Businesses going underground in Lincoln

Through the glass doors is a windowless room in the basement on the corner of Eighth and P streets: the home of Crescent Moon Coffee.

During the day, customers come for coffee and quiet.

At night, the shop serves beer and cocktails alongside coffee, frequently with live music and poetry readings.

Crescent Moon Coffee is designed to appeal to a curious crowd that wants to get off the beaten path, owner Melinda Martinson said.

“It’s a destination,” she said. “You have to want to get away and go somewhere.”

Crescent Moon is just one of the businesses, many that pepper Eighth Street in the Haymarket, that have retreated from the surface. And the people who make these businesses run have found plenty of benefits from being part of Lincoln’s underground.

Underground locations rely on coziness and niche appeal.

Starlite Lounge, beneath its parent restaurant Buzzard Billy’s on Eighth Street between P and Q, uses retro décor and low-price, high-quality martinis to draw people, said General Manager Kim Ringo-Bright.

“There’s nothing else like it in town,” she said.

Starlite capitalizes on being a quiet place to have conversation, unlike noisy sports bars. Curiosity can be the biggest draw for the bar, but often it’s difficult to draw people down to the lounge, Ringo-Bright said.

Another location that uses its uniqueness as a draw is the Cellar, a wine bar and dining space below the Oven on the corner of Eighth and P.

The Cellar has about 6,000 bottles of wine on hand and features a menu with nearly 900 wines to choose from, said Manager Charlie Ludwig. The wine bar also features an automated system that allows people to sample from bottles of wine in small portions or buy full glasses.

The Cellar attracts a wide variety of people who all share a passion for wine, Ludwig said.

"We draw a complete mix of people from 21 to 70," he said.

The Cellar also offers seating for people interested in having a party with food from the Oven.

The space has been a part of the Oven since summer 2012. The goal was to give people a chance to sample the restaurant's wine list and have some food in a more intimate setting, said Oven owner Ngawang Rinchen.

He leased out the space and redecorated the area to provide a totally new feel, but one still reflective of the Haymarket with brick walls inside, Rinchen said.

The unique and relaxing atmosphere has paid off, said Ludwig.

"This is just a great place to come down and have a bottle of wine," he said.

Sometimes, people simply don't know about the businesses they might be walking above. In fact, the Haymarket’s basement businesses all reported they often hear comments from customers about not knowing how to find them.

The key is getting out the word, then having the quality of the place speak for itself.

Sacred Heart Tattoo takes advantage of word-of-mouth advertising. The sign for the shop, just down the hallway from Crescent Moon, is barely noticeable. Referrals account for almost all of Sacred Heart’s business, owner Matt Simmons said.

Simmons moved his business from an above-ground spot at 27th and South streets a little more than three years ago, making the move to get closer to University of Nebraska-Lincoln students and people downtown.

The new environment has paid off. Business has nearly doubled each year since moving underground, he said. And the rent was chopped in half.

The basement of the Apothecary building used to be storage space for the drug store above and holds several unique areas, including Martinson’s office inside the Crescent Moon. But the history of another business along Eighth Street takes the cake for underground businesses.

Pies & Pints, on Eighth Street between Q and R, used to serve as a bomb shelter for the Haymarket, said Manager Kelsey Graves.

“We were even thinking of changing the name to the bomb shelter,” she said.

Ultimately, ownership decided to keep the original name.

The steps down to Pies & Pints can seem a little intimidating to potential customers who might not know what the business is about. But, the advantage to being underground will often show itself in cost savings, Graves said.

“During the summertime the utility bills are so cheap. We hardly turn the A/C on.”

The reasons for conducting business downstairs vary, and it’s not without challenges. But ultimately, business owners and managers are happy with their decisions.

“I love it because people can just get away,” Martinson said. “And let’s face it, sometimes people just need to get away.”