Club 303 felt like a hit on Saturday night.
A stream of customers began arriving around 10:30 p.m. and the influx kept coming. By midnight, a small line was forming at the front door as bouncers checked IDs.
The downstairs area was filling up, and Denver rocker J.D. Feighner was just getting started upstairs. People trooped between the two levels, doing laps before committing to a location.
Club 303 (2301 Blake St.) just opened in early January, so the novelty factor may have influenced the turnout. Still, the two-level club can hold plenty of people — and it was starting to look like a busy night.
“The way we made it, everybody’s really happy,” enthused owner Jay Dureja.
Club 303 caters to whatever vibe patrons want to pair with their drinks: rockin’ Colorado sports bar or lounge-y dance club.
The sports bar upstairs is a vast place, lined with brick and wood. A stage and dance floor greet visitors as soon as they arrive, along with a huge bar and smaller drink stands scattered about.
Off in a corner, pool tables beckon. In the back, huge windows face downtown, lighting the way to a spacious smoking patio.
From the patio, Coors Field looks like it’s within bottle-throwing distance — if you could take bottles outside. It’s plastic-only on the porch, and the bouncer isn’t going to make exceptions.
He will, however, helpfully point you in the direction of some plastic cups for your beer.
Downstairs, it’s darker and dance-focused. Bottle-service booths form the perimeter and waitresses in skimpy outfits hurry back and forth.
An old-school, light-up disco floor attracts the early dancers, but the DJ soon has the booty-shaking spilling off the platform.
The most striking thing about the revelers at Club 303, both upstairs and down, is the difference in demographics: People at 303 come from all walks of night life.
A quick scan of the upstairs bar showed cowboys, Goths, snowboarders, scarf-wearing hipsters and primped party people. Some of them were even — gasp! — oldern than 30.
It was pleasantly bizarre sight, and it’s all by design, according to Dureja.
“What we’re trying to attract is a diverse customer base, so people can have fun,” he said.
One of Dureja’s pet projects for the club is to keep live music circulating through the venue.
“What’s missing in downtown is a big live band venue,” he said. “Here, we can hold up to 500, 600 people.”
He hopes 303 becomes “a destination spot” that always reels people back.
“We want to see people two or three times a week,” he said. “We have reasonable drink prices, more than the nightclubs downtown. … People don’t get ripped off. Some of the places you go a beer bottle is $6. Ours start at $3.50 to $4.”
303 is a distinct change from the building’s previous life as Polly Esther’s and Culture Club, an emporium of 1970s and ’80s dance music.
“It was a mess,” said Dureja of the space when he took over. “We’ve spent $30,000 just cleaning the place.”
The overhaul was worth it. The upstairs area is shiny and clean, and has the “fresh- paint-and-new-wood” scent of renovation. (It’s dark downstairs, but it seems nice enough.)
What Club 303 doesn’t have is an attitude. Some people like attitude. It makes a clubgoer feel exclusive, urban, sexy.
But snootiness doesn’t go over well in a place the size of Club 303. Instead, healthy doses of Denver friendliness make for a lighthearted atmosphere.
Put it this way: Club 303 offers bottle service, but it also has Coors Light on tap.
