Voda

«And God said, ‘Let there be vodka!‘
And He saw that it was good.
Then God said, ‘Let there be light!‘
And then He said, ‘Whoa — too much light’.»
This dark, swanky little vodka bar will have you loving ALL types of vodka by the end of the night and hating bright lights too ha. Their list of vodkas goes on and on just like most people’s drinking addictions! Their vodka cocktails are ingenious and so incredibly creative with the flavors they put together, but it can get pricey quickly. For a night out on the classier side in Santa Monica, Voda is your place. The even have a cockatil that comes with an edible flower in it! So boys, if you forgot to get your girl a flower, order her one of those!
p. s. i just found out this place is closed through Unilocal and I think i might cry… too bad i can’t go there for their yummy vodka… i even tried calling them to make sure and yes… their number has been disconnected… it is like being broken up with and finding out through the internet!!!

The dark, sleek small setting is home to an attractive, well-​dressed Westside crowd getting their vodka drink on. The candle lit sexy spot serves up pretty much every kind of vodka you have and have not heard of from all over the world including Russia, Poland, Scotland, and Sweden.

I came here for an ad event so I cant really say much about the food but the appetizers were good. The décor is dark and chic but a bit more on the older middle-​aged tip so if you were to ask me… NOT ALL THAT.

Definitely my favorite bar in LA. This is a vodka bar, and i LOVE me some martini’s! They make all kinds here, really. The bar itself if beautiful, dark, and lush. Very sexy! I have come to this bar with small groups of friends, on first dates, and blind dates. All seriously a lot of fun.

Love this place. Love love love.
(a little hungover still…)

Apparently this place moved… too bad, because I thought this spot was pretty cool.

I’ve been going to Voda for years. A definite favorite! I love the fact that there’s no sign on the door. If you like vodka and martini’s this is your place. It’s a bit expensive but the drinks and the mini shaker of your left over martini make it worth it. A great place to go with a couple of friends — ok for small parties.
Never had the food, looks good…
Check it out but don’t tell anyone that has to cross a bridge and go through a tunnel…

I really thought I would hate this place but I didn’t. Then I went back and I was *sure* I would hate this place. And I liked it even more. So, I was really happy to be there after I got over the shock and trauma of realizing that I don’t know myself *at all*.
Last night a couple of friends and I stumbled over to Voda after a disappointing movie experience on the Promenade. We discussed politics, market failures, and the absence of solidarity among American values. What better place to do this than at a seemingly pretentious vodka bar??? You may be thinking now that I like this semi-​pretentious place because I am a semi-​pretentious person who discusses solidarity and market failures over vodka.
But wait! I’m not!!!
Part of the reason I loved this place is simply for the fact that they even let us in. See, while one of us (ahem, not me…) was looking very elegant, the other two were not. The guy we were with was wearing shorts and flip flops and said he felt like he looked beach appropriate while I was wearing what I call my socially acceptable pajamas. Pirate pants. Bedouin pants. Take your pick of insulting names (no offense to pirates or bedouins…) but they are flowy and black and elasticized and when paired with a t-​shirt and flip flops, well, I could easily have rolled out of bed in this ensemble. Yet, not only did the doorman and bartenders not seem to care about our inappropriate attire, they encouraged us to stay with excellent drink advice and free shots.
You ask, «Did you say free shots???» Yep. I sure did. We were given the most delicious fizzy peach shot called a Diamond by one of the nice bartenders serving us. Just because. And when we asked our other bartender (Mark) about what vodka to get in what drinks (as none of us are vodka afficianados) he gave us what he thought would work best and told us that it wasn’t the most expensive vodka but that he thought it worked best in that drink. So, we kept ordering more and more and more. I tried four different drinks — all of which were delicious and kept me wanting more. The best dirty martini I’ve ever had.
It gets pretty crowded and loud because it’s so small but it was a fun place, an unpretentious place, a place with great drinks (and I’m normally not even a vodka drinker), a well decorated place (there is artwork of shooting gallery targets on the wall), and a place that didn’t care that an inappropriately dressed group stumbled in and wanted to talk about comparative international policy perspectives. Until, that is, we had four of those drinks in us. Then, not even I could tell you what was discussed…

This review is for bar only; haven’t had the food here. Also, written with a touch of sarcasm.
Voda is SMALL, CROWDED, and SMALL. In other words, it’s perfect*.
If you’re looking to impress your Gucci-​purse toting date, this is the spot to take him/​her. The design is clean and modern with a row of semi-​circular clubby booths lining the right, a tall raised table (to stand next to and peek at all the hotties) in the center and the bar to your left.
The last time I came here we did a tasting of 42 Below vodkas (plain, honey and passionfruit). Man, 42 Below is like silk on your tongue. Unfortunately, the honey and passionfruit was like Nutrasweet and sewage water on the tongue, respectively. YECH. Seriously gross.
The drinks are almost unappetizingly strong, which is again, perfect* and a big reason why I like this place.
If you need a trendy bar where people are hot and won’t speak to you unless you bling out, this is it. There’s no better place to do this in Santa Monica (Penthouse and Viceroy come close).
* It’s perfect only if you like this kind of thing … which I do. 98% of other people would probably disagree with me.

Stunning candlelit ambiance, stiff drinks, exciting variety of top shelf vodkas, and nice bartenders, not to mention THE most comfy lounge seats, and fluffy pillows.
I love this little bar, it rocks my world! Very casual, although you could get dressed up too. Anything goes!

The Unilocal reviews were very accurate!
This place is great for a date or for an intimate conversation especially on a regular weeknight. Ambience is dark and very initimate (with lots of candles!). Good for people watching as it has a trendy and good looking crowd (late 20s — 30s).
The vodka drinks are pretty good. They are not weak and have a strong kick to it (drank the Expresso). The service was really good too (Briton was the server).
Parking: Instead of valet, you can park on the structure on 2^nd Street on corner of Broadway. It is only $ 3 after 6:00.

I came on a date here once… whoa, that was probably a little too much information, huh? Wait, what?
Moving on… They serve an amazing array of vodkas here, odd being a vodka bar and all, but yeah, they do and their martinis are quite amazing and don’t hesitate on the alcoholic punch.
The vibe is totally chill, tranquil, sophisticated and sly with rich dark wood tones and baby soft brown leathers. The patrons are classy and cool and the eye candy is usually pretty impressive, offering everything from Gimme Your Wallet Cuz My Boobs Are Fake And You Wanna Bang Me Barbie to well to do businessmen and West side hipsters (wait, West side hipsters is kinda like Jumbo Shrimp, it makes no sense)
Overall, a totally swanky place to sit and sip premium chilled drinks with friends or a hot date. Good times :)

MMMM… what’s not to love about a bar dedicated to VODKA?! Well… I suppose if you didn’t LIKE vodka, you probably wouldn’t like Voda. lol
Swanky little hole in the wall of a bar… classy, dark, candlelit interior… with a wall of sparkly bottles filled to the brim with the clear liquid.
After much contemplation… ok, about 2 seconds after hopping up to the bar… I decided I just HAD to have Pravda vodka in my drink just because I liked the name and have some at home that I’ve yet to try. So ask the bartender if he could just whip up some sort of mojito-​like bevvie with Pravda. He made a YUMMY concoction with a big ol’ mint leaf in it… so yummy that I practically made my cheeks touch inside my mouth from sucking so hard through the straw! So yummy that within minutes I had another one in my grabby little paws. lol
So upon drinking the aforementioned Pravda Mo-jo’s…I snuck off into the bathroom for a tinkle. Unfortunately in my drunken state, my camera came with me. lol I don’t recommend this after an evening of drinking at Exhale Spa followed by the Mo-jo’s…unless you want to laugh your socks off in the morning. :)
Great place to hang with friends… great place to go on a date… loud enough to feel like your out of the house but yet, still quiet enough that you can carry a conversation. And… great place for a martini!

I know it may seem like I give out 5 stars like I’d give a friend tissues at a sad movie… but really, I just don’t see why I wouldn’t give five stars to a place that I genuinely really enjoyed.
…And I really had a great experience at Voda.
I ended up here last Sat night with 2 girlfriends after a botched attempt to go to the Huntley’s new Penthouse (so sad that there are now lines at almost every great West Side bar worth going to). It was a very pleasant discovery and seems to still be somewhat of a secret (and here I am spilling the news).
We had a very delicious, very late night snack (kitchen open till 12.30!). I highly recommend the mushroom pizza (two kinds of cheese) and the berries with fresh whipped cream. It was all amazing… as were the 2 kinds of wine we tried. It seems like a great place to go for dinner and to hang out at all night.

This place is a SexyTime!
Intimate restaurant/​bar with warm lighting… two waterfalls behind the bar… a row of tea light candles… feng shui in the ladies bathroom… and, the soundtrack in the background keeps this small spot lively.
There’s one booth for a good size party (6−8ppl) if you are looking to for a snazzy place to celebrate whatever. But, this place is ideal for hanging out with 2 or 3.
I wasn’t blown away by the martini I had. But, I did enjoy the edible flower. pretty cool :)
Key advise 1: If you don’t have reservations, then you will be standing a lot.
Key advise 2: Just park first in the garage and walk to find it. Its not really a spot that pops out at you when driving by. I know from experience, took us a minute to find it.

Swanky martini bar, quite hidden too. The doorway is this super-​thin opening, meaning if I was 10 pounds heavier, I probably wouldn’t fit through. Inside it’s very dark and romantic-​y, lots of candles. Apparently you can come here for dinner, as the tables are all reserved for only that, which sucks since there wasn’t enough seating at the bar. Nonetheless, we enjoyed martinis, I had their chocolate martini. Can you say STRONG? I was expecting something sweet, and instead almost had my throat burned off from all the vodka in it. I still liked it though, particularly the chocolate along the rim of the glass, hehehe. I was quite tipsy when I finished, so be prepared!

Can you say swanky?! This place is pretty classy. It is a vodka bar, with vodka from all over the world! They have a martini list and these are all pretty strong, especially the Chocolate one. My fav is the Violet, goes down very very smooth. If vodka aint your thing, they also have wine and beer.
Only reason it doesn’t get 5 stars is the lack of seating. There are a few tables, and about 10 stools. When I went, a lot of the tables were reserved, so you might end up standing next to the bar.
If you don’t look out, you might walk right by it, it is a very thin door, and if I wasn’t looking for the numerical address, I would have passed it up to! But very glad I didnt!

Met up with a few friends here for dinner and drinks — love the intimate feel the place has to it. Best of all though, the drinks and the appetizers/​entrees that we ordered were all good! An attentive server was also a plus. Loved the intimate atmosphere — you can cuddle with your date to your heart’s content. ;) The only bad thing is parking, but where is that not a problem in LA? Shoot for street parking or be prepared to have some cash on hand so you can park in one of the nearby public parking structures.

They make a pretty mean extra dirty, extra dry Grey Goose martini here. No lines at the door, no club-​type drama inside, it’s a cool place to call out a group of your friends and enjoy smart cocktails together.
The crowd verges on trendy for Santa Monica, but I’d still feel comfortable going on a weekend in jeans and a tank. Plus, they’ve got candles everywhere so the lighting alone makes everyone just a little better looking.

My favorite martini bar, even though i’m not in a martini phase these days (have been on a whiskey kick since traveling through Ireland).
I love this place though; perfect size, dark, intimate, fun crowd, no name on the door (look for it beside the Hotel Carmel), cool door guys who don’t bounce me for wearing casual gear, and great martinis. If you don’t know what you want or want to try something new, they’ll suggest something. That’s where I discovered Monopolova, which sells for $ 10 at Trader Joe’s and is as good as many $ 30 bottles. They recommended it!
They also serve dinner but I’ve only eaten once and it was my birthday and I was too drunk to recall the quality.
P. S. Happy hunting for the restroom!