“Flight Lounge” Takes Off in San Carlos.
June 10, 2010
“Flight” is the Theme.
Combining our nostalgia for air travel along with our passion for fine wines, the Flight Lounge in San Carlos has created an interesting twist on what you would expect in a traditional wine bar. When he opened the Flight Lounge in mid-March of this year at 971 Laurel Street, general manager and San Carlos resident Taylor Brough wanted to recreate that unique sense you get in an upscale airport flight lounge — a place where you can immediately step away from the break-neck pace of the travel day, and relax with a great glass of wine (or beer).
The theme of air travel is pervasive at the Flight Lounge, from the pictures of circa-1930's commercial airplanes that adorn the walls to the bar that's actually shaped like an airplane wing. And no airport lounge would be worth it's salt without keeping you up to date on the latest in news and sports. They have that based covered well with a number of high-definition flat-screen TV's that show news and sports.
Wine Flights.
The flight theme doesn't just stop with the decor. On the wine menu, Brough has created a series of wine “flights”, which are basically samples of wines from a particular region of the world. So if you order the South African flight, you'll get three samples of wines that Brough hand-picked from South African vintners. There are other wine flights that cover not only international destinations, but also wines that are made locally– even right here in San Carlos. The idea is to mix relaxation with a little education and appreciation of wines from around the globe, and Brough has made an extra effort to feature wines that you may not find at other restaurants in the area.
Another interesting feature is that you can buy wines by the bottle at the Flight Lounge. If you happen to take a fancy to a particular wine, or you simply don't want to run down to Lucky's at 11:30 at night, you can purchase a full bottle right there — and you get a 10% discount to boot.
Light Fare, Late Hours.
Much like its namesake, the Flight Lounge isn't intended to be a full-service restaurant. Their menu features light fare, with only one daily hot special along with other light fare like local cheeses and snacks. But that makes for another interesting twist — not only is bringing your own food in allowed, it's actually encouraged. Getting take-out food delivered right to the Flight Lounge is a pretty normal occurrence, especially from their next-door neighbor Refuge!
Unlike many full service restaurants that close at 9:30-10:00 PM every night, the Flight Lounge stays open until 1:00 AM. Clearly, the intent is to cater to adults who are looking to “get out” for the evening — consequently it's only open to the 21-and over crowd.
Mid-Laurel Street Rebirth.
Rather than set up shop in the competitive (and pricey) northern section of Laurel Street, they decided to focus on the central section of Laurel – they now occupy the space where the old tropical fish store used to be at 971 Laurel Street, right next to Refuge. As this part of Laurel Street continues to transform, this may turn out to be a very smart decision. This stretch of Laurel is much closer to residents of White Oaks and Howard Park than is the northern stretch. They already get a nice walk-in crowd from the residents at 1001 Laurel, and he sees the same thing happening with homeowners in the flatlands of San Carlos. It offers a fun destination that's only a short walk away.
Connect with Flight Lounge.
If you want to keep tabs on what's happening at Flight Lounge, or what's events are planned for the future, you can follow Flight Lounge on Twitter, or you can become of fan of their Facebook Page. You can even check out their reviews on Yelp to see what others think about this unique place.
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Too bad Refuge has gone down hill so badly in the food department. We had lunch there the other day and my pastrami sandwich was coffee shop quality. When I asked the waiter if the manager was there, he said, yes, and pointed across the room. I guess he expected me to get up and go fetch the manager myself. He expected too much; I just crossed it off our list of possibilities for lunch. It’s been declining for awhile, but this was too much.
The good news is: we have a new Vietnamese noodle house in the same strip mall as the new Peruvian restaurant on Holly across from 7-11. That corner has become a great place for a friendly neighborhood stop.