"First of all, this place is gorgeous and the enthusiasm and professionalism of the staff was really refreshing. Brandon the GM and Marty our bartender rolled out the red carpet and created a memorable evening for us. We tried a few of their smoked cocktails and the Italian charcuterie board—all were excellent. Highly recommend."

"Dylan was great! Helpful fast and friendly. Cool as a cucumber with group after group coming in for complex cocktails. The drinks were top notch. Bravo!"

"Really appreciate the live music on Wednesdays and Thursdays, but the website should be updated to list the names of the performers. I first saw Tracey Whitney perform last summer and loved her, but didn’t realize she was still appearing at the club. The R&B band we saw this past Thursday was also great and I heard they also perform every Thursday. Why aren’t the owners of the club honoring these outstanding artists by advertising them properly on the website? Free live music is rare these days anywhere and The Smoky Note offers excellent artists in a cool venue with delicious cocktails and a great crowd. Thank you Smoky Note and please feature the artists on your website!"

"A Familiar Haunt, Reimagined: The Smoky Note’s Ascent from Dive to Destination There was a time when Monte Vista’s dimly lit barstools carried the weight of a different crowd—one that came for cheap well drinks, questionable decisions, and the comfort of a room that had long abandoned any effort to impress. Those days are gone. In their place stands The Smoky Note, an exercise in reinvention, where the ghosts of the past now swirl in finely aged spirits rather than spilled beer. It’s been about a year since the transformation, and curiosity—if not skepticism—demanded a visit. The first impression? A studied effort to maintain some of the old intimacy, even as the space has traded its grit for polish. The interior, while refined, still holds a trace of familiarity, as if the walls remember the years they’ve seen but now whisper their stories over a well-crafted Old Fashioned instead of a shot of well whiskey. The upstairs lounge, a quiet escape from the hum below, is particularly well-executed—moody without being pretentious, comfortable yet unmistakably upscale. The drink menu, however, is another beast entirely. A vast and ambitious selection greets you, teetering between indulgent and overwhelming. Fortunately, the staff—attentive, patient, and effortlessly professional—guides even the most hesitant of drinkers toward something they didn’t know they wanted. For our large group, the experience was seamless. Every drink arrived as a small masterpiece, from their house Old Fashioned—a deliberate, smoky revelation—to signature concoctions that demonstrated a clear respect for both balance and innovation. The cocktails here aren’t just beverages; they’re statements, priced accordingly, but executed with a precision that makes the expense feel justified. The Smoky Note is not Monte Vista’s past, nor does it pretend to be. It is something else entirely: a confident, deliberate evolution that respects the bones of what came before while embracing a more refined future. For those who seek out the art of a well-made drink, it is worth not only a visit, but a return."

"It was ok. I won a giveaway, so we checked it out on one of the nights they have music. When we first got there we were going to sit at a table near where the music would be, but right when we were going to sit down an older woman told us that was her normal table and at the same time the manager or whoever told us it was her seat, which I thought was a bit inappropriate. The drink was ok, nothing super special for $16. The thing I liked most was the charcuterie board, however, they were out of most of the ingredients, so we could only get the small board. The meat was pretty chewy and tough. We also didn’t get bread until we had finished everything else. Also, the lights kept flickering on and off where we were sitting. I remember going to Monte Vista Firehouse many years ago, and I think I liked it more back then. It’s ok, nothing super special, I don’t think I’d recommend it to anyone."