Diva Lounge in Davis Square, Boston

Diva Lounge, Davis Square's "Hot" Spot

We came here to smoke hookas, which has always seemed like something that should be illegal but isn’t, but the hot Chinese waitress informed us that we could only smoke the hookas if we ordered food from the Diva Indian Bistro next door. As we had already eaten, we decided nay but sat down in the lounge anyway. There was a giant round couch with inviting cushions in the corner, so our group of 9 plopped down.

The cocktails were mostly creative. There was a pumpkin puree martini on the menu, which when I ordered –because heck, that sounded pretty damn weird– the waitress told us it was no longer on the menu, “Because it wasn’t very good.” Well, at least they’re willing to experiment here!

So instead I ordered a martini with blackberries on the bottom, which with the juice and liquers, got to be syrupy and thick. Yum. But two cost me $20, which I wasn’t too happy about.

Maybe they make you pay for the setting, which is pretty awesome. The bar’s ceiling and walls are lined with large square multi-colored lights and the benches of cushions have a very welcoming and exotic appeal to them.

The patrons were slightly skanky, as were a couple of the wait staff. Me thinks there were a couple of Chinese prostitutes at the bar, which made for a bit of an uncomfortable and unseemly atmosphere at points when they flashed too much skin or draped themselves over the redheaded nerd they were sitting with. Oddly enough, one of the waitresses joined in the draping over the redheaded nerd, which made me wonder about the type of staff the Diva Lounge was willing to hire. A bit sketchy. Though the service, as it were, was good.

We went on a weekday, but the weekends are probably packed with similar types and my guess is it’s a meat market of sexy-types. A great place to meet people if you’re into that, though.

PEOPLE: **

SETTING: ****

DRINKS: ****

OVERALL: ***