Electric Pickle
Bands' curiously stupid names often make perfect sense when you hear the backstory: Led Zeppelin came from The Who predicting they'd sink like a “lead zeppelin”, and Queen finally clicked when you were old enough to get it wasn't about constitutional monarchies. For a peculiarly named club that actually makes salty sense, hit Electric Pickle.
Filling the old Circa space, this heavily ballyhooed club's moniker holds layers of logical meanings: “pickled” is slang for gettin' housed, the owners are two electronic-spinning Miami DJs, and (no joke) run a gourmet pickle company together, all while worrying their grandmothers will get the vibrator joke. The venue's guts've been revamped into different sections: downstairs has a shadowy gentleman's-club vibe on one side (dark wood, black leather couches, deer antlers, the old stately bookcase from Circa), while the bar zone's gone retro-mod with copper orb chandeliers, an "overpowered" Dynacord sound system customized for the shape of the room, sound-cleansing curtains, and a custom DJ booth that looks like it should be piloted by Star Trek's Uhura in her Afro/go-go boot phase. The drink menu's nouveau-classic with options like a Pimm's Cup made more New World with muddled mint and ginger beer; the "Dirty Pickle" (a classic gin martini made dirty with Electric's own pickle juice and garnished in the manner you might imagine); and a porkilicious Old Fashioned w/ bacon-infused bourbon, and maple syrup, a gloriously buzz-worthy antidote to Aunt Jemima's strict matronly discipline.
Future plans include a Neighborhood Card (giving locals 20% off booze), free wi-fi, and serious live music upstairs, while tomorrow night's party includes DJs like Will Renuart and Captain Ridiculous, and bands like ArtOfficial and the Jesse Jackson Band, which sounds curiously stupid, until you find out it's actually the dude's name.
