Tonic Nightclub

It's a SB club tryharding to be Cegas, and sadly falls flat hard. But if you like that. Then this is for you. This place is more like a hazing party than a club. Honestly, the drinks are watered down a lot, and it's just hard hearing anything as the bartender gave me the wrong drinks, then literally charged me again for a 'ghost' corona (i.e. a drink that I did not get).

They enforce dress code here, dress clothes required, so don't come here if you have a brotop.

Would've given this a 1 star, but since the people I was with made it fun, I guess it was a consolidation gift relative to the trashy service that I got when I was here.

It was nice walking into the club with VIP-like treatment.. bypassing the regular folks as they glared over while they were in the regular, long line. Tonic has one main dance floor and a nice outdoor patio. This place is perfect for dancing the night away with great music playing and a fun crowd.. totally reminded me of Vegas/SD nightlife and I forgot I was in Santa Barbara for a minute :P

-perfect for Bachelor/Bachelorette parties
-enjoy the fresh air and escape the dancefloor by being out on the patio
-fun ambiance and club lighting!
-great DJ's playing mostly EDM with a little bit of hip hop music in the mix
-not many creepers like other bars/clubs
-nice, beautiful crowd

No cover the night I came. It was a Saturday night at about midnight.

--ATMOSPHERE-- Dark, loud. Typical small nightclub.

--DJ-- Played a lot of hip hop. The volume wasn't as overbearing as EOS lounge (down the street from Tonic).

--DANCE FLOOR-- You can dance on the stage! It's a small stage, but its fun haha.

--OVERALL-- It's an OK experience. Be drunk and have fun. Drink responsibly. My first visit here (2 years ago) was better. This time around, it wasn't as packed and the crowd was less exciting.

We were just strolling downtown after the shops closed early on Sunday of Labor Day Weekend and since there was no cover charge decided to check it out!

There were two dance floors, one inside which played hiphop and the outside had EDM with a bar and cabanas. Multiple restrooms and the lines weren't too long for the drinks.

Sex Panther was Djing at the Sunday Session Labor Day Weekend Event. It was awesome. The people there knew how to have fun and drinks weren't too bad either. Everyone enjoyed the music and when the sunsetted they had lights that went with the music.

Cool place to check out!

Good prices on drinks, no cover.

Surprisingly clean bathrooms.

Loved the music! Of course every night club gets a little electronic-y (which is not really my style) but this place mostly kept the music the way it is. Everyone really enjoyed the music.

Cool outdoor area (and bar too!) when you need to get away from the dance floor.

Not great, but not completely horrible either.

I arrived with 3 friends around midnight on a Saturday. There's a $5 cover... alrighty. Probably not worth it but whatever.

There is a medium/small indoor dance area with an elevated DJ... what kind of music was playing inside? I don't remember so it was probably mediocre. The outside area is pretty big, with another DJ and different music (obviously). The music outside was electronic but I wanted some hip-hop thrown in there because everyone knows hip-hop is way more danceable than electronic crap. We put in a request for hip-hop, waited through a couple more electronic songs then just left to find some place better. (The crowd was a mix, mostly younger people, probably in college... and it wasn't very busy for a Saturday night.)

Horrible experience ! My brother and I both attempted to get in the club, I was let in but he was turned away for having baggy jeans . I went inside the club and saw jeans that were even more baggy . I took a picture then attempted to talk to the manager who was very rude and did not explain to me why some club goers with baggy jeans were let in and others were not . I felt as if my brother was discriminated against, yes discriminated is correct. I will post a picture of my brother and the club goer. I plan to escalate this further.

The first time I went was a Saturday and I had a great time. No cover, no drama, though the guys in front of me had to pay something. The place was bumpin', packed, loud, and super crowded. People were more dressed up than at the other bars. What's surprising is they have a huge outdoor area in the back, complete with some sort of projection screen too and a big square bar! It wasn't as loud or crowded outside so it was a cool hang out place.

Everyone was so friendly. I met all these random people and this one girl came up to us and was like, "you guys want a shot?" And then we all took shots with a whole group of people we didn't know. I went there alone not knowing anyone as a last minute thing and had a blast.

The second time I went here was a Friday and they said they don't accept international IDs (my friend was visiting and had a Canadian license). You have to bring a passport, which no one does so foreigners, not welcome!

I lived in Santa Barbara during my college years, and I have to say Tonic was always a stop on my Thursday downtown nights. If you are looking to have a few drinks and dance the night away, this is the place to be! The music selection is fun and there is plenty of room to dance. There is an outside area as well, that you can go out to (it also had a full bar) if it gets too hot inside. If you get bottle service they bring out sparklers and champagne!

A lot of the time the line would be too long, and my friends and I wouldn't want to wait so we would go elsewhere. But overall, it was a fun nightclub!

Tonic is aight. I think it has it's ups where they play really good music and downs where they play whack music over the 5 years of my UCSB undergrad.

Pros:
+ Conveniently located on State Street
+ Bottle service tables are really nicely decorated and service is awesome
+ Music can be really good depending on the DJs
+ Port-a-potties placed at the outdoor patio

Cons:
- Cover charge usually
- Claustrophobic line to get in
- Club gets really crowded
- Some of my homosexual friends had bad anti-gay experiences there

Not really a place of preference but like I said, it's aight.