The line outside LadyLove Lounge & Sound, in the Bishop Arts District, extended past the corner of West 7th Street on a hot Sunday night in July. Jimmy Contreras, one of the club’s owners, worked the outside bar, hurriedly popping caps off Topo Chico and beer bottles. Inside, the disco ball glimmered above a crowd that swayed to “Lost” by Frank Ocean and “American Boy” by Estelle and Kanye West. Kate Siamro, another co-owner, poured champagne into plastic wine glasses and handed them off to employees who weaved through the crowd to distribute them.
Once the champagne bottles were empty, Siamro strode up to the DJ booth with her business partner David Grover, the owner of nearby Spinster Records. DJ Sober pressed play on “Anniversary” by Tony! Toni! Toné! The crowd raised their plastic cups. Grover shouted, “LadyLove strong! One year motherf—s thank you so much!”
LadyLove Lounge quickly become a Dallas nightlife staple since opening last year, a post-pandemic beacon for clubgoers who had missed the dance floor. The capacity crowds are drawn to its welcoming and feminine aura, vinyl sound system, theme nights, and cocktail and food menus that are better than they need to be.
Its ethos reminds guests to “gather with love” by way of warm red lights and close seating that encourages conversation away from the dance floor. No one is judged by race, gender, sexuality, or music taste. Evenings are programmed to celebrate diversity, which is why the programming isn’t afraid to experiment with genres, popular or not, by booking DJs and live performers with different niches every night of the week. Music lovers line up after sunset to discover something new Mondays through Sundays, which can be anything from 80s R&B to a hyper-pop dance party.
Siamro had this concept in her mind since 2020, a bar that stood apart in the crowded Dallas nightlife scene. In 2022, she was working for Grover at Spinster. He approached her about opening a bar together. They debated a venue outside of their home base in Oak Cliff, but then the former Grilled Cheese Co. spot in Bishop Arts became available. “We checked out the space, and on intuition and vibe [Siamro] and I just kind of looked at each other,” Grover says. “I go, ‘Do you want to do it?’ She’s like, ‘Yeah,’ I was like, ‘Okay, let’s do it.’”
Contreras, who owns Taco y Vino at the end of the block, handled the food menu. The group envisioned a top-notch sound system in an inviting room inspired by Japanese listening lounges, a flexible space that could accommodate both a sweaty dance floor and an intimate night out.
Siamro hand-picked the art on an $800 decoration budget, combing the racks at East Dallas Vintage and Lula B’s. She partnered with Keaton Interiors to create their iconic red room lounge. They made it easy for the DJs. Have a USB drive, headphones, or your records? The booth is yours. It’s equipped with a turntable, mixer, and media player, equipment that allows newer DJs to explore their music style without needing to invest in pricy equipment. The DJ booth is elevated, allowing the crowd to focus on the dancing and the DJ to focus on the music: classic house, disco-funk, gospel, soul, cumbia, Japanese vintage vinyl, to literally name a few.
Staff members influence the choice of music, and the team has mostly stayed the same since opening day. The employees swap vinyl during the day and host happy hours dedicated to artists such as Kali Uchis or more outré ideas, like the Twilight soundtrack. You can often find them dancing to the DJ set behind the bar or wielding a sparkly bubble gun in the middle of the dance floor.
The cocktail menu often shifts, and just like the music, the selection is heavily influenced by bar staff. The CDMX 1920 is a sweet pear gin cocktail with a sugar rim on the glass. The cheekily-named Dilldeaux is a refreshing cucumber and lime dill-infused vermouth drink.
“I want to help create leaders and people that are going to make a difference in the industry,” Contreras says. “We give [bar staff] the responsibility and leeway to create their own cocktails, make their own vision, and help them evolve in the industry.”
Contreras’ food menu is meant to reflect 1970s dinner parties, encouraging Gen Z customers to share again after COVID-19. Smaller dishes like fried green beans and black pepper calamari land in the center of the table.
LadyLove opened last summer with a line of customers around the corner. “In that moment, we were all overwhelmed and it was so busy, and a big learning curve for us,” says Mireya Rodriguez, who’s been bartending since the club’s first night. “Immediately, we were like, how can we be better? How can we be more efficient? How can we be more successful? Not just for us, but for everyone. We were already all badasses, but now we all have just become one, rather than separate pieces of a puzzle.”
LadyLove faces competition from far larger hospitality groups. But it has found success by staying small, giving Oak Cliff something special that is difficult to replicate elsewhere, something inclusive that still feels exclusive. “I don’t really feel the competition. When you have something that’s raw and neighborly, it feels like it’s part of the community,” Siamro says. “I feel a sterileness when I walk into certain bars if they’re not built with love and within a small community.
The one-year celebration wasn’t that different from that first night, pushing its 100-person capacity to its limit with a crowd waiting around the corner, eager to get inside with a CDMX 1920 cocktail in their palm.
“I kind of have a sense of imposter syndrome with it,” Siamro says. “I ran into someone in Fort Worth, and they knew about it. We actually made a mark in DFW”
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