Cielo, a newly opened cocktail bar, hosted a ‘coffee rave’ on Saturday, drawing in customers from the nearby Dane County Farmer’s Market, their first event since opening on Sept. 25.
When you walk into Cielo, you’re greeted by the sight of the DJ booth, sitting atop the second floor on a strip that’s akin to a balcony. Although the place is easy to miss when walking by, Cielo certainly stands out once you’re inside. With brick walls, hanging metallic clouds and star lights, it’s hard not to feel at ease.
During the rave, there were deals for $6 espresso martinis and mimosas. The espresso martini deal is definitely worth looking into for someone in need of a pick-me up.
Half the event was mixed by Mithyka, a Madison-based DJ from Mexico City. He performed a mix of upbeat, remixed house music with Latin and R&B tunes mixed in. After the halfway point, DJ Matta, who is originally from Spain, stepped in and kept the show going strong with equally catchy electronic house music and Latin beats.
David Becker, a 20-year-old bartender at Cielo, described the space as “cozy,” and said the customers have been nice.
Becker studies personal finance at University of Wisconsin-Madison, and said he is optimistic Cielo will find success on State Street given its already-present groups of regulars.
The owner of Cielo, Susan McKinney, runs the lounge alongside her two daughters. The years she lived in Mexico inspired both the menu and the lounge’s design. Given that Cielo means “sky” in Spanish, many of the decorations match this aesthetic.
The stars that hang throughout Cielo were made by one of McKinney’s friends, inspired by the same stars she saw at festivals and celebrations when she lived in San Miguel de Allende in Mexico. She hopes Cielo can be a place where people can come together.
“It’s giving club, but classy,” Cielo bartender Natalie Brown, a 21 year old studying biochemistry at UW-Madison, said.
Brown said Cielo was a space for people of all ages to enjoy. Indeed, people of all ages made an appearance at the rave, chatting and enjoying their drinks alongside friends.
Cielo is a deceptively large building, with the first floor having two bars and two different accessible entrances from the street. Alongside seating, there is a lot of empty space for dancing, which many groups took full advantage of. The third floor has a second DJ booth — which will no doubt get some use at future events.
By the end of the coffee rave, the first floor was flooded with people. It was an impressive turnout for the bar’s first event. This cocktail and coffee joint has the potential to become a trendy hotspot here on campus. With a steadily growing number of regulars, there’s something about his place that draws people back, and it’s not hard to see why.
