Mysterious “Serai Social Club” closes

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For the last year, I have walked by Serai Social Club (Cypress and West 1st) and wondered what exactly this “club” was all about. I actually work in the same building and never managed to figure this place out. After asking others what they knew about this place, running a Google search and, admittingly, peering through the window on many occasions, this place remains a mystery (at least to me).

Serai Social was said to be a members-only dating, social and business club. I don’t know what you had to do to become a member, except pay around $500 and be approved by someone.

It looks like Serai Social is going to remain a mystery because they have closed.  I am not sure when they shut down, as I have not been in the area lately, but the space is now for lease and the website is kaputt.

Got any inside info? We feel left out. Help us satiate our curiousity.

Serai Social Club, 1660 Cypress St., Seraisocial.com

Last modified: December 17, 2011

5 Responses to " Mysterious “Serai Social Club” closes "

  1. lara says:

    Ok, I want to know who would pay $500 to be part of a social club?! it probably closed because no one would pay that when you can just walk down to pub and be social for free (unless you drink, of course!!).

  2. Bill Barilko says:

    Yes whatever that place was it never worked-I was told by someone who went not to bother with it so I never did.

    One night some odd flaky characters decided to string up a rope/put their chairs in the street and thus block traffic.

    It got them some of the attention they craved but from the wrong people-after police visited they never tried that again.

  3. Janna says:

    I actually thought it was an escort place..lol

  4. Sibel Yazman says:

    Hi Janelle (writer of this blog), I will be happy to “satiate your curiosity” although I wish you had actually bothered to walk in to find out for yourself what Serai was about before you wrote a blog about it although it’s admirable on your part to admit that you “wondered what exactly this “club” was all about … even though you worked in the same building and never managed to figure this place out”. My name is Sibel Yazman and I was the owner. After having been a member of Campoverde for 3 years, when the opportunity came up in November of 2009, I took over the premises, and while maintaining everything I thought was wonderful about the concept of a social club, made quite a few alterations based on the economic climate and my own beliefs. (Serai was essentially a completely separate business from Campoverde, Bill Barilko) We dropped the membership fee dramatically ($2200 to $500, Lara – commenter, see one of the related articles right here at the bottom of this blog New & Improved Social Life from 3 years ago) and added oodles to the value of membership, such as 2 or 3 fun events a week (please see most of our events on Yelp: http://bit.ly/ApXf3y), the ability to use the venue without charge for personal and business functions, discounts at the club and at various partner businesses around town, to name a few.

    Hi there Janna, and no we definitely did NOT run an escort service… or a swinging club (we heard that one, too 🙂 We were simply a full bar/restaurant but above all, a members’ social club for singles and couples alike, a comfortable and safe hub for social and business networking, one that welcomed, in fact encouraged non-members, to walk in and check out the ambiance a few times before deciding whether or not $500 was a sum they wanted to invest in their social life.

    Lara, I believe membership to Serai was a far cry away from walking into a pub and I can honestly say our members feel quite sad at having lost their club where they have made true friends, the kind who takes you out when you get fired, carries you through a breakup, or who stays with you at the hospital overnight. If you have a pub that manages to hug you emotionally in that fashion and manages to foster those kinds of genuine relationships, you are very lucky and I would hang on to that establishment tight.

    As far as whether or not membership was worth the fee, the most honest and simplest thing for me to say is that “you had to be there” and experience the sense of friendship, love, warmth, fun, support we all provided for one another. Unfortunately it happened to be a business that couldn’t stay alive in the current economic climate because of the quality it was committed to provide.

    I’m deeply saddened by this blog article itself and the comments to it because the whole time we were in business, as opposed to jumping to erroneous conclusions, all it would have ever taken for anybody to be taken by the pure magic of inclusion, friendship and support would have been to bother to walk in and say hi to the owner, the bartender, the chef or one of the members and simply pose the question “what is this place about?”.

    I realize this has been a rather long-winded comment so I thank you very much if you are reading this last line.
    Thanks all, take care of yourselves.

  5. Ali Yazman says:

    Hi everyone,

    I have not been to the place myself. But since none of you souls have been there either – which did not hold you back from commenting freely – I feel that on that platform I have earned the right to put in my humble opinion, too.

    Obviously without ever having visited the place, I am not going to talk about the place itself but more so about the owner.

    Sibel was my wife for 27 years, and she does need my protection or support on this. The thing I want to highlight here is that in those 27 years, not once have I witnessed her doing anything short of class, quality, perfection, honesty and honor, and a superior level of intelligence.

    The business climate may have forced the place to close down, but take it from me…I am absolutely convinced that – without being there once – this is a loss both for the city and the community.

    People of her caliber don’t come along that frequently or grow on trees…and the community will eventually fall back to the mediocre quality they deserve.