Going out to an upscale Scottsdale club in this economy may seem frivolous.
But Steve Sabol promises that his new bar, Angels & Outlaws, will be an affordable, classy night out.
The club opens Thursday, June 25, with $6 drinks and a no-cover door policy.
“We want to be anti-nightclub, and there will be no attitude,” he said. “There will be no ‘let's make a deal' when a big group comes in. We just want the place to be fun and have no pressure.”
The 6,000-square-foot space used to house the bar Minx and a handful of other failed restaurants and bars. But Sabol and his partner, Shaun Bauer, hope to turn the space's history around using their previous nightclub experience: Both used to run the popular Scottsdale Devil's Martini clubs.
The look: Reflecting the high-low mix Sabol is going for, Angels & Outlaws will be decorated with several oversize black and white photos, including one at the entrance that Sabol took of a city sign that reads “No Shooting, City of Scottsdale.” The collection is meant to give the club an “upscale, Western Americana” aesthetic.
And although that may sound vague, guests will get the idea when they see one set of photos in particular. A bustier-wearing female model toting a pistol is juxtaposed with a shirtless male model donning angel wings.
Other design flourishes include a rusty chandelier; a chocolate, faux-crocodile finish on the booths; and a runwaylike platform made out of espresso-colored paneling on top of some booths.
“Ladies can get up on here and dance if they want to,” Sabol said. “People are going to do what they want to do, and we're going to let them.”
More photos and knickknacks go into a big cubbielike shelves behind the hostess stand, including a brass pig that the owners affectionately named after an employee, Vito.
“We are not taking ourselves too seriously. We are not trying to be Los Angeles or New York; we just want everyone to have a good time,” Sabol said.
Making people feel comfortable: To that extent, Sabol is making sure the club is comfortable. So the main bar opens up to a cozy patio with high walls for privacy. A communal table in the middle invites strangers to mingle and groups to indulge in the menu's large shared plates. If the central bar gets too crowded, guests can head to the smaller one outside.
Ladies have extra perks, including oversize, plush ottomans on the patio that open up to hide purses, and a spacious women's bathroom featuring a kitchen-island-style sink, a chandelier with real candles and a mirror that takes up an entire wall.
Sabol also notes that men have a roomy bathroom, so they can “check out their Rock & Republic jeans.”
And staying true to the theme, the drink menu will be divided into six outlaw and six angel cocktails with names like the Cold-Blooded Killer and Rose-Angel Margarita.
