"This is my first time, and it's really nice," Teresa Burden said as she came off the dance floor. Burden was "designated dancer" in a group that included about 20 others celebrating a successful audit of Miller Hale by the U.S. Bureau of Prisons.
Burden and her friends were among the capacity crowd that packed the Ocean Club Saturday. Latecomers waited for more than an hour in hopes of getting in. The line didn't get any shorter. The Ocean Club is where the action is this season on the club scene.
Owner Gene Gunn and General Manager/Managing Partner Beau Mohr envisioned a place where downtown office women could feel comfortable after work, get a pau hana drink or two, and enjoy quality pupus for under $10 a person. (No one under 23 is admitted.)
The club opened a little more than a month ago in the old Studebaker's spot.
"It's way better than Studebaker's," said Charay, as she celebrated her 26th birthday with several friends. (Like many clubbers, she wouldn't give her last name.)
Andrew liked the cosmopolitan crowd. "It isn't real young like at World Cafe." Kipp cited the atmosphere: "A comfortable place to hang out with friends." Soldiers John and Randy endorsed it as a place where "you don't have to worry about somebody bumping into to you and wanting to fight."
The best way to experience the club is to go pau hana or at least arrive comfortably before 8 p.m. Secure a spot for people watching, and eat at the happy-hour prices.
Initial projections underestimated the popularity of the food. "We started off ordering 40-pounds of ahi sashimi and were running out early," manager Fernando Galvan recalled.
Tables and prime space along counters fill up fast -- with Tuesdays almost as busy as weekends.
Earth tones, pastels and brightly colored fish define the decor. A giant flower-spangled grouper guards the entrance; a school of petite mahimahi swim in suspended animation over the dance floor.
The music draws from an eclectic playlist that includes the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Marley, Blondie, INXS, Madonna, Prince, Marky Mark, Sir Mix-A-Lot, the Quad City DJs and Mark Morrison.
Any new nightspot draws the curious, at least once. It's still early, but Ocean Club appears likely to stay hot long after the novelty has worn off.
"Honolulu has needed a club like this for a long time. A lot of the other clubs just don't fit the bill," customer Gordon Au explained.
What can't be foreseen is whether the late-night crowd will define the club as a place where cliques socialize with each other -- or as a high-profile singles' bar and "meat market."
Julie says she and her gal pals like it because "if guys come up to us and we let them know we're not interested they just go away -- they don't keep bothering you like in some clubs."