Dueling pianos, jazz nights, beer and wine clubs, and ethnic selections comprise a few of the changes students will see at Broad Street Downtown Market and Tavern since spring.
“Our theme is that we always have something happening,” Broad Street Director of Marketing Maree Socha said.
Its new Downtown Underground — a bar, lounge, and dance club space — is the place in which Broad Street hopes many of these things will happen.
“We were told by many that there’s no place or venue like a nightclub that people can go to with friends and have fun,” Co-owner Mick Ritter said.
More than 200 people attended its grand opening Saturday, Aug. 23, to show their enthusiasm for the changes to the Tavern, Market, and basement extension, the Downtown Underground.
“The day was all that we wanted to accomplish,” Ritter said of the grand opening. “The atmosphere felt like a wedding, because everyone was happy, smiling, and dancing.”
The Underground is open Wednesday through Sunday and will feature karaoke Wednesdays, bar trivia Thursdays, live entertainment from bands within a 100-mile radius of Hillsdale, and looks to host comedy club and jazz nights.
With the Underground’s bar extension, Broad Street now offers beer and wine royalty programs, where members pay $50 for a one-year membership that includes a hand-thrown goblet from local pottery shop Toasted Mud and $1 off every drink with it. For those who want a customized mug, they can take it across the street to Toasted Mud to paint themselves.
In addition to the Underground, which features a stage for live entertainment, 24 beer taps, flat-screen TVs, a pool table, darts, and table shuffle-board, visitors noticed changes upstairs, too.
The Market “is like taking an adventure through foreign countries,” Socha said.
She compared the Market’s offerings to what shoppers would find at an urban grocery store like Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods. In addition to selling locally-grown speciality items, the Market now features food sections organized by countries like Italy, Spain, and America.
In an effort to boost afternoon business, Socha said the Tavern will begin offering 15-minute lunches in the next couple weeks.
“We want people to get in and out quickly but know they’ll still get the same high quality service and atmosphere,” she said.
Although the Underground has only been open a few weeks, Ritter is already looking forward to Broad Street’s next project.
“I used to say this [Downtown Underground] was the final phase, but now I just say it’s ‘the next phase,’” Ritter said.
In the next few months, Ritter hopes to begin work on an outdoor deck space that will stay open year-round using fire pits.
With all of its renovations, Broad Street hopes to provide a location for all people in Hillsdale to convene and enjoy good company.
“We want to be that place where people come to celebrate,” Socha said.
