With vibey lighting, hours extending past 11 p.m. and a cocktail menu that changes with the seasons, Menlo Park is getting a new addition to its downtown that could help the city start to shake off its “Menlo Dark” moniker.
That addition is Loretta, a new bar set to open Feb. 3 that’s the brainchild of owner Ali Elsafy, who has run the neighboring restaurant, Bistro Vida, since 1998. When a little over a year and a half ago, the adjacent space at 639 Santa Cruz Ave. — then a furniture store — became available, Elsafy thought converting it into a bar would be a slam dunk.
It wasn’t, of course. But the permits have been lined up, the interior designed and menu crafted. And Loretta — a younger, more playful sister to Vida — will open soon.
Loretta’s location was once home to Magoo’s Pizza Parlor, where a band called the Warlocks — who later became the Grateful Dead — played their first gig. To honor that history, Elsafy’s made an effort to pay homage to Deadhead lore. You’ll hear Grateful Dead albums on vinyl each Wednesday, with DJs spinning lounge tunes other evenings.
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The bar will be open until 11:30 p.m. at first — after March, it will stay open until 1:30 a.m. — and he’s hoping the late hours will draw post-concert visitors from the Guild, Menlo Park’s nonprofit live music venue. Currently, few places are open late within the city.
“It’s really needed,” he says.
The bar is slated to offer seasonal cocktails, wine, beer and mocktails, plus a selection of bar bites and snacks prepared next door at Bistro Vida.
The opening date, originally planned for Jan. 15, has been pushed back to Feb. 3, Elsafy says, to give staff members from Los Angeles time to travel home to support family amid the devastating wildfires there.
Details: Opens at 5 p.m. Feb. 3 at 639 Santa Cruz Ave., Menlo Park.
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