/​c there wasn’t huge signage or neon or something. Also, this place doesn’t get popping until late so if you wanted to come here you might not see crowds until much later.

A fairly small place tucked away in the Meatpacking District, the Leonora is certainly a good place to stop by during your night out. The bar is located in the back and tables are all around.
It’s much like any other club, so there’s really no need to explain. The reason I’m giving four stars is because of the fabulous body artist located in the back! For $ 5, he paints your body with paint that glows in this dark place, making it ultra festive. Only prob is that a lot of people line up, but it’s totally worth it!
They also played a lot of contemporary music, which I was a fan of.

GO AWAY LEONARA.
Friday night rolls around, and my friends and I arrive at Leonara.
We ask the bouncers if there was a cover to get in.
They look at us up and down and say «$ 100 per girl. No more, no less. Cash.»
…
I wish I could be making this up.

Love this place! The manager Cherie was so kind. I’ll take service with that smile any day. Will definitely be back sooner than later!

I have been here a few times now. The music is always AMAZING. It’s a beautiful space and the staff is always very kind, respectful and accommodating.

I’ve been to many bars and clubs in my life and was by far the worst one I’ve ever experienced. Many things went wrong (see below), but the worst had to be the bar service. There was one bartender and around 100 people. The wait was horrifyingly long and the bartender made zero effort to check and see who had been waiting the longest. Even worse, they were only serving champagne that night, and wouldn’t accommodate any other orders. EVEN WORSE, after waiting forever, being poured the wrong type of champagne, and generally being treated with indifference, they automatically added a 20% POST-​TAX gratuity to my bill with no option to edit. I would understand if we were a big group and being obnoxious, but this was for one drink at the bar. A friend attempted to avoid this by paying in cash, but the same automatic gratuity was taken and he wasn’t given any change, essentially being forced to leave a $ 3 tip on a $ 14 drink.
Never go here.

last night must have been a lucky night because the music, crowd, energy and vibe were all on point.
bottle service is clutch here.

Coat check lost my coat. The owner stood there unable to make eye contact with me while I complained. Talked to the manager who was nice. Gave me his number to call and said they would reimburse me. I knew that was bullshit because unless it’s on the spot, there’s no way I’m getting money. Called him and he hasn’t called me back. I basically paid to have my coat disappear. Besides that the crowd was ghetto and the music sucked. Venue was small and not special.

Let me preface this review by saying I work in the nightclub business. I’ve seen the worst in humanity, repeatedly, and am more than willing to let a few bad things pass.
This is absolutely the worst nightclub/​experience I’ve ever had in NYC. My friend bought tickets and gave me a paper ticket for New Year’s Eve. Where to begin…
The door at the entrance was a huge mess. People shouting, people who worked for the venue shouting and the people who were playing at the venue trying to get their people in the doors.
I get in (thanks to a DJ playing that night) and go to check my coat.
Some woman smashes a glass into some guys face while I wait to check my coat and he bleeds profusely for TEN MINUTES until the staff begrudgingly intervenes and I’m covered in a Vodka-​red bull.
I try to get a drink in the back of the room and the lazy bartender takes over 20 min. He was short and kind of looked like a low rent Tom Cruise. He was busy counting money, making sure people signed their checks and tipped him and generally not serving any drinks.
I’m an impartial, open, friendly person who works hard in this business and this place doesn’t deserve another dollar from anyone. I hope nothing but the worst for this garbage establishment.

I come to my friends birthday,
The bartender was not making proper drinks, was not adding enough alcohol. I complained to manager. Manager was rude.
:-(

I came here for a friend’s birthday party soon after the Leonora opened, but I’m not sure I’d return on my own because it’s not quite my scene. A little pretentious, but if that’s what you’re into, it’s great. There’s an unmarked red door outside, but you can’t really miss the bouncer on the sidewalk, so it’s not hard to find. It’s supposed to be a place where celebs can come to chill out, but all I saw was a bunch of normal people wanting to hang out with famous people.
The décor and ambiance inside are lovely, with exposed brick and a gorgeous old wooden bar. But it was a little dark for me. I’m used to dark nightclubs, but it was literally hard to see people’s faces in here.
I left early because the music was terrible — some sort of mix of hip-​hop and songs they play at weddings to try to get people to dance. There weren’t many people dancing. I hear the DJs rotate, though, so I may come back to check it out again once the club gets a little more established.

They don’t return phone calls or emails. So I’m no longer interested in having a event here. Very unprofessional.

I’m DEFINITELY first for this one. I was here on opening night, which i found out earlier today wasn’t even the actual opening, it was just a preview.
I don’t know when this place opens yet, after doing some research I heard it would be later this month (August) but you never can tell in nightlife nowadays. This is the new brainchild from Nightlife veteran Noël Ashman. You might remember him from such clubs as The Plumm (now called Up & Down) and the 2^nd version of Studio 54. This new spot is more of a bigger lounge than those two places (which were definitely more club sized). This space is small, but it can hold over 200 people so it’s not THAT small, but the lay out is cool, albeit a bit strange: There are two 2 person tables that face each other on opposite sides of the dancefloor. Whatever works right? It’s dark and has red accents, like Mr. H but not as red. DJ Whookid was DJing so the tunes were on point.
The opening night was also a cast party for Phoenix, the new play on Broadway starring Juilia Stiles. She was there by the time we got there, which was actually a bit on the later side (around 1130PM, the event started at 8PM i think). Knowing Ashman’s track record, and the partners he’s working with on this new spot, this will be a hangout for celebrities. While I was there Damon Dash showed up, Freedom Williams (C&C Music Factory!) and we ended up sitting at Michael K. Williams (Chalky White from Boardwalk Empire) table. It’s pretty out there in Chelsea, so there won’t be much foot traffic to worry about, that’s for sure. But I’m sure the clientele won’t care. The idea behind the place (according to Ashman) is for «higher profile people» to hang out and not be in the Meatpacking district or other place where there would be more paparazzi or anything like that. Putting the spot all the way west in Chelsea essentially isolated is a good way to start. If the place isn’t technically open yet it will be open soon, so you guys can see for yourself.