Club 77

Walking past 77 William Street in Darlinghurst early on a Sunday morning pre-lockout laws, you might have seen bleary-eyed punters stumbling into the daylight from an unmarked door next to a convenience store. There’s a good chance they’d been partying all night at Club 77, a basement nightclub known (and loved) for its high-octane rotation of top DJs and promoters.

All of that still applies. But these days, Club 77 attracts a broad church of punters, with a modern refurb inspired by the dive bars of New York City. Monday to Friday it’s open in time for after-work drinks, and caters to Sydneysiders’ love of good booze with a menu of natural wines, craft beers and bottled cocktails from Big Mood. Don’t drink? There are a slate of quality non-alcoholic options available.

Eating here in its dank heyday would have seemed folly. Now it’s a more attractive proposition – it’s enlisted Antoine Nebula from Surry Hills’s Suzie Q to create a single menu item: a hotdog (there’s a vegan version, too).

Despite the skin-contact vino and craft brews, Club 77 sticks to its dance-party roots with a stacked program of DJs from Australia and abroad. You might catch staples like House of Mince and Phil Smart, and newer promoters such as Tmrw Music, Undr Ctrl and Niche Productions. They play long – up to five hour – sets across three stages, a DJ booth and an impressive sound system by Translate Sound.

Happy Hour at Club 77 runs daily from 6pm–8pm, and again from 3am–4pm. Come for $5 house beers, wine, spirits, seltzers and hot dogs. Plus, $10 cocktails and Vodka Red Bulls.