Ivory Lounge

Place to be on a Friday night if you want to get your dance on to hip hop/​rap music.
When we first got here at about 12:15 a.m. there was nobody on the dance floor. Being that this was our 4^th stop of the night, we didn’t care and we started dancing. My friends love hip hop music, so this was right up their alley. Although I am a bigger fan of mainstream, I still enjoyed dancing to this music. Pretty soon the whole dance floor was filled, although it was never to the point of being too crowded.
My friend first explained this place as having a miami feel. I could tell what she meant. People do dress up and some people look a little douchey, but otherwise this seems like a pretty laid back place.
It is on the small side, with only one dance floor, but it wasn’t too crowded so this wasn’t a problem. I would definitely suggest checking this place out.

This is a poor excuse for a «nightclub». I just moved here from Chicago and was so excited to try this place out. The VIP and bottle service is a joke, and so is the DJ. Very basic top 40s that you can turn on the radio and hear the exact same stuff.

I love ivory lounge! The music is always on point and I love the European feel to this dance club. The paintings also add a nice touch. The fact that it’s slightly upscale, I feel good coming here without worrying about a bad crowd.

The blonde bartender is AMAZING! The questionable reviews of Ivory do not add up to my experience. Friendly staff & fun environment.

Place did a remodel and not for the better at all. Very cheap looking fixtures. Sightlines are focused on a ugly looking center bar prom night lighting decent sound. Small crowds are the norm here. There is a cover charge which for an empty place is a bad marketing decision

The best place to go in Sarasota for club style feel without the gross smoke filled rooms!

This is the ONLY decent place to go dancing in Sarasota. Your only other options at the moment are Gator Club (smoky, grungy) or Beach Club (outdated music and touristy). Staff is helpful, place is nice, music is great; I am SO grateful this place exists in little Sarasota.
The venue itself is nice but small. They have a long outdoor sitting area with bar (with ashtrays for smokers). The entrance leads you to the small dance floor, and to the right is a large bar and impressive fish tank separating the VIP lounge area, which is a beautiful, bright, white space, but I prefer the dance floor with the masses. The crowd is a broad age group and style, but everyone looks like they’re showered and clean.
Music is pretty mixed ranging from edm to top 40, which pretty much includes edm and hip hop. I will say the crowd on Fridays appears to be 10 years younger than the Saturday crowd, which is pretty impressive for Sarasota. My recommendation is if you’re in you’re 20s, check out Friday over Saturday… unless you’re gay and don’t care, Thursday is gay night.
The place opens at 10, but no one shows up till midnight. If you want the bar and dance floor to yourself, enjoy before the clock strikes 12.

My girls brought me here to dance for my bachelorette party. Not being from Sarasota, they based their decision through online reviews. We came on a Saturday night and it was pretty empty at first. The crowd picked up quickly though. The DJs played top 40s and hip hop. I had lots of fun, the drinks were pretty good, and I dance so hard I sprained my ankle.

It’s the only worthy place to go for good music and dancing in Sarasota!

So many nights there that pretty much end up the same. Regular dj on fridays plays the same stuff that he played the week before but the crowd is too drunk to notice. The setup is all wrong. The front entrance leads to the tiny dance floor which leads to the bathroom. So imagine feeling like a sardine while surrounded by über shallow people while being bumped so someone can get to the bathroom.
The only time I really enjoy myself is when a visiting dj plays. No, I do enjoy real house and techno not top 40 fist pump crap from the Jersey Shore. Thank goodness for the friendly staff and usual drink specials on Fri and Sat. The fish tank above the bar is super nice as well. I would imagine the VIP area is the place to be to avoid all the Jersey Shore action.

Crowd seemed very young but that did not stop us from enjoying the music!

What a night… My cohorts and I tend to think that we have our fingers on the pulse of Sarasota, but where did this little gem come from? It was about a month after a little disappointing birthday get together we learned of Ivory. It started out as a night of some wings and a few beers and ended up in a very chill VIP section. Door man was OK, made my buddy take off his hat before he could go in. Walking through the door was like entering what I imagine an eastern European club to look like. The bartender was gay and had a thing for my friend so he gave us a deal on drinks… Sweet! The outdoor smoking section is a great idea more places should consider adopting. All in all we had a good time.

last night the music was good and the crowd was improved — still plenty of meat-​heads but there were also plenty of insanely hot women.
the DJ was smashing the vinyl; if beats were atoms he would have found the God particle! actually he was playing MP3’s not vinyl, if it matters.
the music still gets a «B» because the DJ threw some ballads in for uselessness, he had some beat-​less intros and occasionally someone got the mic yelling about «Miami» — just shut up and spin! and while your at it, take the whistles away from the attention hounds who pound them, it’s too small for that retro noise.
…did i mention the hot women?
this was cool — they used a tank of oxygen and opened it up on the crowd, like the foam party at the Pataya Hard Rock, minus the foam, and the Thai lady-​boys, and the hookers and pick pockets, but still an interesting new twist and needed cooling down of the dance floor.
also, the jugalo-​ish dancer was excellent and helped keep the crowd moving, scandalous clothing and good moves, and sweet as can be!

Good djs, fun atmosphere. Love the décor, and VIP area is done well. I enjoy the fact that you can’t smoke in the club. I wish they would class up the bathroom however. Overall i’d say this is my favorite club in Sarasota. I’ve been many times and I plan to go many more.