Couture Ultra Lounge

A late review back in Dec 2013.
Visiting my first time to celebrate my cousin’s 23^rd birthday, the first impression that I got was a quiet service from the staff. I went right before it was 10pm for the free admission, just so I can see the place out. Maybe it’s because of my lack experience with clubs… but thank goodness I met my friends who told me to go get a stamp at the front. otherwise, I would have not known that coming in the club by myself.
Theme-wise…you dress up — classic wear, and of course the music was classical enough. Lounge, it is as what the name is entitled.
The drinks were pretty weak, and a bit expensive. I only sipped a couple of drinks from friends, since I was the designated driver for my cousin. But It’s as if the alcohol has been 90% diluted with water…
Interior and cleanliness, is really nice and pretty in terms of something located in China Town. Maybe it’s just me in a standard human mindset, but I really enjoy going to places that are well cared for. The bathroom is really clean to go into — and there is even a lady who can do your makeup/​buy candy from with a small fee.
Maybe I’ll go again and see how it is, since this is my first impression review. But we will see if I will or not.

Couture had me thinking about my life as I was leaving. Are my ultra lounge days behind me? Is the cool new thing for a DJ to play 15 – 20 seconds of a song and move on to an even crappier song than the last? Is the tiny dance floor part of the allure of this place. Why does the C-​Burger come on an English Muffin, and why is it so damn good?
So many questions.
Just so we’re clear: making a drink strong isn’t the same thing as making one well. It’s lazy bartending, and it doesn’t make me want to come back for another. Also, keep your receipt and check against your bank statement.
With so many other great choices in Portland, I’d be hard-​pressed to find a reason to frequent Couture.
At least you don’t have to go in to get the burger.

Hottest Portland night club great music DJ classy get ready for the Annual Mafia Wars III party VIP private invite only!!! dec 14 2013 you must be in the guest list to attend again private invite ONLY!!!

In theory, I get what Couture is trying to do. Portland is notoriously laid-​back and this is really one of the only «nice» nightclubs around. Ladies, you should be wearing dresses and heels here and gents, make sure to dress nicely. I honestly came here for the first time because I saw it on The Real World Portland and they were having an open bar for a few hours. At the time, I was dating someone who paid my cover ($ 10?) so for me, it was a good option.
However, now that I am single and paying my own covers, I don’t really come here. Couture is one of the only places I have been to that charges a $ 7ish cover on Thursday night-​not cool! The drinks are expensive and weak, and I do tip my bartenders. The crowd can only be described as «Vegas-​y.» By that, I mean that they are trying REALLY hard to seem important and show off their money. Not my style… but as you can tell from my previous reviews I’m usually let down by the crowd at all bars in this area.
In terms of layout and cleanliness, I can’t complain. The bathrooms are nice and there is adequate seating. I just don’t think there are enough «fabulous» people in Portland to keep this place going.

Place is so small and compact which leads to bunch of random guys all up on you. The bouncers there are extremely rude and feel they are the police ever since they got I trouble for over intoxicating some one. I would never go to this place again nor would recommend it to anyone. There are so many place surrounding that for this place to even have a line I don’t understand.

This place is SMALL. Maybe one of the smallest «lounges» I have ever been to. There 2 large couches where the bottle service is and a small corner of tables and couches for other people.
Came here on a Saturday for a Birthday. Had to pay $ 10, which already peeved me off. The crowd is pretty mixed but luckily a little classier than other places in Portland. However, this place has a tiny dance floor. It doesn’t get very packed so I guess the size of the venue isn’t as bad.
The DJ spinning for the night was okay. Didn’t play too much current stuff and not very good at transitioning between songs.
I’d go here for the occasional birthday and will definitely never be paying cover for entry.

Alright so I’ve heard and read a ton of differet things about this place and I’m over it. I reserved a table for my husband’s birthday Friday night and here is how it went…
Positive: the guy who escorted us to the table was awesome. He was in plaid and had a rockin beard but I couldn’t hear his name so Beared Man you were great. Because we had a larger party we got escorted up to the «VIP» area which was nice. The bathroom attendant in the ladies room was incredibly nice. I didn’t mind tipping her at all. The DJ (when playing music) played a great mix that everyone loved. It had new songs, classics, etc. Everything we wanted to hear. It wasn’t super crowded on the dance floor either. There was enough room to breath but not enough room that anyone felt awkward dancing.
Negative: Service in VIP was terrible. There were two girls who tried to cover all the tables but it took me 40 mins and two seperate requests to get a bottle of champagne to the table. Security was useless in VIP. Three times I had to personally ask that random people leave my table. It’s not that I don’t want to share, it’s that I don’t know you and I don’t appreciate you drinking my booze. The DJ had multiple instances where there was litterally zero music playing. Dead silence in a club is a terrible thing.
I will admit that overall this place is a little over priced and a little full of themselves. You’re in Portland, not LA, not NYC. If you’re going to charge me like you’re a big city night club then make me feel like I’m there.

Never ever go here for a new year celebration. we were 4 friends who paid for their tickets in the hope of having a good new year celebration. We were made to wait outside for about 1.5 hours, it was extremely cold and we were all dressed, which only made the waiting worse. I had a thought This was the last thing i wanted to do on a new year to wait in line after paying so much.
Ultimately we ended up not entering at untill 11:55 P. M, and left, we went to another place who treated us far better than couture.

Couture really is the first option in Portland when it comes to a «nicer nightclub.»
Since my one bad experience was quite some time ago I thought it only fair to update my review as Couture has treated me decently ever since then. I even elected to go there on my birthday this year and had VIP treatment.
The upside: at Couture you will find more of well-​heeled crowd. The $ 10.00 cover for women and $ 20.00 cover for men after 10:30 PM as well as the sharp eye of the doorman weeds out the slovenly and broke-​ass folks. The drinks and service are usually pretty good. Sometimes if the main bar is too busy, check out the other bar toward the back, and there you may find it less busy and you can get your liquor quicker. I have also had some decent food at Couture. The C-​Burger was decent, the bacon wrapped scallops — you can’t go wrong with bacon wrapped anything, and the Couture Salad was surprisingly good.
The downside: the dance floor is a little awkward and the music selection is not that great. It would be terrific if the DJ would play current «DANCE» music and mix it well. The washroom attendant is rather unpleasant with her sense of entitlement to be tipped each and every time you set foot in the washroom even if you do not partake of her wares such as hairspray, gum, lotion, etc.
Abrasive women’s washroom attendant aside, you will find the swank factor at Couture a step up from most other Portland nightclubs.

I’m a sucker for swanky so on that basis alone, I could give this spot 5 stars, but I’m trying to be real here. The drinks are a tad overpriced and the cover is kind of ridiculous (come on… it’s PORTLAND, not Vegas). Needless to say, if you want to feel VIP and exclusive, this spot is definitely for you, but it stops there. The crowd is a little older and the music isn’t really that great if you want to dance.
I came a couple times before they started charging cover with some girlfriends for drinks and preferred that setting to the debauchery that can occur when Portland’s «finest» come out for the night. My favorite drink is the lychee cocktail, its ALMOST worth the money. The service is pretty good and its modern and clean inside. It’s not the first place I would jump to for a night out on the town, but it’s not too bad.

3.5 stars. Couture Ultra Lounge would have received four stars if their bottle service was more then just a bottle of champagne.
Pros: Fairly crowded with good looking people, simple clean layout and good DJ.
Cons: $ 250 gets only a bottle champagne?

Cash only cover on the weekend. (i think it was $ 8 for ladies or something like that) but they do have a ATM machine there.
Minor wait in line. The usual snobbish bouncer with attitude in the front. Looking at the counter clicker pretending they were at occupancy. (when they kept letting ‘vip’ people in) And the place wasn’t even packed.
The interior is nicely decorated. Music is the main stream pop/​hiphop on a Friday night.
If you’re looking for a dress up dancy club, this would be it.
PS~ Guys should look out for the dress code. Pretty strict with no baseball hat and collar shirts only.

Haha. Couture.
I was back in Portland for a visit this past weekend, and last Friday was my first time at Couture during the busy hours, despite the fact that I lived in Portland for four years.
Had a good time dancing. Was kinda disappointed I couldn’t get a mojito, but I guess I was expecting too much.
Also, pretty sure I saw Wes Matthews there. I do remember hearing that the Blazers go to Couture.

Great music and a good crowd.
The interior is nicely decorated to give a very trendy look. The lighting system keeps the party going. Also the champagne and sparklers will always make a good edition to the party!
The place gets pretty busy around 1045-​11.

Walked through the doors early on a Saturday evening around 8pm (no cover) the place was empty except for two Bartenders and 3 guys drinking beer at one of the high tables. No problem, we were a party of 20, all ladies, we took over one of the lounge areas with a bank of leather seating and low tables.
The décor is upscale, very hip and trendy, with a bit of humor thrown in due to their Halloween décor. Clean crisp black, white, and silver, with several different open areas for lounging and a long sleek bar.
The Bartenders were cool as cucumbers, some might say unfriendly, but I expect their attitude is designed to match the décor.
Drinks were tasty and creative but super overpriced and small.
We left about 9:30, leaving Couture entirely empty except for two Bartenders and a group of 3 sitting at a table.

This place is kind of a joke. Some friends and I went here on a Saturday night. Expected it to be crowded. It was. No biggie. However, the biggest joke was the service!
I was IGNORED for at least 20 minutes trying to get a drink at the bar. Really?! You don’t want my money? After 10 minutes of getting irritated (mind you I was even waiving cash and saying ‘excuse me’ trying to gain attention) I nearly gave up. The two bartenders behind the bar didn’t seem to be helping anyone and not even paying attention for that matter. I don’t expect to get served super quickly at any crowded bar on the weekend but 20 minutes is a bit much. Needless to say we left after not being there but an hour.

Great drinks. Good food. Great Dancing. Sexy people.
Thursday nights are dedicated to House music. And one of the few places where you can dress up and dance to some of your favorite mixes (most other House playing venues are casual). Resident DJ Gabriel Driscoll has a keen ear. They also bring in great out of town House DJ’s like Nathan Scott — that was an amazing night.
Friday and Saturdays their resident DJ Sovern spins heavy beats and original mashups, or he opens up for the out of town SKAM artist. The dance floor might be small, but the upstairs section and back bar definitely move to the beat as well. Dance where you want to dance — it’s a posh swanky club that ensures classy sexy people.
The reason why this is my go to place — is the class. Most every club in Portland is ghetto, tacky and sprinkled with underage sneak-​ins. You can’t dance without some unexpected denim hard-​on rubbing against you. Everyone here dresses up and regardless of how much they make, they present themselves well and are respectful. The music is great, the establishment is well decorated and lit and the drinks are tasty (Lychee Lady is amazing). Their bartenders are talented and friendly. The door guys are sweethearts. My only complaint is I wish they had more bathroom stalls.

(Write up is for «C Burger» only)
You see burger? Me see burger. Actually the «C» is for the location, «Couture Ultra Lounge.» The C Burger was such a popular option INSIDE the club, management decided to sell them out of the back of the kitchen to late night clubbers in search of a burger fix, and that proved to be so popular, that they have been peddling them for a month out of their street-​side location, on Couch, between 3^rd and 4^th.
This is al fresco at its ultimate, like a food cart (but no wheels) in that there is no seating, no inside dining. Strictly take-​away, as they say in remnants of the former Empire.
Stephan Stills once sang, «When you see the Southern Cross for the first time, you understand why you came this way.» Such is how I felt today, «when you feel the C burger sauce running down your chin, you understand why you came this way.» Man oh man.
C Burger starts with Cascade Natural Beef, which is a reliable supplier to a lot of burger chefs in the Portland area. But it takes more than a supplier to «grind out» a good burger, and the grind was one of the stand out features of the C burger. A little coarser than many chefs opt for, but that makes good tasting meat an even more pleasurable tactile experience, in the opinion of both your reporter, and frequent co-​burger gobbler, Portland small biz attorney extraoridinare, William Duval.
Your standard C burger comes with American cheese, burger sauce, lettuce tomato, onion, house pickle, on your choice of a bun or English muffing. We both opted for the buns, firm yet soft sesame seeded, soft enough to gently give with each bite, solid enough to support a juicy burger.
Upgrades are available, as are a chicken burger, and a veggie burger. House cut fries come with an aioli and spicy ketchup; the butter milk Walla Walla sweet rings (which we opted for), with a jalapeño ranch sauce on the side.
Don’t know what is in C Burger’s «burger sauce», but this is the first one I remember liking in a long time. It’s not overpowering, as so many are.
So, campers, to recap: great meat, great bun, nice sauce, fresh, crisp vegetables, and unbelievable thick onion rings.
In my opinion, which is worth nothing, C Burger climbs right up the ladder and is perched next to Foster Burger — and at half the Foster price. Those rings are a little spendy, boys… but yes, to me, they are worth it.

**MEH MEH MEH**
Portland has an ultra lounge. Woo hoo!
Waited in line for 15 minutes, paid $ 10 cover charge, and downed a few shots.
Dance floor was too small. Too hot and too sweaty. Even for me.
Eye-​candy? Maybe.
Bitchy girls, yes.
Haters, yes.
Bartenders served the shots high and mighty. Thank you. We needed it.
DJ was OK, a lot of top 40.
Not the best *ultra lounge* we’ve been to, but good enough.
RECOMMEND ONLY if you desperately need to dance in Portland.

Portland has a new ultra lounge!
Couture is the newest addition to the Chinatown/​Old Town lounge scene. With a big, slick, urban feel, Couture definitely brings lounging in Old Town up a notch or 10.
Walking in the front door, the high-​ceilings, white walls, and ambient, color-​changing mood lighting immediately transport you from the gritty streets of Old Town to, say, Vegas, LA, or Seattle (or really any other big city). The space itself is large and open, with a bar running the length of one side, a few bistro tables in the middle of the room, and a raised seating area along the far side. The front corner boasts a small-​ish VIP area with a separate bar. The VIP area has some cool mod brown wallpaper, and the bar is a resin set atop broken glass for a cool, slick effect. A brilliant chandelier hangs in the VIP area as well.
The focus of the lounge is just that, to be a lounge which serves high-​end food and high-​end drinks in a high-​end environment. I sampled numerous drinks off the cocktail menu and found all of them to be quite appealing. Their take on the old fashioned (with a fernet float) was very tasty, and the fig-​infusion bourbon side car was a wintery-​spice flavored hit as well. At an average price of $ 9, you’re paying ultra-​lounge prices, but with the quality of cocktails I did not ever feel like I was overpaying. The liquor selection is growing (they’ve only been open 2 weeks!) and they also offer a decent selection of wine and beer (in bottles, no taps). Prices are all par for the fancy setting.
The menu offers some interesting options on appetizer, happy hour, salad, and entrée lists. They have a $ 13 burger which I did not try but I saw a neighbor eating. He said it was good. Served on an English muffin with a house-​made tomato jam, I was intrigued but not sold. On recommendation of the bartender (a sassy one), I sampled the Osso Bucco. At $ 22, I was, well, impressed with how good it was for being served at at ultra-​lounge in old town, but not 100% blown away. The lamb shank was falling-​off-​the-​bone tender with a tasty glaze on the outside, but the meat was a tad overcooked and not quite as moist as it could have been. It sat atop a very delicious risotto and those were paired with a wilted kale that I downed tout suite. Overall, a very tasty meal. Not the best Osso Bucco I’ve had, but for the price in the atmosphere, not too shabby.
Now this review should be taken with a grain of salt. I snuck in after opening date but before they decided to promote themselves. I applaud them for wanting to work out the kinks before people like me walk in and start dropping reviews. I am sure that the kitchen is still working on things, and with a ladder up in the VIP area, I can tell that there are a few odds and ends that are still coming together.
That all said, this place is sitting at a solid 4 stars in my book even with a kink or two here and there. With the ultra lounge vibe, I was expecting a strong air of pretense, but everyone I dealt with, bartenders, servers, and other patrons, were super nice and welcoming. Generally I’d hit a place like this a few times before dropping a review, but I feel comfortable launching a 4 right now with a possible 5 in the wings if they achieve their goal of excellent food. The drinks are already there.
While similar ultra-​lounges like, well, I won’t name them here, try too hard, I see these guys making something that could actually work well in Portland. I will definitely be back!