Kevin De Nicolo was spinning throwback hits at an ‘80s-themed arcade bar in North Hollywood when the idea struck: What would a nostalgic bar look like for his own generation? That question became the foundation for Zero Lounge, a cocktail concept built around early-2000s culture and aesthetics.
Billed as Hollywood’s first Y2K-themed bar, Zero Lounge is designed as a time capsule—a place where the mood, music, and menu reflect the turn of the millennium.
“The ‘80s didn’t really mean much to us, because we were babies,” says Katie DiMento, a veteran mixologist and Zero Lounge’s operations manager. “But the ‘90s and early 2000s? That’s where the nostalgia really hits.”
De Nicolo and DiMento aren’t the only ones rewinding the clock. The era of boy bands and dial-up internet is back in style, and bars and restaurants are finding ways to capitalize.
Red Lobster recently leaned into the trend by partnering with NSYNC’s Joey Fatone for a campaign set in 1999, celebrating the chain’s 3-Course Shrimp Sensation with a heavy dose of retro flair.
Bar Louie kicked off 2025 by celebrating its 35th anniversary with a lineup of ‘90s cocktails, including Long Island Iced Teas, Sex on the Beach, Blue Hawaiians, and Alabama Slammers—drinks that haven’t been regular menu staples in years.
Chili’s joined in with the Radical ‘Rita, a color-changing tequila cocktail made with blue curaçao, dragonfruit syrup, and ‘90s-style swizzle sticks. To help introduce it, the brand brought in Tiffani Thiessen—best known for her role on “Saved by the Bell”—as the face of the campaign.
Zero Lounge takes the nostalgia playbook a step further. The team describes it as a conscious escape from the constant barrage of digital feeds and endless scrolling. The bar offers a break from modern distractions, inviting guests to step away from their screens and rediscover the value of in-person, shared experiences.
DiMento explains that the space is a retro bar created by millennials for millennials. It honors the art, entertainment, and culture that defined a generation—from movies and music to video games, anime, and the early days of the internet—embracing both mainstream and lesser-known influences.
The interior design draws inspiration from the idea of being inside a computer. Think hacker visuals and a Matrix-style aesthetic, with moody lighting and digital motifs woven throughout the space. The DJ booth is designed to look like a ‘90s bedroom, complete with Furbies, an old-school TV, plenty of VHS tapes, “Goosebumps” books, boy band posters, and other trinkets.
Behind the bar, DiMento crafted a cocktail menu that blends playful nostalgia with elevated flavor profiles. “When you go to a nighttime spot, sometimes the drinks and cocktails are an afterthought,” she says. “We wanted to make sure that we had restaurant-grade cocktails within a lounge bar space.”
The first drink she created for Zero Lounge was a peanut butter whiskey cocktail with muddled strawberry, blackberry, lemon, and agave. “My first initial thought was to call it the After School PB&J—and that’s the name we stuck with—because it tasted just like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich,” DiMento says. “I was thinking about what types of nostalgic flavors I could come up with that would transport someone back to Y2K. For me, that was an after school snack.”
From there, the menu grew into a lineup of drinks packed with references and playful touches. One of the best-selling cocktails is the Basil Patch Kid, made with tequila, ginger liqueur, lime, agave, basil, and strawberry. It’s topped with a Sour Patch Kid on a basil leaf, a whimsical garnish that’s become a crowd favorite.
Another is the Fresh Prince Fizz, named after the ‘90s TV mainstay, made with vodka, blackberries, lime, agave, and soda water. DiMento calls it “super simple,” but says using fresh ingredients gives it an elevated feel—part of her larger goal to make sure every drink stands on its own.
Then there’s The Mean Girl, one of DiMento’s personal favorites. The cocktail nods to the iconic early 2000s teen movie and is made with tequila, apricot liqueur, lemon, egg whites, and strawberry. It’s rimmed with pomegranate sugar, which she says reminds her of the dippable, powdery candies she ate as a kid. Zero Lounge also uses a Ripple Maker—a machine typically used for latte art—to print images of Lindsay Lohan’s mugshot in the foam on the surface of the drinks.
“That’s really been a hit,” DiMento says. “I love a funny garnish or a sexy garnish or anything like that. If a drink is eye-catching, you’re like, ‘What is that? I want whatever that is.’ So, all of our drinks have a little extra something like that.”
The After School PB&J comes with a bite-sized version of the sandwich on a skewer. Candy plays a key role across the menu, from the Saved by the Bellini mocktail—made with non-alcoholic gin, peach purée, agave, and soda water, and topped with a peach ring—to the pride-themed Y2-Gay cocktail, a jalapeño tequila-based drink finished with a rainbow sour belt.
Making drinks this intricate posed early challenges. Some cocktails initially took up to seven steps to prepare, which slowed service. DiMento developed a system that streamlined the process without compromising flavor. For example, the PB&J drink now uses pre-bottled juice blends—one strawberry-lemon and one blackberry-lemon—that replicates the original taste and cuts prep time nearly in half. She also fine-tuned ratios to maintain consistency and cross-utilized ingredients across multiple cocktails to keep inventory tight. Garnishes like the Sour Patch Kid and basil leaf are also pre-skewered for quick assembly.
Bright colors and over-the-top garnishes mirror the aesthetics of the Y2K era, where electric pinks, neon blues, and shimmery metallics were everywhere. That color story is carried through the bar’s lighting. A custom LED screen spans the ceiling, looping a rotating series of visuals that blend childhood references—Happy Meals, Razor scooters, Furbies, Bop-Its—with Zero Lounge branding. The graphics shift and move, creating an immersive experience that’s drawn attention from DJs and performers looking to tap into the bar’s one-of-a-kind visuals. The ceiling screen also pulls double duty, projecting images of drinks to tie the bar’s look and menu even more closely together.
Ultimately, DiMento says Zero Lounge isn’t just about reliving the past. It’s about recreating the mindset that came with it.
“Sure, you should take pictures while you’re here, but it’s not the type of place where everyone ends up sitting on their phones,” she says. “In a weird way, creating these drinks and this space that’s so nostalgic gets people back to a mentality where they’re like, ‘Who cares where my phone is? I’m having a great time.’”
