Bijoux Lounge

Pricey but worth it. Excellent drinks great music, no assholes. Danced the night away!

Where to I begin, Lets start with the first time I went, shall we?
Walked in with a good girlfriend during the week, a wed I believe. Ate dinner at merkato, the food tasted like trash can scraps. The crowd of women lingered around the ages of 13−17yrs old. I felt like a cougar and i’m 24. The men were somewhere in the 40 – 55 yr old range. Fine, I can handle that. Fast foward about an hour, the weird brothel-​esque crowd starts to slowly saunter downstairs to Bijoux. The vibe was in a word weird. I stayed for a very short while and escaped. Too awkward. Bad music, and I felt like I was in a musky basement. All the chandelliers in France couldn’t have jazzed this dump up
Last night, I was going to go again with another good girlfriend of mine. Although I am ‘pretty’ and in ‘good shape’ I fully expect that sometimes I won’t get into a club. I’m not princess Diana, sometimes I get in, other times I don’t. Nothing personal. So we ended up not being able to make the cut for whatever reason yesterday (one of the bouncers admitted he’d recognized my face, but ‘coundnt do anything for me tonight). Ok, no harm, no foul. It was going just swimmingly, and we were gonna move on to another spot when all of a sudden the bouncer says“Don’t waste your time here, go somewhere else tonight”. Say whaaa? Why such a crude diss dude? His tone and demeonar were that of a person who is trying to insult someone in order to get a hyped up situation started. So I turned to him and went «wow, that was unkind». I think he was surprised by how calm and honest I was. All of a sudden he began apologizing profusely, saying he didn’t mean it like that, that he shouldn’t have said that, and saying all kinds of things to get back in my good graces. However, the damage was done.
After that exchange I wouldnt let my dingy old farts go to Bijoux let alone myself. The guy apologized, but when an establishment has to be insulting and degrading to keep it’s grasp around ‘exclusivity’, then they have taken a wrong turn. There have of course been nights where I have gotten into clubs time after time, know the doorman, have had a blast and not gotten into that same club a few days later. I’m not droppin my diddy dollars, its a recession, so I fully understand if you don’t want to let me in every time. Please, make room for those who want to blow a days worth of work on a table, I will not do much more than buy a few drinks. So i’m down with not getting in every time. But there is no reason to be insulting.
So the kiddie prostitute theme in conjunction with the blatant rudeness gets this worthless establishment 1 star (really 0 imo, but there is no such rating)

After 2 months of bouncing checks & not paying bills Bijoux closed its’ doors on Tuesday March 24. ALL THE EMPLOYEES WERE LEFT WITH NO PAY & PAY CHECKS THAT BOUNCED!

Great music, sleek atmosphere, chic design and exclusive crowd. But for the stuffy underground feeling and low ceilings, I would have given it 4 stars. Throw in a couple of lap-​dancing inebriated customers, the occasional celebrity sighting, $ 18 wine glass (yeah, I know), excellent bartenders and you’ve got an interesting mixture.
Warning: If you’re above 5“10′ you may feel a little challenged unless slouching is your thing.

So I am thinking I kind of liked PM better than Bijoux… definitely a cool hangout though, a good cross betwen a lounge and a club, with the same type of crowd that used to be at PM. The best part for me is the music, which is a good mix of everything from house to hip hop to eighties, etc… I guess what I liked better about PM was the vibe was a bit more laid back, sometimes there is something to be said for just being chic without trying too hard…

I came here for New Years Eve with a table reservation so the service was first rate. No complaints there. The address belongs to Mercado so when you try to get in at their entrance they direct you to an unmarked door with reflective glass. They can see you, you can’t see them. When they let you in you are directed down a staircase to the basement and by the buildings kitchens. Bijoux’s entrance is then behind a door and some think curtains. The actual lounge is pretty nice, although the ceiling are so low that you can often feel quite claustrophobic. Also, people were smoking everywhere so it became almost sauffocating to sit around. The bouncers, hosts and waitresses definitely took themselves a bit too seriously though with the whole exclusive «secret» club thing.

Bijoux was a five star waiting to happen. You drop the name you know and enter feeling super-​exclusive through an unmarked door on Gansevoort Street. Down some stairs and through a sort-​of kitchen and a door marked Private, you find yourself in Bijoux — a dark, chic little space with velvet couches, a gorgeous chandelier, and even a wishing well. The crowd is a fun, pansexual mix of models, fashion boys, and the suits who love both respectively. The DJ is spinning everything from house to Rhianna, and it’s a Wednesday night at 1am. Life is good.
But then something happens that has never happened to you in all your years in New York: your coat gets stolen. And your keys are in the pocket (thankfully my phone and wallet were on me). Now I’m not one to blame the venue for this. I assume a small amount of risk when I put my things down on a bench instead of paying for coat check. And truth be told, everyone who worked there was very nice and helped me look.
But what really irks me is that there were TONS of other much nicer coats and bags strewn about all over the place. Why would a petty thief take my Engineered Garments vest? And even if it was taken accidentally, wouldn’t you realize that it wasn’t yours once you got outside and bring it back? Grrr. Luckily I have good friends with a copy of my keys who don’t mind if I wake them up at 3am on a Wednesday (thanks O & J!).
As I said, this isn’t really the venue’s fault, but it makes me think more than twice about whether I’d ever go back. What’s the point of having a tough door if you can’t keep out trash that steals things? Also, this place has usurped 1 Oak as having the most expensive drinks I have encountered in New York: $ 18 for a G&T. We’re in a recession people — that’s just mean.

I second Erica’s review. The entrance is a bit too hard to find, as it’s just a smokey door that the bouncer does or does not open depending on his mood. (that’s kind of the point though, isn’t it?) He’s very polite once he agrees to let you inside and shows you to the stairs lit through the kitchen. Once inside the interior is very ny-​hotspot-​chic. dark walls and ceilings that contrast with chandeliers and white roses at every table, with a picture of the owner’s s.o. nude painted on the wall.
It seems to get going around 1:30, and while I haven’t spotted any celebs the big spenders seem to love the place… (though if you’re a big spender, you of course get free drinks…)
So far this place seems cool and has potential — but it has a bit of the soullessness that a new place sometimes needs to wear out with some spilled champagne and sweat.

Confusion at first, as I was searching for the all too well covered entrance. The 2 bouncers look like waiters standing at the edge of Merkato’s restaurant. I walked up to them, albeit a bit tipsy from watching and drinking to the Phillarmonic in Central Park, and asked them, «Are we at Bijoux?» and they kindly replied, «Yes, who do you know?» I stated the name of my DJ playing-​there-​that-​night friend, and we were ushered inside and told to follow the candles to the stairwell, walk down to the basement, walk through a part of the kitchen (really?) and finally enter through a seemingly closet-​esque door that says «Private.» It reminded me of a Janitor closet from my high school days. With a smirk, I pushed it open and immediately gasped. It’s a beautiful, low ceilinged, dark, dimly lit by candles and if I can remember correctly chandeliers lounge. There are multiple rooms and enclaves, perfect for going with your significant other to dance and make out, or if single, to meet the select crowd and mingle drunkenly. I didn’t see anyone of extreme interest, but if you read my other reviews, I have a terrible celeb or important «vip» spotting eye. I definitely met some extremely enjoyable people. It was a post Bastille day party, and quite jolly with some house, techno, and hip hop spinning and delicious drinks. If you can get in (please try) you should go if not just to admire the décor and the strange entry, but the scene and the atmosphere!

Amazing experience… Keep this place a secret.