“A lounge has the same status as a bar.”
Why is it muttar to order a coke and not a beer when you are not fraternizing with the other patrons? Going through the Aruch Hashulchan in this siman (its all I have available at the moment) it appears from the way he explains the din/takana (appears is the actionable word right now, I really should go through it a second time and also go through the many mareh mikomos he brings down) the issue is one of drinking with them (which is why for example you can buy the drink and take it home when no kashrus issue is involved). I’m not arguing with you, just going through the sugya.
Regarding the fellow who ordered the beer, I think he did it more to impress his date than anything else. He utterly failed to do so.