Nostalgia for the 1970s is alive and well in 21st-century America. It seems like people can’t get enough of the decade that brought us bell-bottom jeans, polyester suits, and avocado green kitchen appliances. Some folks are so fascinated by the era that they’re even seeking out destinations packed with ’70s retro vibes and nostalgia. If your fantasies include images of yourself swaying to the seductive vocals of Donna Summer or getting down to the infectious four-on-the-floor beat of Disco Inferno, you’ll definitely want to check out The Let’s Go! Disco and Cocktail Club in Los Angeles. Located in the once blighted, but now thriving Arts District, you’ll find it nestled between flourishing art galleries and some of the city’s trendiest restaurants.**
This remarkable nightlife venue represents more than just a themed bar—it’s a carefully curated time capsule that transports visitors to the golden age of disco music, Italian glamour, and carefree dancing. The attention to authentic period details combined with modern hospitality creates an experience that appeals to both those who lived through the era and younger generations discovering its magic.
The Vision Behind The Let’s Go!
Founded by the trio of hospitality veterans Lee Zaremba, Jose L. Cordon, and Patrick Costa, who also own the very popular De La Nonna next door, The Let’s Go! transports vivacious club-goers into the rose-tinted glam of an Italian discoteca, courtesy of the design firm Wanderlust, which is also behind some of the city’s trendiest venues.
Expanding on De La Nonna’s nostalgic appeal, The Let’s Go! was imagined as a slice of Italian nightlife circa the 1970s, when the catchy harmonies of ABBA collided with the driving rhythms of Giorgio Moroder and the Euro-beats of Italo-Disco. Dispensing distinctly Italian-inspired cocktails and DJs spinning international tunes, The Let’s Go! is a modern take on Italy’s nostalgic dance scene.
Design and Atmosphere
The design elements at The Let’s Go! meticulously recreate the aesthetic of 1970s Italian discos. The green-marble bar serves as the venue’s centerpiece, bathed in the glow of pink neon lights and reflected in a gold-mirrored ceiling. These design choices aren’t arbitrary—they represent authentic discoteca styling from the era when disco culture dominated European nightlife.
Wanderlust, the design firm responsible for the venue’s transformation, understood that successful retro design requires balancing authentic period details with modern comfort and functionality. The result is a space that feels genuinely vintage without sacrificing contemporary expectations for seating, acoustics, and ambiance.
The lighting design creates an intimate yet energetic atmosphere. The pink neon casts a warm, flattering glow that encourages social interaction and dancing, while the mirrored ceiling amplifies the space visually, creating the illusion of a larger dance floor packed with revelers.
Inclusive Disco Vibes and Welcoming Atmosphere
Midwestern friendliness may not be one of the core values associated with a trendy discoteca, but in an interview with Eater, co-founder Lee Zaremba expressed the team’s desire to create a space where guests from all walks of life are welcome, and pretension is given the boot.
What Guests Are Saying
Many Yelp reviewers appreciate the friendly vibes, absence of a cover charge, and easy entry with no attitude. This accessibility distinguishes The Let’s Go! from many Los Angeles nightlife venues that employ velvet ropes, selective door policies, and expensive admission fees.
The welcoming atmosphere extends beyond the door policy. Bartenders engage with guests in genuine, unpretentious ways, helping newcomers navigate the Italian-inspired menu and recommending drinks based on personal preferences rather than upselling premium options.
Reviewers consistently mention the diverse crowd that The Let’s Go! attracts—young professionals discovering disco for the first time mingle with those who actually danced to these songs when they first topped the charts. This generational mixing creates a unique energy rarely found in age-segregated nightlife venues.
Creative Cocktails and Italian-Inspired Libations
Reviewers also noted that the strong drinks are no joke, though the selection is a bit different from your average bar menu. The Let’s Go! cocktail menu is like a drive through the hairpin curves of the Amalfi Coast on a Vespa—colorful, intense, and overflowing with la dolce vita.
Signature Cocktails and Spirits
In addition to a selection of Italian wines and 20 types of amaro, the creative mixology includes Negronis like the Red Silk Road with toasted rice and Kikori whiskey, and classics like the Vespertino, a smooth martini with an Italian coastal flair, all served from the green-marble bar bathed in the glow of pink neon lights and a gold-mirrored ceiling.
The amaro selection deserves special attention. These Italian bitter liqueurs represent regional specialties from across Italy, each with unique botanical profiles. Bartenders educate curious customers about the digestive and aperitif traditions surrounding amaro consumption in Italian culture.
The Negroni variations demonstrate the venue’s commitment to honoring tradition while embracing innovation. The classic Negroni—equal parts gin, Campari, and sweet vermouth—gets reinterpreted through ingredients like Japanese whiskey and toasted rice, creating bridges between Italian and international flavor profiles.
The Vespertino martini embodies the sophisticated simplicity that defines great cocktail craft. Using premium Italian vermouth and garnishes that reference coastal ingredients, this drink captures the elegance of 1970s cocktail culture when martinis represented sophistication rather than oversized, candy-flavored concoctions.
Late-Night Dining and Location Advantages
When late-night munchies come calling, a pizza window serving De La Nonna slices is open Friday and Saturday from 11:30 pm to 1:00 am. If you’re unable to catch a slice when the window is open, nearby Little Tokyo is known for its authentic eateries, including late-night options.
Strategic Arts District Location
The Arts District location provides significant advantages for The Let’s Go! guests. The neighborhood has transformed dramatically over the past decade, evolving from an industrial area into one of Los Angeles’ most vibrant cultural districts.
Art galleries surrounding the venue often host openings and events that naturally drive foot traffic. Many visitors combine gallery hopping with drinks and dancing at The Let’s Go!, creating a complete cultural evening.
The proximity to Little Tokyo expands late-night dining options beyond the pizza window. Japanese ramen shops, izakayas, and other establishments operate late into the night, providing substantive meal options for those extending their evening beyond typical dinner hours.
Public transportation access via nearby Metro stations makes the venue accessible without driving, an important consideration for a bar serving “strong drinks” that reviewers praise. The neighborhood’s walkability encourages bar-hopping and exploration.
Curated Music Programming and DJ Events
As former DJs, Cordon and Zaremba have curated an eclectic rolodex of groovy DJs to put an international spin on The Let’s Go! music menu with a rotating calendar of events.
Signature Music Events
One of the most popular is City Pop Night, held monthly with DJ Tsugu Itagaki spinning Japanese vinyl, or Disco Xpress, when classic disco hits are played alongside down-and-dirty deep cuts that harken back to disco’s grittier days.
City Pop Night represents the venue’s commitment to exploring global interpretations of disco and dance music. City Pop—a genre of Japanese pop music from the late 1970s and 1980s—shares disco’s emphasis on sophisticated production, catchy melodies, and danceable grooves. DJ Tsugu Itagaki’s vinyl selections introduce many attendees to a genre previously unfamiliar to Western audiences.
Disco Xpress events dive deeper into disco history than typical retro nights. Rather than playing only mainstream hits like “Stayin’ Alive” and “Le Freak,” these events showcase obscure tracks, extended versions, and underground classics that serious disco enthusiasts treasure. The “down-and-dirty deep cuts” reference refers to grittier, more sexually explicit disco that emerged from underground gay clubs before the genre’s mainstream commercialization.
The rotating DJ calendar ensures repeat visitors encounter fresh musical experiences. Guest DJs bring specialized knowledge of particular disco subgenres, regional scenes, or time periods, creating thematic nights that educate while entertaining.
The Broader Disco Revival Movement
The Let’s Go!’s success reflects broader cultural trends reviving 1970s aesthetics and disco music. After decades of dismissal as cheesy and dated, disco has experienced critical and popular rehabilitation, with musicians, DJs, and scholars recognizing the genre’s musical sophistication, cultural significance, and enduring influence.
Contemporary artists from Dua Lipa to The Weeknd incorporate disco elements into mainstream pop, introducing younger audiences to the genre’s infectious rhythms and euphoric energy. Disco documentaries and scholarly works have reexamined the genre’s origins in Black, Latino, and LGBTQ+ communities, highlighting its role in creating inclusive spaces during culturally conservative times.
The Let’s Go! contributes to this revival by creating an environment that honors disco’s inclusive, joyful spirit rather than treating it as kitsch or ironic nostalgia. The venue’s “no pretension” policy echoes disco’s original democratic ethos—anyone who wanted to dance was welcome, regardless of background.
Planning Your Visit to The Let’s Go!
Best times to visit depend on your preferences. Weekend nights bring the most energetic crowds and longest waits for drinks. Weekday evenings offer more relaxed atmospheres with shorter lines and easier conversation.
Special event nights like City Pop or Disco Xpress attract enthusiasts specifically interested in those musical themes, creating communities of shared interest rather than generic club crowds.
The no cover charge policy means you can drop in spontaneously rather than committing to expensive admission. However, this also means the venue can reach capacity, particularly during popular events.
Dress codes remain casual by Los Angeles nightlife standards, though many visitors embrace the opportunity to wear retro-inspired outfits. Bell-bottoms, platform shoes, and vintage polyester are celebrated rather than mocked.
Final Thoughts: Disco Never Died, It Just Relocated
The Let’s Go! Disco and Cocktail Club demonstrates that well-executed nostalgia offers more than escapism—it creates spaces where past and present converge, where different generations connect through shared musical appreciation, and where the inclusive spirit of the best disco lives on.
The venue’s success lies not in slavishly recreating every detail of 1970s nightlife but in capturing the era’s essence—joy, glamour, inclusion, and the pure pleasure of dancing to great music with strangers who quickly become friends.
Whether you lived through the disco era or discovered it through samples in modern music, The Let’s Go! offers an authentic experience that transcends mere themed entertainment. It’s a reminder that the best retro venues don’t just look backward—they use historical inspiration to create something genuinely new and relevant for contemporary audiences.
The Arts District location, creative cocktails, welcoming atmosphere, and carefully curated music programming combine to create one of Los Angeles’ most distinctive nightlife experiences. In a city known for trendy-but-soulless venues that prioritize exclusivity over experience, The Let’s Go! stands out by prioritizing exactly what made disco special: the music, the dancing, and the community created when everyone on the floor moves to the same beat.
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