Razz Room

Overview

Sydney's after-dark scene is heading underground and if you needed any more proof that late, late-night partying is officially back in full swing, this is it.

From the team behind Odd Culture Group (The Old Fitz, Pleasure Club, Bistro Grenier) comes Razz Room, a daiquiri bar and discotheque hidden just beneath York Street in the CBD. While the city has flirted with a nightlife revival for a while now, this opening feels weirdly nostalgic. Not so much… polite drinks. More cheeky pash on the dance floor.

Leaning into the grit and glamour of 1970s New York, Razz Room channels blunt disco energy with a space that unfolds in two parts. Upstairs, it's all warm timber, caramel tones and low-key post-work energy, the kind of place where you start the night with "just one". Downstairs, though, is where things shift. A sunken dance floor, wrapped in velvet, concrete and low lighting, pulls the crowd in as DJs and live sets take over.

Crucially, this isn't a bar you leave to find a party elsewhere. Sydney's habit of venue-hopping is being replaced by places that keep you locked in, and Razz Room is built for exactly that. A rotating lineup of DJs and residencies spanning disco, house, funk and jazz, with programming that winks at the classics without feeling stuck in them.

Then there's the drinks. More specifically, the daiquiri.

Often overlooked in favour of flashier cocktails, the daiquiri is having a well-earned renaissance here. At its core, it's a simple thing, rum, citrus, sugar, but in the right hands, it's one of the most perfectly balanced drinks going. Razz Room plans to treat it accordingly, stretching the format across shaken, frozen and blended iterations, alongside smaller pours and off-menu riffs that reward those who know to ask. It's tight, focused and confident. Potentially dangerous, but that's tomorrow's problem.

Food follows a similar rhythm. Early in the evening, there's a run of retro-leaning snacks, oysters Kilpatrick, prawn cocktail with 'Marie Razz' sauce, a cheeseburger served with a pool of cheese sauce, and a dippy egg with caviar. That ought to keep you grounded well past midnight.

A daily "Velvet Hour" will also run 4-6pm offering classic, dirty or strawberry daiquiris ($13) plus other drink specials.

Razz Room also marks a milestone for Odd Culture Group as its first CBD venue and a clear signal of where Sydney nightlife is heading. Bigger spaces, later hours, more immersive programming, but still with a slightly loose, anything-could-happen energy.

Imagery: Supplied