After a few false starts, Capitol Hill’s first new dance club to open in years debuted Friday night to an enthusiastic crowd and with only a few reported hiccups. Is it hot in here or is it just me!?!
It’s me.
Picture of the first Friday night at The Social and its little friend EVO Tapas Kitchen, below.
The Social project is one of “>two nightclub ventures slated to come to the Hill this year — the Laura Olson-Chris Pardo-Alex Garcia-backed the Social and Broadway’s Q Capitol Hill. This is how the Social’s social media-savvy backers described their venture:
We are excited to announce our latest venture: The Social – a three level 12,000 sqft ultra lounge/ restaurant and nightclub. The Social is located on East Olive and will feature three distinct rooms, including four bars and a 3000 sqft restaurant. The entertainment venue is being designed by award winning Capitol Hill firm Pb Elemental (recently named one of the Decades Best by Seattle Magazine). Our focus is to provide a well designed, fun, and high quality venue for the LGBTQ community. The Social is a joint venture of three Capitol Hill small business owners Alex Garcia (Emerson Salon, Banyan Branch), Shanon Thorson and Laura Olson (Po Dog, Auto Battery, Grim’s) . Drawing on their specific talents we will be featuring a gourmet food menu, holding daily events and drawing from national and international DJ talent. The Social is scheduled to open this summer, watch for updates onhttp://www.facebook.com/TheSocialSeattle. We are excited to join the expanding scene on East Olive with Tommy Guns, CC Attles and Fred Wildlife Refuge.
Early on, the Social gained some buzz for its plan to incorporate technology and social media into its experience. We don’t know about the iPads but we noticed the club issuing drink coupons via its Facebook page. Kinda beats Groupon, no? The club has also walked a fine line around its positioning as a gay dance club. “Everyone is welcome at The Social!” Garcia told Seattle Gay Scene. “All people, gay or straight, will feel comfortable. We want it to be a place where everyone can come in with their friends and have a good time.”
We visited Todd Nordahl to talk about his food+drink component of the project here.
Thanks to CHS contributor Douglas McLaughlin for all of the pictures. His slideshow below will take you from an early evening at EVO into the night at the Social.
