SPOT OFF MAIN; BELLEVUE, WA Pure comfort at The Spot Off Main
By Ty Hughes
Spot Off Main is “A casual neighborhood bar. You can feel comfortable in jeans here”, according to General Manager Chris Green. And he wasn’t kidding. Bellevue’s Spot Off Main is the perfect concept for its neighborhood.
Cathedral ceilings and brick walls house one very unique and stylish bar. The atmosphere is very casual indeed, leather couches and club chairs scattered throughout are perfect for kickin’ back Bellevue-style. The place is virtually split in two, one room holds like five or six pool tables all dressed up in pretty red felt. There’s a cool little dart cubbyhole decked out with all the necessities; leather lounge chair, flatscreen TV, just like home. They’ve got a little sidewalk deli table set up along the interior wall that separates the two rooms from a little game room and the entrance.
The guys are all total studs here. If I were a single woman looking for a good man, this is where I’d start. Most of these guys come from Microsoft and they’re all decked out in their sport jackets. I wouldn’t have been surprised to see somebody smoking a pipe or cigar. It’s almost like a man-cave, so perfect. When the girls did finally show up, they were definitely hot.
They’ve just started Industry Night every Monday, plus they’ve got Trivia Night on Tuesday at 8pm, Karaoke on Wednesday and Beer Pong tournaments on Thursdays. These Beer Pong tourneys are apparently pretty crazy. The place fills to capacity and they get four tables going – it’s quite the party I’m told. Then on Saturdays, they roll out DJThump at 10pm and the party kicks into high gear.
On the other side of the bar in the other room, guess who’s running karaoke every Wednesday from 9pm-1am? Who else but the hardest working girl in the biz – Aury Moore with Karr Productions (www.karrproductions.com). It was weird seeing her in such a small place after just watching her perform on the big stage over the weekend. She brings her amazing voice even to these venues when she hosts her karaoke shows. I don’t think most of the guys sprawled out on the leather couches surrounding the microphone even realized who they had right in front of them. She’s currently working on an opportunity to open for a national superstar, by the way. We’ll keep you posted. Anyway, I had to laugh when I saw her. With all she’s got going on, I keep seeing her everywhere I go. I told her we’d have to rename the newspaper to the Aury Moore Times or something.
The karaoke room, rich in color with black walls and another red-felted pool table, filled up late with a huge group of Microsoft conference guys, many from out of town. Kathi was the only female in the group. She lives in St. Louis, Missouri, where she says karaoke is very popular. She had no fear, sitting right up front and enjoying several turns on the mic.
The service is awesome, no need to even get up out of your slouch in that couch. A dressed up Aury operates her equipment beneath an eight-foot projection screen showing the Olympics. Her regulars are all Microsoft folks too. Cat and her friends like the karaoke here with Aury. I caught Allen singing and dancing openly while singing his song. He wasn’t the least bit shy. Whitney lost her bet at pool and had to sing a song to everyone. Michelle, one of Aury’s number one fans, also came out for some fun.
Come and find out why the Spot Off Main is attracting the locals and even some famous personalities reportedly. Yakup Trana, Seattle’s own national recording artist, will be playing at Spot Off Main from time to time. “He just likes it here”, says Chris. House band, Super Bison perform on the last Friday of each month too. And don’t forget, Wednesday night karaoke with Aury Moore, Karr Productions. Karr Productions will host your private parties with quality Karaoke/DJ services. Check them out online at www.karrproductions.com.
Spot Off Main; 20 103rd Ave. NE, Bellevue, WA 98004 (425) 646-6434 www.thespotoffmain.com.
