El Dorado Cocktail Lounge under new ownership (Photo by James Tran)
Bar, East Village

East Village Buzz

By Frank Sabatini Jr.

After 15 years of slinging both classic and newfangled libations, the iconic El Dorado Cocktail Lounge in the East Village has been given a refresh—but without losing its alluring watering-hole vibe.

The Broadway Street bar originally opened in 2018 by a trio of brothers: Nathan, Marshall and Matthew Stanton, plus their good friend, Ryan Kurtz. They were among the first bar owners in this neck of downtown to introduce wildly creative and complex cocktails that had become de rigueur in cities like San Francisco and New York.

After making a good run of it, they decided late last year to sell the business to Pouring With Heart, a hospitality group that owns Seven Grand in North Park in addition to more than 20 other bars in California, Texas and Colorado.

Much of the former El Dorado alumni has been kept on staff, and the space itself was polished up during its now-ended temporary closure. The DJ booth, for instance, was swapped out for a pool table, although the bar’s massive buffalo head (named Otis) remains intact above a jukebox. Tufted leather booths run alongside one end of the space, against a wall that is accessorized with lamps and sculptures.

Best of all, the bar returns to being open seven days a week, from 4:00p to 2:00a, and with special parties planned for the community every Sunday for the next three months.