A well-informed source told me the following about the former Yu Lounge on Montana in Santa Monica, which was owned by SBE Entertainment (Katsuya, Abbey). Apparently, that space has been sold to Hillstone Restaurant Group (Houston’s, Gulfstream, Bandera) to turn into a Cafe R&D or lunchtime-y place. A shame considering it was the only joint on Montana that had a full liquor license — all others have only beer and wine.
She said that since “the license was going to go dormant and expire or something, we had to reopen it for 90 days before Houston’s can have it..soooo, in the interim it’s now ‘Montana Lounge’ opened Tuesday-Saturday…from 6ish till 1:30ish as a Westside chill lounge….no specialty drinks or anything.”
Although I wasn’t crazy about Yu Lounge since it was soo small, crowded with nowhere to sit, this interim “Westside chill lounge” might be worth checking out. My friend said it may not be review-worthy but “good for a quick bite and a cocktail or 3.”
1323 Montana Avenue
Santa Monica, California 90402
(310) 395-4727
Cross Street: Euclid Street
Montana Lounge is absolutly amazing. So amazing that Gwyneth Paltrow was there are Saturday night getting bottle service. Montana Lounge has taken Brentwood by storm with a great atmosphere, great staff and amazing drinks. There are 4 Specialty drinks, The Burning Mango, White Blueberry Cosmo, Lemondrop Martini and the Cucumber Fresh Martini. All are superb.
I love it there its my new after work spot.
[...] First off, I guess I was unclear in my last post about Montana Lounge. Actually, SBE still owns the space and is using it until the Hillston Restaurant Group takes over and turns it into Cafe R&D. SBE is just keeping the liquor license active. This is all according to an insider source. She said that the uniforms are from Area and the menu is loosely borrowed from Hyde. [...]