Entertaining a lively scene in Costa Mesa

Lolita Harper

The flashing lights of a luminescent downtown draw fun-seekers

like a moth to a flame. Streets bustle with smiling patrons making

their way from restaurant to bar to dance club in a progressive night

on the town.

While this scene may be absent from the Costa Mesa landscape now,

some are hoping a trend in governing decisions might lead to such a

scene at the corner of Newport Boulevard and 19th Street.

Already home to popular hangouts such as the Yard House, Goat Hill

Tavern and the Helm, the downtown area is readying itself for at

least two new entertainment sites, and optimistic night owls are

envisioning a major area makeover.

Resident Brenda Tillock said any addition to the area would be

good. The 25-year-old said she would like to see something “more

classy and upbeat with music for the middle age crowd.”

“I don’t really care for the grunge of Goat Hill or Players,”

Tillock said. “Yard House is OK, but there is no dancing.”

Club Vegas, owned by nightlife guru James Raven, is set to begin

construction on the basement level of 1901 Newport -- formerly known

as Pacific Savings Plaza. The upscale club, which would be about

11,000 square feet, is designed to entertain about 800 persons from 5

p.m. to 2 a.m. Monday through Friday and from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m.

Saturday and Sunday. It will cater to an older crowd, between 25 and

40, and will not play Hip Hop music.

The club touts a large dance floor, three bars, distinct lounge

areas and its anticipated claim to fame: an extra luxurious ladies

room.

“A place where the ladies can get away, relax, touch up their

makeup and come back out when they are ready,” Raven said.

VAMPING THE REVAMP

Such a nightspot is what city leaders expected when they began

revamping the city’s downtown area, Planning Commission Chairwoman

Katrina Foley said.

The addition of the night club will “help establish that area as

an entertainment district with nightlife restaurants, which is what I

believe was intended for downtown when we redeveloped it,” Foley

said.

Also poised to fill the all-too-empty Triangle Square is Fugu, a

restaurant that will offer dining, dancing and cocktails until 2 a.m.

The addition of Fugu addresses the popular hope of turning the top

level of the troubled Triangle Square into an entertainment venue

modeled after the successful Yard House.

Not everyone believes that such additions will result in a

thriving, vibrant scene, though.

While resident Louis Linfoot said he would love some decent

nightlife in the city, he is wary of delusions that the downtown area

could promote itself as an entertainment district.

“Well, I doubt any of it will do any good, to tell you the truth,”

said Linfoot, who prefers the dim lights and lively characters at the

Helm to the pristine ambience at the Yard House. “I have been in

Costa Mesa for a few years and have seen a lot of places come and go

out of Triangle Square. ... I will keep my perennial fingers crossed

that the next restaurant/night club will do well.”

The two downtown ventures add to a myriad of nightlife

destinations throughout the city, including Memphis, Detroit, Pierce

Street Annex, The Little Night, Tiki Bar, La Cave and Havana.

NOT FUN FOR EVERYONE

Neighbors of Costa Mesa’s bars, clubs and pubs say that that fun

does not come without consequence.

Neighbors of bars that line 17th Street have long complained about

a lack of parking, noisy drunks at odd hours of the morning, streets

littered with alcohol paraphernalia and trash and fights.

Eastside resident Bob Small does not live directly behind a bar,

but he said he still feels the effect of the 17th Street nightlife.

His back yard is against the Wendy’s drive-through, where many hungry

party-seekers venture after a night of drinking and dancing. The loud

patrons are a nuisance to him and his neighbors, he said.

Some city officials feared the same for the 1901 Newport site, and

city planners recommended denying Club Vegas. Planning Commissioner

Eleanor Egan agreed, saying she liked the plans for the club, but did

not think all the infamous issues had been taken care of.

Foley disagreed, saying the downtown area is different from 17th

Street or any other entertainment venue in the city. Those centers

were created to house night life and entertainment and bring a spark

to the city center.

Councilman Gary Monahan, who serves his own version of nightlife

at Skosh Monahan’s, said the entertainment angle for Newport

Boulevard is a step in the right direction.

What other area is more appropriate for night life than downtown?

he asked.

“It just makes sense,” he said.

* LOLITA HARPER covers Costa Mesa. She may be reached at (949)

574-4275 or by e-mail at [email protected].