The Country Club to replace Pierce Street Annex

A touch of turn-of-the-century Americana is coming to Costa Mesa’s Eastside.

Think hints of Roaring Twenties excess couched in homey comforts — plush leather seats, built-in bookcases and vintage décor plucked from antique stores and flea markets.

Those are the plans for The Country Club, a new restaurant and bar that will replace the long-running Pierce Street Annex at 330 E. 17th St.

As its name suggests, the concept is to create a venue reminiscent of an early 1900s country club, with a look and feel that wouldn’t be out of place in “The Great Gatsby,” according to owner Mario Marovic.

“As an operator, when you open up a new venue, it has to feel warm and inviting,” Marovic said Wednesday. “You don’t want it to feel like a cookie-cutter establishment.”

Marovic’s owned Pierce Street Annex for almost three years with his business partner, Andrew Gabriel.

The goal, Marovic said, was always to renovate the venue.

“It’s our business model to always strive to make things better,” he said.

The two Newport Beach residents also own the Wild Goose Tavern, which is less than a half-mile down 17th.

On Monday, the Planning Commission unanimously signed off on Marovic’s proposal to extensively renovate exterior and interior and rename the tavern The Country Club.

The property has been home to a nightclub and bar for almost 60 years. It’s been called the Pierce Street Annex since the 1970s, according to Marovic.

The bar’s current look is eclectic. Red ceiling lights bathe a dance floor and the bar area. Nearby, there’s a handful of pool tables.

Next to the bar, a photo booth shares a wall with a robotic fortune teller and a cigarette machine.

With such a long history, Marovic said there are loyal patrons with fond memories. Former NBA star Dennis Rodman, who used to live in West Newport, has even been known to drop by, a bartender said this week.

Though nostalgic for some, the venue has attracted its share of criticism over the years. Neighbors have in the past complained of patrons parking or littering in their neighborhoods and generally being disruptive.

Planning Commission Chairman Robert Dickson said the annex was “one of the banes of [his] existence” when he used to live off 17th.

“A rowdy, sort of rambunctious, crowd would spill out into the neighborhood and create all kinds of problems,” he recalled during Monday’s commission meeting.

The remodel, he said, is “an opportunity to really convert this historical establishment in Costa Mesa that, as a couple of people have said, has a bit of a reputation, into another one of these dynamic, innovative, really great places to go on 17th Street.”

The biggest change on tap is converting the establishment into a full-menu restaurant. While The Country Club will still offer music and dancing, Marovic said those will be secondary to food and drinks.

Cooking doesn’t currently take place in a kitchen but on a patio grill, where customers self-sear their own meals.

“We actually sell you the burger or the sausage and have the condiments, the fixings available,” Marovic said.

Some people, he added, “like to go big and have a filet mignon or something like that.”

Instead of going big, would-be grillers will have to go home once The Country Club opens. Marovic is scrapping the self-grilling concept.

“There’s a small portion of people who like the idea of grilling their own burgers, but the fact of the matter is there are more people who don’t like it,” he said.

The existing venue operates from noon to 2a.m. daily, but The Country Club will be able to operate from 6a.m. to 2a.m., also daily.

Marovic said demand will dictate the exact hours.

Though much of the building will be demolished and rebuilt as part of the renovation and rebranding, Marovic said the goal is to maintain its character — notably the A-frame structure.

“We’re keeping the identity of that iconic building on 17th Street but, at the same time, we’re bringing it into the 21st century,” he said.

The hope is to finish the remodeling job by October 2017.

Marovic said the cost of the improvements will be “seven figures.”

“We live locally, we work locally,” Marovic said. “We’re invested in the community, which is why it’s important to us to build a nice facility we can be proud of.”

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Luke Money, [email protected]

Twitter: @LukeMMoney