Moscow Underground is the latest incarnation of what was probably best known as Vartan’s Jazz Club, downstairs at 1800 Glenarm St. After turns as the Russian Palace and Romanov Russian Restaurant, Moscow Underground just opened last weekend to a quiet crowd.

GM and part owner Coleman Burk, along with co-owners Alex and Larisa Deya, want to create a Russian-themed lounge and dance club. Coleman told me today that metro Denver has over 50,000 Russian-speaking inhabitants (check out Denverka.com for more on that) and of course, he expects to “get a lot of Borises coming in.”

The buzz on the opening weekend – if you can call a few quiet comments a buzz – is that the place has a hotel-bar vibe, with older gents parked at the bar and young waitresses in short black skirts about the hottest thing going inside. But last weekend was intended as a soft opening; the official grand opening party is coming up on November 19.