Dante's Caffe Italiano
- Hours:
Mon-Fri 4:00 p.m.-2:30 a.m.
Sat-Sun 7:00 p.m.-2:30 a.m. - Price Range: $$
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
- Parking: Street
- Attire: Casual
- Good for Groups: Yes
- Good for Kids: No
- Takes Reservations: No
- Delivers: No
- Take-out: Yes
- Waiter Service: Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
- Outdoor Seating: Yes
- Good for: Late Night
- Music: DJ, Live
- Best Nights: Wed, Thu, Sun
- Happy Hour: Yes
- Alcohol: Full Bar
- Smoking: Yes
- Coat Check: Yes
26 Reviews for Dante's Caffe Italiano
It could be the fact that I was having a wonderful weekend with a certain friend (wink-wink) of mine, but I had the greatest night at Dante's.
No, I did not eat the food, but I drank the booze, and good booze it was. It is hard to hate a venue that is enormous and has bars on both sides of the room, plus another separate room outside the music with yet another bar.
I saw Wayne "The Train" Hancock play, hung out downstairs with the bands, never got shit from the staff and had a blast...really...I would love a bar of this size and quality where I could see legends like Wayne play here in Seattle...
I've been sitting on this review for awhile now. Staring at a blank screen, stymied on how to put what was burned through my retinas to the back of my brain, of the Christmas Spectacular, into words.
After seeing a barrage of go-go dancers, Santa's dick being lit on fire, the gory birth of Jesus, fire dancers, strong drinks, puking, knives, clothed sex, blood blood blood, furies and simulated murder and sex...
I've decided to say: just go on a Sunday and see for yourself.
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I actually wanted to say 3.5 stars, but had to roll over to four. But you know, it's ok. 'Cause Sunday was my first visit for Sinferno and I walked away feeling smuttygood.
Big big place that might be hard to walk into alone. If you have a posse though and want to socialize in a pretty good mix of peeps, give it a try.
Personally, I thought the ladeez up on the catwalks were the hottest but some of the stage action was decent. But it is hard to tip the catwalks and that doesn't seem right. There are places to see from all over and then, there are also some nice dark corners.
Watch out for the drunk guys doing backslapping or talking so loud that hearing aids aren't required. They will scare you. They did some of my friends.
My first visit was good enough to make me want to go back again. Not every Sunday but you know, for some spice in the mixx every now and again.
If you go early you can get better parking. If you are a woman alone, go early. Walking back to your car late in that hood made me think I would want to look over my shoulder. I brought boyz for backup.
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I've never actually been to Dante's during it's "peak" hours, but for the two times I have been there, once early on a Wednesday night and the other extremely late on a Friday, I give Dante's three stars.
On Wednesday there was a nice vibe, laid back atmosphere with super nice staff. I wasn't a huge fan of the girls dancing in minimal clothing on platforms above me, but it added something different.
On Friday I tried the pizza and here's a few words to the wise...There is the outdoors walk up window where you can get pizza...it gets busy and as a result the food goes fast. So, if you're there past the time they stop charging a cover-head inside. You can order your pizza slice there too and it's warm! The pizza was only okay to a pretty tipsy person so I'm not going to rush back for it when I'm sober, but in their defense, the nice girl did have to cook a new one for us and I think she took it out a few minutes early due to my brother's continued demands for food.
Dante's looses real points in my book by stating that they are now smoke free due to the fact that it's a lie. They have two bars and the second one is in a smaller room with a pool table and extra tables. That smaller room isn't exactly separated from the big room by anything besides a few columns and the wall of booze for the bar. While the main area is smoke free, you are free to smoke in the room with the pool table. So you may not get smoke blown directly in your face, but it'll waft there...not smoke free.
Long story short is....get drunk and hit up Dante's late: no cover, pizza and you won't notice the smoke.
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My turn!
Since everybody covered the Night-time Dantes, I'll cover the lunch time Dantes
A little history, Dantes use to be a Mongolian BBQ, thats why there is table with a firepit. Now that caffe italiano is just to fool you, its more of pizzeria/music venue.
Free pool during happy hours which applies to lunch, but there is only one POOL TABLE!
Oh yea if you order a whole pizza, know they only come in one size.
There is outdoor seating, but I have yet to see it.
The paintings are cool, especially the one of the chick that hangs above the stairs going down. Rawr!
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First Visit: Boyfriend was in a band playing in Chinatown and the club comped the band's dinner at Dante's. Ick.
Second Visit: Day after Christmas "burlesque" show. Sad.
Maybe they should feed the crappy food to the skinny dancers.
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I've spent plenty of nights at Dante's. Usually I'm just visiting friends or really don't have anything else to do. In my opinion, Dante's is really just Frank's concert hall. He's got his other bars and clubs, but Dante's is really just a place for shows. It's sad, because I actually like Dante's better in the daytime than at night. If you can pull a good 10 friends together on a Wednesday (note: just changed to Thursdays), I'd say hit up Xotica Go-Go and go dancing. DJs Kenoy and Mr. Mumu are both awesome.
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Women in various states of clothing wielding fire and/or covered in fake blood blasphemed Christ, Christianity in general, and lit Santa's genitals on fire.
The knife juggling comic tricked a huge doof into exposing his man-boobs.
A small bespectacled man in a pink rabbit pajama onesie mingled while a fat beardless Santa in the crowd guzzled booze.
A weird young couple made out for three hours straight without ever getting past first base.
FOR SEVEN DOLLARS.
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Sinferno.
Melanie: cocktail waitress/Door girl = HOT. I love love love love her.
Tip her many many dollars.
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Why the Caffe Italiano? I dunno, but I had a good time there last weekend. I did not try any caffee or Italiano cuisine, but I sure as hell tried a lot of their Miller High Life, the champagne of beers. They are smart enough to have it on tap for the low, low price of $2.00.
The stage is nice and big, and the music sounded good. There was a decent amount of seating and the bartenders were nice and kept my beer glass full. My only gripes would be the miniscule bathroom (CLAUSTROPHOBICS AVOID) and the smokiness of the place.
Hey Dante, I know it's hell and all, but what about upgrading the ventilation?
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Cheap booze and Sinferno fun
My first visit there was to see friends perform ... that was fun and great and all that ... but my next visits were for some sinful cabaret ... where if you are at the bar and look up you get the joy of seeing buttcheeks. How great is that?!?
On glass ledges above the bar girls dance and flaunt their alternahotness around ... we were drunk the first time we realized this and could not stop giggling like little kids in a candy store ... or just drunk people ... whatev
Have also met all sorts of amazingly cool people at this place.
Sinferno $7 unless you are in the sex industry ...
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I'm only basing this on my one visit for sinferno on sunday on my last night in portland... and I had a fantabulous time there with my male friend/whatever you call a guy who you had a fling with but who then failed to tell you that he got back with his gf after you already bought your plane ticket. Needless to say I had an amazing time here (you will too if you like the punk aesthetic, nekkid girls, electro-clash/80s music, and fire.
wait staff were a lot of lovely ladies that were really nice and attentive. we got there early and had a table right up front. we were even lucky enough to be right in front of sean penn who was in town for who knows what reason (edit: i now think it's because he was filming shots for "into the wild.") my male friend insisted on saying hello to say "fast times at ridgemont high" was the best movie ever, while my souther california upbringing made me cringe at the cheesiness of doing so.
one star off for ordering 7 beers and getting a bill back for $80+ without even a breakdown of what was ordered. but i was too tipsy to care, and figured that the prices were jacked up to make up for the cheap cover. whatever, sinferno provided the excitement and tension that was needed to give me what I came for by the end of the night...
as a female, i'd call this a great place to bring mixed male and female company, or your man/date as long as you know you're the one he's going home with that night. :)
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great place..
great place to see live alternative bands..
it's where vampires go to let off some steam...
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Dante's - This used to be a place I would frequent on occasion. This review isn't about the service or shows - this review is about what may happen if you go there.
A friend and I went a couple of days ago. My friend is a small female. A person (whom I later found out was a bouncer) attacked her because she barely leaned her back against the stage. Not only did he attack her but he used her head to open the side metal door (she was knocked out at this time so the only reason we know that happened is because she has the marks from the door still on her forehead) - Since she was knocked out when they threw her onto the pavement her head hit the ground. When I got out there she was still knocked out on the ground. As I picked her up I noticed the blood and instead of offering help, their plain clothes drunken bouncers instead chose to threaten to mace us...
Not a place I would recommend - If you do go there I hope you have medical insurance because you may look at someone wrong and get attacked by their plain clothes bouncers.
Oh- My friend needed a cat scan, has a concussion, sprained wrist and probably permanent scars.
Definitely not a place I would go to for a fun night.
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Dante Shmante.....I wouldn't really consider this a "Caffe Italiano" but owell.
Dante's is definitely a place you want to check out. Its CRAZY! The doorman is CRAZY. The room is CRAZY. The bartenders are CRAZY. The music is CRAZY. The sound guy is CRAZY. Crazy good of course.
Dante's also offers a good deal on drinks, and pizza for the late night munchers.
Dante's is surrounded by an abundance of stipclubs so one could only assume this place will have a very racy feel. Lots of lights, video games off to the side, two bars, cool people, band aids, groupies, preppies, stoners, goths, snobs, bitches, skaters, bookworms, need I say more????? It's a place for all of mankind to enjoy some loud music and a good beer.
Have a grand ol' time.
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Dante's has a schtick of a decorating scheme--the flames all over the place remind you that you're supposed to be in hell.
While I can't attest to the shows in there, as I've never been inside, I can attest to their pizza window. Head to the door right on the corner of Burnside and ring the bell. They'll shell out a greasy slice of pie at a late hour when the only other thing around is donuts!
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Dante's works the hell vibe and has it down. I've been there for regular concerts and for their Wed night dance/DJ night Xotica go go and on a Sunday night. Sassy wait staff, pizza if you want it and bars all of the place so there is usually someplace to be. Bars light up all red and give off a cool glow. Very smoky place at times which gets old.
Overall I've had a great time there.
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not an expensive cover, lots of space, two bars, not all that bad i say. the prices werent bad on drinks and i got to catch flipper playing here right around the time i showed up in this city. the secondary bar has a wide screen showing what is on stage (not a bad idea). big downside is parking in this part of town blows, so hop on your moped and straddle the river for the one of the occasional decent bands that come through town. no moped? dont know what to tell you then.
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The place to go to get a corner slice in downtown Portland.
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SO smoky. Great for shows. The Sinferno show is crazy - burlesque, stripping, fire, milk, flexability. Yikes. Nothing was better than seeing Storm there back in the day.
Occasionally a cheap cover, very saucy waitresses and stiff drinks.
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Dante's is a unique live music venue with a great sound system and large stage. Many national acts have graced Dante's with their presence, as well as some great local bands. But, if live music isn't your thing, then their Sinferno Sunday (featuring the sexy dancing of the Suicide Girls and other hot thangs) may intrigue you to pay this venue a visit! With a fire pit, 2 bars, an attentive staff, and some delicious slices of za, Dante's is a great place to spend a night on the town.
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dancing hot chicks...a fireplace...you can smoke inside...2$ pbr and good music...what else can you ask for?
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Dante's is a fun place to see a show. Hang out near the back around the tiny counter top fire pit, or wander to one of the bars that bookend the space. Shows can get very crowded, so they project the image into the second bar room. Sound is usually good, but it's a little grungy. You wouldn't want to put your bag on the floor here.
Weekly features include Karaoke from Hell and Sinferno Cabaret. Storm and the Balls, our local celebrity who just finished a reality TV rock star show, frequently performs here.
The side window serves piping hot cheese pizza late into the night, and provides a quick alternative (or precursor?) to a late night voodoo donut.
i love seeing bands in small venues, and when i'm up visiting, i try to hit a show here or at doug fir. good view of the band, pretty good acoustics, a few bars and no trouble getting a drink, late night food, and you can often get tickets the day of the show or at the door (unlike SF!!). saw stellastar* there a few years ago, and it rocked.
sounds like next time i'm up there i need to go to sinferno or karaoke from hell. the only thing i can't take is the smoke - we don't gotta deal w/ that in SF so i'm a wee bit sensitive.
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Sunday night Sinferno Cabaret = Fire breathing strippers.
What?!?!?
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I was here visiting on a Monday night when they had live band karaoke and I must say I was impressed. The band was first rate and had a huge play list and the people singing were all very good (not good if you are a novice). Fun crowd. Haven't been any other nights, but I recommend checking out Monday's action. $3 cover. I actually didn't drink or eat here, but atmosphere was cool. http://www.danteslive....
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