Stevens Steakhouse Bachata night review

Recently, I took a road trip from Colorado out to Los Angeles, and immediately upon entering town I headed to Stevens Steakhouse, which has a bachata night on Wednesdays(Mondays, Fridays, and Sundays as well). Stevens Steakhouse is famous for its Salsa scene and has been hot for a long time, but within the last year I have been hearing a lot about Stevens as the place to dance bachata in LA, so I wanted to check it out. Joan Soriano has already played at the place TWICE this year along with a number of other bachata bands.

Jorge Contreras organizes the Bachata nights at Stevens and I don't know how he does it all! He teaches bachata dance in LA and around the world, coaches dance teams, organizes bachata nights and brings bachata music groups to the area. He deserves much of the credit for bachatas surge in popularity in Los Angeles in the last year or so. Within the year he has brought over 10 bachata groups to play in LA! I met Jorge a couple of years ago at a bachata fest and have continued to see him at bachata festivals around the country.

The Weds. night that I attended had a great crowd, huge by any standard except Jorges. When I spoke to him he told me there was about 200 people attending that night but normally you can expect 300-400 bachata lovers! It was really like being at a bachata festival...that happens every Wed.

The night begins with Jorge teaching bachata lessons from 7-9 p.m. in one room and Miguel Aguirre teaching a Salsa class in the other. The lesson were very well attended. After that the open dancing begins around 9 p.m. The night starts out with lots of room to dance but by about 11 at night its packed with people. I had a great time. The level of dancing was good and people were friendly and easy to approach. Good DJ and mix of music ranging from a more Urban sound such as Xtreme and Aventura to artists such as Anthony Santos, Franks Reyes, Joan Soriano etc. Drinks cost about $6-$8. Good ratio of men and women, with plenty of people to dance with. In addition there is a room that plays Salsa so you can have it all. The bachata styles that are danced here vary and are diverse. "Dominican," "Urban," "Modern,"..."grinding"...is the a style?
There are beginners and advanced dancers.

There was a Dominican female singer that performed a set around 12 or so, "La Reina (The Queens) I think. She didn't have a band with her so she was singing to recorded music. She was not terrible but I noticed the energy of the crowd dropped a little during that time, but it was back up again at the end of the night.

Its just amazing to see bachata growing in LA and it seems like the whole California scene is blowing up for bachata. San Diego has a great bachata community with lots of places to dance as does San Francisco. I think its interesting to see clubs that have been known for great salsa dancing for a long time now hosting bachata nighta. Club Cache in New York is another example of a club thats been famous for salsa for years and now hosts a bachata night. (Fridays)

So next time you are in LA and want to dance bachata I definitely recommend you check out Stevens Steakhouse. 5332 Stevens Place
Commerce CA 90040