The Dragon Upstairs

So your in Hawaii and want to relax after a long day in the sun! Couples and jazz lovers come support your local jazz band and businesses. Old China Town feel and restraunts open all around till 2am! Awesome band on Tuesdays Lucent Moon!

Lovely cozy jazz bar in Chinatown. Wednesday night band played perfectly intoxicating and relaxing music after a long day at work to sooth the soul.

The best jazz club on the island. Very intimate bar with an old school Chinatown vibe. 9 out of 10 times there is live music and it’s always something different whether it be Latin or gypsy jazz. Always a great crowd too. Staff and bartenders are great as well. Definitely a great date night spot. Just as a warning because of the small venue music can get really loud.

Attended tonight for the impromptu performance of Lucky from Living Legends and Lana Shea. This was amazing, committed, sophisticated hip hop at it’s best. Lana killed it so hard, everyone in the crowd was buzzing about «Who the hell IS this girl???» Its sad that this performance was on short notice, as I found myself missing an array of Honolulu friends who would adore this sort of music. This duo is a rising star and it was a privilege for hip hop lovers in Honolulu to be exposed to this.
Dragon now has a bartender who is a very attractive, refined black woman from England. Her name is Chenai or something (sorry – cannot exactly recall) but she is unmistakeable and her manner behind the bar is some of the best I have seen anywhere here in Honolulu or S.F. or N.Y. or abroad. I have been served by her several times here, and I must say that this person is truly an asset to this establishment, and her very energy is a draw for this place.
Maika’i wale (Well done).

I’ve been here periodically over the past decade. The music is awesome, but you have to come later in the evening or else you just see the musician setting up. The reason why I’m dropping a star for this is because the last time I came, we were the only group around 7 p.m. and no one served us. There were two girls working the bar: one that I normally see there with glasses who’s not the friendliest and another girl with a British accent. They were just talking to themselves, so my friend had to order the drinks at the bar. He even took his phone and wrote all of our orders to remember who ordered what, went to the bar, and even came back with the drinks himself. We couldn’t believe it. There was no one else. I’d still come back there, but don’t expect stellar service. It’s a cute and intimate setup, so I definitely recommend checking this place out, but you may have to serve your own drinks.

It’s a bit quiet on a Friday night, but the 3 man band is playing a great set of bluesy jazz. We need more peeps to support great live music!

I’ve been walked in on while pooping in the bathroom before. Dragon almost feels like home, but this bartender was a B! I would give a negative rating if I could. Some friends and I went to the bar to grab a drink. The man at the door let us in and that was that. We get upstairs and have a seat at a table and are waiting for about 5 minutes and the bartender is visibly washing dishes. No big deal! A bartender always has glasses to clean. Then once she finally gets a minute she comes over and asks us all for a $ 5 dollar cover to listen to the band playing in a dead bar on a Wednesday night. I’ve had friends play there before too, and have never paid a cover. Ever! Seems like she was trying to hustle us… I walked out.
I was drunk when I wrote this a month ago and I still stand by my review. She was a B! I’ve updated my rating to two stars so it gets more attention. No one likes a b****y review vv

Great service, sweet sounds and a dope vibe! One of my favorite spots. The Godfather of House music is spinning tonight, Jesse Saunders.

Great live music here. Good bar service. Great location. $ 5 cover to pay the live band but the drinks are reasonably priced.

We recently discovered this place and love it! We had been looking for a place that has great live music, specifically jazz, and that wasn’t outrageously expensive, and this is definitely a great place! My husband is taking advantage and playing with a jazz band on Tuesday nights, and on Wednesdays he plays with an R&B band.
The space is small and intimate. Only people who want to drink and listen to good music come here. No clubbers or any of that nonsense. The walls are decorated with Asian décor reminiscent of the 1960s. It kind of feels like a bar in a James Bond movie. Nevertheless, the music is always good! $ 5 cover charge goes to paying the band, and it’s worth it.

I love this place! James, the owner, works
. Thanks
James. !!!

The best little hole in the wall Jazz Bar in Honolulu. What it lacks in size, it makes up in character. Just a nice place to grab a drink and some live music. Going to miss Ginai and her «golden pipes» until she comes back next year. Should have asked her to sing some Ella Fitzgerald songs. Regretting it now. LOL!

I love this place. Awesome spot to see music and get strong drinks. The staff there are very nice and attentive. Great place to see eclectic music.

Well this was an interesting place. A second floor on top of Nick’s bar. This place was located in China town, amongst other small bars and some strip clubs. Upon heading to the door we were greeted by an intoxicated patron who led us upstairs. The flier for the event (we came for Motown Monday) said the event started at 7pm but we were the first ones there. There was young girls behind the bar but they were attentive and friendly. The DJ didn’t arrive until 9pm when the event was supposed to start at 7. She had some trouble setting up but finally got herself together. Music selection was okay. My husband who is also a DJ asked for a few songs but was told they didn’t have those records. Interesting people came and went. Finally decided it was time to leave around 11pm when a local stripper decided to pull her top down and show us her goodies.

Great atmosphere! Love the music reminds me of San Francisco. Will definitely go again!

The dragon upstairs does everything right. Well… Mostly everything, because it could be a bit bigger, but that’s just me being selfish.
I really love the décor and the use of space. I have to give this venue a lot of credit for working with such a small area, but they pulled it off really well.
The location is great, in terms of being near other popular Chinatown spots. And the drinks are about normal priced.
What I really love is the jazz band with the really congenial lead singer who engages the crowd and walks around talking to us. I think she works behind the bar too? But what I REALLY love is how its REAL jazz music.
For years I’ve been duped by places called jazz lounges but the bands didn’t play jazz at all. Sure they were indie bands but… there was no actual jazz music, just various bands playing their stuff. Nothing wrong with that but come on. Don’t call yourself a jazz lounge if you don’t have jazz music!
Dragon Upstairs on the other hand brings you real live jazz and it couldn’t be any smoother or more melodic either. These artists are amazeballs.
As far as company goes, I wouldn’t say it’s good for groups. It’s not a place you go to necessarily mingle either. It’s like a little hip café but if they only served alcohol… which is pretty much a lounge lol. Age range is late 20’s and up, which I love. (No pretentious beauty queens in sight!) The people are mixed but mostly townies and haole or hapa people. Which I also love.
Overall 5 stars for being a great little venue and for doing so much with so little!

Cinco de Mayo Cantina Crawl 2015. 16 venues participating in the Lucky Loteria… each place visited a person receives a stamp on the card. The Dragon Upstairs was a participant venue for the night.
The cantina crawl happened from 5pm to 11pm. I arrived at the Dragon Upstairs after the 11pm hour. Cost was $ 5.00 to get in.
I noticed that there were a few people in the bar area and I also noticed that there was a live band performing ska/​reggae music. I made my way to an area where there were chairs and tables available.
I really enjoyed the music that was performed on the night of Cinco de Mayo. The music got me dancing in my seat. The group (Hydroguide? I’m not really sure on the groups name but it did start with Hydro) also got the small crowd dancing the night away.
I was asked by couple of individuals in taking snapshots of their group on the dancefloor.
One of the employees of the Dragon Upstairs was making her rounds and asked if I wanted anything to drink. Since I already had my limit of alcohol for the night I opted to drink a cup of ice cold water… it beats paying $ 2.00 for a small bottled water.
If I did order an alcohol drink it would have been Tequila Sunrise with Peligroso Tequila, a shot of chilled Don Julio Blanco, or a Ketel One Vodka screwdriver.
I had a wonderful time listening to the music and people watching on the night of Cinco de Mayo. I wonder if I’ll ever be back at the Dragon Upstairs for First Friday… I really would like to watch the music group perform from start to finish.

This is a low key and casual bar for people who enjoy live bands and a cool small bar in the corner. Sometimes I am in the mood to come and check it out where I don’t have to scream at a bartender for a drink I like. Seats are plenty so no fighting over a seat.
People say its a jazz bar, but it varies with music though.

Cyndy’s Bottom Line: Great place to relax and listen to live jazz.
We stopped in after dinner.
There is a $ 5,00 cover.
Great jazz music.

Bar-​hopping Stop #4.
After a fun time at Hank’s, we were curious about what was upstairs so we wandered into the Dragon Upstairs. It’s a pretty cool, small loft type place with a small stage for the jazz musicians with a tiny dance floor in front of it. They did have a cover charge that night, I don’t know if this is every night, though.
For a weeknight it was kind of crowded but we were able to get a small table. It was a nice time having a few beers and listening to the jazz players. Later, we ordered a couple rounds of some drink special they were running, I don’t remember what it was called but it tasted like a creamsicle. It was probably called «creamsicle» but my mind was a bit blurry by then.
One thing that I thought was really cool was watching the couples ballroom dancing. I’d say all of the dancers were in their 20s or maybe early 30s but they could all cut a rug. I kept imagining that this is how it must’ve been in the early days of downtown Honolulu.