Bellevue: Nightlife at last

A burly, goateed bouncer stands guard behind a velvet rope while a long line of 20-somethings waits to get inside the bar. Streams of moviegoers walk past, laughing and chatting about the films they just saw. Nearby, couples throw their hands up in exasperation because the restaurants are full — but they decide to wait two hours for a table anyway.

A scene from downtown Seattle? Nope. It's Bellevue.

The city known for staid subdivisions and empty sidewalks is finally gaining some spice, some late-night flavor. The opening of Lincoln Square in downtown Bellevue last fall was the tipping point, bringing in throngs of Eastside residents hungry for entertainment options in their backyard.

The new places — including The Parlor Billiards, McCormick & Schmick's, Lincoln Square Cinemas and Maggiano's — are attracting crowds every night while older stores and restaurants are reporting revenues up by double digits.

And it seems likely things will only get busier, with a dozen new high-rise, mixed-use projects under construction or in the pipeline.

To be fair, downtown Bellevue will probably never have the funky vibe of, say, Seattle's Capitol Hill or Fremont neighborhoods. Think more of a cleaner, less-seasoned Belltown, with much wider streets and longer city blocks.

But many Eastside residents say they aren't looking for a facsimile of Seattle. They just want a place to relax or let loose that doesn't require a long, congested trip across Lake Washington.

"It's like feeding a huge animal in a way," said Kemper Freeman, the owner of Bellevue Square and Lincoln Square. "There's a certain starvation for this stuff."

Hustle and bustle

The hustle and bustle are a far cry from the downtown Bellevue of old, with few restaurants and almost nowhere that stayed open after 10 p.m. The shiny high-rises might have hosted an active business district by day, but they shut down by dark.

"The whole city was desolate," said Steven Olson, 43, who bought a downtown condo two years ago and opened The Parlor pool hall in December. "There was no traffic, nowhere to eat."

Now the sidewalks are starting to fill, especially near the new stores and restaurants. For Freeman, whose father opened Bellevue Square in 1946, the new activity is particularly rewarding. The developer's long-term plan is to create an entertainment and shopping corridor modeled after the nation's best, such as Chicago's Magnificent Mile.

"What I'm excited about is we've created an active street scene, and it's actually made the traditional shopping center stronger than it's ever been," Freeman said.

The pent-up need for nighttime options is especially true for people in their 20s and 30s, many of whom want more than the limited restaurant scene that still permeates much of the Eastside.

At 9:30 p.m. on a recent Friday, John Kelly, 24, and Ruchelle Salcedo, 25, stood outside smoking on the skybridge connecting Bellevue Square and Lincoln Square.

They were taking a break from The Parlor, which has become the "go to" spot for 20- and 30-somethings on the Eastside. About 5,000 people come in each week for icy martinis and microbrews, or to play on one of the 43 pool tables, Olson said.

Until the glitzy pool hall opened, a few bars in downtown Kirkland comprised the only late-night scene for young Eastsiders, said Kelly, who is from Bothell. The Parlor "is fun but classy enough that the old crowd mixes with the young crowd," he said.

The cab ride from Seattle back to the Eastside is also long and expensive, said Salcedo, who lives in Redmond. Staying close to home is more affordable. "Crossing the bridge is so far when you're drinking," she said.

The pool hall and 16-screen movie theater in Lincoln Square attract a younger crowd, which also frequents the Bellevue Galleria down the block, knocking back pints at the Tap House Grill and Rock Bottom Brewery. Trader Vic's opened this month next to the new Westin Hotel and another bar and a nightclub will open downtown later this year.

Bellevue may not be funky, but its dress code is generally more upscale and buttoned-up than the casual chic of Seattle.

Joel Sellereit, 23, drove to The Parlor recently from Seattle's University District with a friend. He leaned against the railing outside the bar, dressed in sweatpants and a loose shirt, and watched the well-coiffed crowd emerge from the theater.

"It's a little nice for me," he said, smiling.

His friend, Andrew Barfoot, was also in unfamiliar territory — but liked what he saw. "I told my buddies we should go to Bellevue on a Friday or Saturday night, and they were a little surprised," Barfoot said. "I just wanted to try something new."

A "nifty" market

For all its energy, most of the nightlife in Bellevue is limited to roughly three blocks, covering Bellevue Square, Lincoln Square and the Galleria. A pedestrian walkway and the skybridge help connect the three developments.

Over the years, Bellevue Square became a giant mall surrounded by a parking complex. Freeman added "The Corner" stores fronting Bellevue Way six years ago and created the city's first taste of urban street-level shopping and restaurants. The Galleria opened in 1999, and a few blocks to the east, Meydenbauer Center has been hosting live performances since 1993.

But Lincoln Square enlivened everything. The $500 million development, which sat unfinished for several years because of the recession, has created "critical mass," Freeman said.

A drum show along Bellevue Way, called "Snowflake Lane," drew packs of shoppers outside every night from Thanksgiving through Christmas.

And while Freeman worried the new development would sap business from older stores, the opposite has been true. Thousands of people are discovering downtown, and older businesses are sharing in the boom.

"They've really created a nifty upscale little suburban market," said Steven Micheletti, president of Z-Tejas, whose Bellevue Square restaurant has seen record, double-digit gains since Lincoln Square opened. "There's just a pervasive sort of hum of activity."

And it's only the beginning. The 2,000-seat Performing Arts Center Eastside is expected to open near Bellevue Place in 2008, and high-rises with condos, offices and retail are popping up all over downtown.

The demand for housing is so strong that the developer of the new Washington Square condos decided to hold a lottery after 2,000 people showed up for previews last month. Hundreds of people have inquired about the Bellevue Towers, under construction on 106th Avenue Northeast, even though the developer hasn't even started marketing the project.

The potential residents apparently aren't too concerned about price. The 540 condos in the towers will sell from $400,000 to $6.5 million.

Live, work, play

Already, 4,500 people live in downtown Bellevue, and that will almost double to 8,800 by 2010 and hit 14,000 by 2020, according to city planners.

The people who have moved in so far are relatively wealthy, with a median household income of about $82,000, according to a recent survey by the Bellevue Downtown Association. About 70 percent have moved downtown in the past three years, and about a third work downtown, which jibes with the city's vision of a district where residents can live, work and play.

The new residents will fill the streets as they run errands, shop and go out for dinner, said Leslie Lloyd, president of the downtown association. And the area will continue to offer more choices as new projects are completed.

"It's probably going to look a lot more attractive and a lot more urban," Lloyd said.

For now, the crowds are growing.

Melissa Chelone, 21, commutes to Bellevue from her home in Everett. Until recently, "there wasn't any reason to come to Bellevue except for the job," she said.

But as she sipped a bright-green drink at The Parlor recently, surrounded by friends shooting pool and trading stories, she said she could see herself spending more time in the Eastside's biggest city.

"If there's places like this?" she said. "Definitely."

Ashley Bach: 206-464-2567 or abach@seattletimes.com