Night Owl, a cocktail bar, dance club and the most recent business to open in the Metro Building at 17 Maple Avenue, is having its grand opening this weekend on Saturday, Oct. 5.
Matt Pedersen, Night Owl’s owner, said that he has been bartending on Caroline Street for the past 18 years. At the time he was making the tabletops for Hilary Morrison, the owner of the previous business in the building, Sinclair’s, when the thought to make Night Owl became a serious consideration.
“She was thinking about a change for this place and I had some ideas that I had been shooting around for a while, and it was just the right opportunity for me,” he said.
In the past, 17 Maple received its nickname, the Metro Building, from a successful and long running club that existed at the location for over two decades, the Metro.
The original Metro had a dance club in the downstairs area for disco and such, a jazz club upstairs and the bar in front. The Metro closed in 2002, leading to the property having two concurrent businesses running, Luna Lounge and Justin’s at the Metro.
In 2005, Mare Ristorante opened and lasted until 2009. Next, in 2010, 28 Tables opened along with the Metro nightclub, and lasted two years, until 2012, at which point Javier’s opened.
According to a newspaper article from the time, Javier’s last night of business was in 2014. However, the name was still listed at the Metro Building until 2017 or 2018, when Sinclair’s took over. Sinclair’s then led into the current Night Owl, with a Mexican-style restaurant leasing the upstairs area.
Looking back on the history of the building and the recent inability for businesses to stay for more than a few years, Pedersen said “I think it’s because they haven’t utilized this space properly. They didn’t break it up, they left it very wide open.”
He said that for the Night Owl, there were going to be several changes. First, the area was going to be more partitioned off, leading to smaller spaces.
“A smaller room looks busier, quicker,” he said. “And no one likes to drink at an empty bar.”
A bar needs alcohol though, and Night Owl advertises 83 different types or liquors and other drinks, along with 16 more complicated named drinks, some of which appear to be house creations, each with a short story for customers perusing the menu.
As an example, there are 15 types of whiskey, including a house bourbon, Crown Royal and Hakushu 12. The Green Tea drink uses a whiskey, green tea, lemon and peach as ingredients.
The story leading to Green Tea is called “Three Shots,” and also lists El Mexicano and Night Owl Shooter. The story talks about a robber from 100 years ago in Saratoga Springs being short three times and dying on Caroline Street, money still clutched in his hands.
Pedersen also said that he intends to have various bookcases with books from Lyrical Ballad, a company on Phila Street, for people to read, to keep with the higher end vibe and relaxed feeling he intends for the location.
Also adding to the atmosphere of the space, he said that along one of the walls he intended to install staggered bookcases with back lit stained glass between, and also two different speakeasy-style false doors disguised as more bookcases. One of the speakeasy doors will go to the backroom, while the other will go to a photo booth that will give both digital and physical copies of whatever photos people want to take.
Pedersen also said that there will also be weekly shows, although they were still pinning down whether the shows would be exclusively on Saturdays or both Fridays and Saturdays.
Some examples of shows he mentioned were sword swallowers, contortionists and small-scale acrobatics, where the acrobat maneuvers around a ring in mid- air suspended from the ceiling.
Pedersen ended by saying that for him, success at Night Owl would not be measured by monetary gains. Rather, he just wanted to see people enjoy what he had built.
For more information, visit www.saratoganightowl.com.
