Getting into the groove

Young Chang

Whether you’re looking to dance among sweaty people who don’t care

about how loud the music is because the last thing they want to do is

talk, or sway just the slightest bit in a mellow lounge where people

prefer to sip drinks and watch, Newport-Mesa offers plenty of

opportunities to groove.

Sometimes you really have to look, as the venues look like mere

restaurants but cater to a dancing mood.

Other times, you can just listen for the loud music and know there

is dancing to be had.

The Tiki Bar in Costa Mesa is an obvious place for dance. Regulars

call it the rare electronic-music spot in Orange County. It’s dark,

loud and dizzying with jumping lights. Patrons come to dance to the

house music of popular DJs and other musical acts. There’s drinking

and the occasional shouting above the din, but the most prominent

activity is dancing.

Margaritaville in Newport Beach offers an equally upbeat time, but

to a different tune. Between the margarita-drinking and Mexican-food

eating, patrons get up and dance between tables, as well as on the

dance floor. Musical acts perform seven nights a week.

And then there are the places like Carmelo’s Ristorante in Newport

Beach. A fairly upscale Italian restaurant with a huge bar, lounge

area, dining area, patio and, of course, dance floor, patrons there

groove to different rhythms according to the mood being promoted that

night. On Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Sundays, Latin salsa performer

Ivan Marcello performs. Sunday is tango night, and Thursday and

Friday evening stages are saved for the world music/Latin jazz/reggae

of Tino Macchia and his band.

Saturdays are reserved for Tate 5, a funk Motown group playing

musical styles of the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. Patrons can be

generalized to be in their mid-20s through mid-30s.

“We have a little solid crowd that just comes to hear these

groups,” said Brad Eggebraaten, bookkeeper at Carmelo’s.

If you’re looking for a sweeter, more mellow time, head to the

Trianon Lounge at the Sutton Place Hotel. Gerald Ishibashi and the

Stone Bridge Band perform rock, rhythm and blues, and jazz on

Saturday evenings, during which time patrons flock onto the dance

floor.

“It’s not too bright’; it’s nice, very romantic,” said Ramon

Galaviz, bartender at the lounge.

Anthony’s Riverboat Restaurant in Newport Beach offers a similarly

atmospheric time.

In the middle of the dining room, diners can get up and dance to

soft blues, jazz and classic rock on a dance floor that is

technically on the water.

The Harp Inn in Costa Mesa offers a more lively dance floor. Bands

perform on the stage Thursdays through Sundays.

“We have some Irish music, but for the most part it’s cover bands,

top 40-type music,” owner John Lyons said. “Danceable stuff.”

The somewhat cozy, somewhat dimly lighted watering hole attracts a

mostly 25 to 35 crowd. The floor can get pretty crammed.

“The bands that we have here play upbeat music,” Lyons said. “We

don’t have any depressing bands.”