Mokai Lounge

Elite '08

12

84

Tania D.

Chicago, IL

Nothing but great things to say about this club. The music is awesome, the door people have NO attitude. The crowd is local and not cheesy or pretentious. Happy girl!!!

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Elite '08

83

323

victoria r.

Palm Beach, FL

Def. a good club in Miami. Much better then others. Not the best location or nice on the outside. Definitely a good place for drinks and music. Hard to get into, usually.

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3

9

Ad Feminem S.

Park La Brea, CA

FYI, drinks may be reasonably priced during other times of the year, but definitely not during Winter Music Conference, when a bottle of water and a glass of soda cost $15, while 2 Coronas and a well drink came to $39.  Major points off for the jacked up price gouging.  Bring a flask.  Bouncers were actually very nice and helpful.  Great, clean sound  system for such a small place, if a tad too loud.  When I attended during WMC, there was a chill, friendly, down to earth crowd and good, deep house music.  However, not sure what it's like during regular times, and I'm not sure if you would actually have anywhere to sit, ever, if you didn't order bottle service - which I definitely see as a con.

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Elite '08

67

347

Noelle Q.

San Francisco, CA

We went to Miami on Memorial Day, and it wasn't quite the usual crowd Miami usually attracts- so we went to Mokai our first night in town. Mokai was completely empty when we got there, but it filled up quickly. Music was great, but I'm docking a star for a truly ridiculous credit card policy. Once you put your card down, you can only go back to the server who took it from you. And be wary- the ATM charges $7 a pop.

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Elite '08

38

52

Geno T.

Chicago, IL

Partied here on a Friday night on a local friend's recommendation. Here's the night in review:

Our plane lands in Miami at 12AM. We do a mad dash to the hotel, change, and head out to celebrate the start of 2 weeks of partying South Beach! My friend, Giselle (a Miami local), recommends we do Mokai.  Mokai it is!

Hop a cab..and we're there! it's now almost 2AM.  As we approach the club,  4 couples in a group ahead of us walk up to the doormen.  From their conversation they appear to be out-of-towners, and clearly excited about Mokai. They must have heard good things!  One of the guys reaches into his pocket, and asks the amount for cover? Doorman gives no response. Guy asks again. Doorman says, "Sorry, there's nothing we can do for you. Have a good night." Jaws drop. The guy says, "What?!"  The doorman repeats himself.

I look over at my good friend Diem and gf Jen. They look at me with expressions of WHAT THE HELL? We look at the 4 couples who were just denied entry as they walk by us dumbfounded. They were decently enough dressed, definitely all well over 21. Wow...I am worried. I reach for my phone, readying myself to call my buddy who promotes for this place because being all dressed up with no where to go isn't cool and we have no plan B (alternate venues lined up for the night).

We approach the door. Phone in one hand, my wallet in the other. The doorman smiles and asks, "What are you doing? You don't need that (looking at my wallet)....Right this way sir." He's holding the door for us.

Wow...I'm outside my Chicago, but still I give off the universally understood "I'm someone" vibe! (Who am I kidding! Fine ladies and gents of Yelp... I ONLY got in because I was with two gorgeous women...but please allow me my illusions of grandeur...lol)

Okay, so we're in and I'm looking around. The space is not large at all, but the layout is decent. The crowd is fairly attractive, fit, fashionable, and very diverse.  We make a celebratory stop at the bar for some shots...get the night started right! SALUD! The second and third rounds are bought by guys trying to mack on my friend Diem. Yes, she is beautiful, but I let them know she's not in the market. (She's really not...it's the 1-yr anniversary to the day of her fiance's passing in Iraq..)...the guys aren't listening. They buy 2 more rounds of shots. We do the one, decline the other.  I'm off to the restroom, only to return to see a  tourist starting with his "Have you ever seen a bimmer?...I own..."...(You've gotta be kidding) The gf and Diem simultaneously reach into their purses and pull out car keys...BMW prominently shown on the key chains.  Tourist guys is silent...stumped...and stupefied. Didn't see that one coming did you? We flee to VIP.

The  VIP section's for bottle service only and takes up most of the club. It also appears to be the only place seating is available. There is no place to dance or sit unless you're in VIP. I see an under-attended VIP table. I walk up to the guy introduce myself and my crew, throw in a quick cash contribution...whamo...we're sharing the table and the ladies now have a place to sit, drink, and be merry...tourist free.

The scene is cool. Music good, lighting is better than most. place feels a lot more intimate than I gathered from the description given by my friends. For a first night in SoBe...was a good venue to celebrate our arrival. We leave happy, although not at all sober. GOOD TIMES.

PROS: Lighting effect by bar area is interesting. Friendly attentive bartenders and waiters. Positive vibe and good-looking, energetic crowd with no unnecessary alpha male posturing.  Drinks are reasonably priced for SoBe.

CONS: Not very large. Limited Seating. No place to dance. VIP area gets crowded and seats should be wiped clean of spilled drinks more often. (Our seats were fine, but the table next to our had plenty of spilled drinks and ice that remained for 20 minutes until I pointed it out to one of the bouncers).  Also the bouncers at the door. I am all for doormen being selective, but I  can't help but put myself in the shoes of that group instantly denied entry without explanation that night.  This could have been done a little kinder.  Perhaps there is something Mokai can learn from Chicago's Crobar...and that's is the art of the euphemism: "Sorry, the club's at capacity"

Much kinder and gentler than,"Sorry, there's nothing we can do for you. Have a good night." (- 2 stars)

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6

17

Adam B.

San Francisco, CA

Mokai (there's an umlaut on the i, but Yelp doesn't like foreign languages) is supposedly the hot new club in South Beach, and all the in-the-know locals we spoke with recommended it. But I was underwhelmed.

On a Friday night the crowd was much less attractive (and somewhat older) than at Mynt or Mansion, and the DJing was indifferent. The line out front was surprisingly short, compared to a big club like Mansion or SET, but perhaps because Mokai is so small the wait would be the same (I don't know; our host was connected so we walked right in).

There's no dance floor, which I like, but the space around the couches is narrow enough to encourage traffic jams. In the event, we stayed for less than an hour and then retired to Mynt, where we stayed until dawn.

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