Onyx Room

**What makes this different:** While La Puerta plays every demographic in one space and most Gaslamp clubs stick to a single vibe, Onyx built a subterranean choose-your-own-adventure—reggaeton basement, Top 40/hip-hop main floor, rotating third level. You're not hunting down the right spot across six blocks; you're just taking the stairs. It's the rare downtown club where your crew can split up by music taste and regroup without leaving the building.

The free-entry model (mobile ticket before 10:30pm) keeps the barrier low, which floods the floors early but also means you're not pre-gaming at home to justify a cover charge. Bottle service exists if your group runs that way, though reviews suggest tempering expectations—servers reportedly vanish mid-shift, and the math gets expensive fast ($20 beers, mandatory 20% on bottles). If you're paying by the drink, pace yourself or stick to the lower floors where the crowd energy does more of the work.

The diversity in music is the actual draw here. Basement stays locked into reggaeton; main floor rotates through whatever's charting; third floor shifts depending on the night. It's not audiophile-grade curation, but it's honest about what it is—a place where business crowds, tourists, and locals all end up because the vibe adapts instead of gatekeeping. Lost phones reportedly get returned (the bar manager André earned specific shout-outs), which matters more than it should in a three-floor club where you're moving between levels all night.

Parking is standard Gaslamp chaos—pay lots or risk it on metered streets. The crowd skews tourist-friendly without feeling like a trap. If you're local, this is the spot when your group can't agree on a genre or when you want options without the block-to-block trek.