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Paul Loukas, owner of eCitie Café and Bar at Tysons Corner, isn't letting the recession hold him back. Instead, with eCitie, he's created a successful nightclub that is bringing a New York-style sophistication to Northern Virginia.

Loukas began learning about the restaurant business from his father and uncle, who were both French chefs and taught him everything they knew. When he was 29, he added his own ingredient of business acumen and opened his first restaurant in Georgetown in 1969. As time passed, he gradually acquired more restaurants until he was running five at one time. He noticed the demographics of the clientele, and realized opportunity beckoned from the Virginia side of the Potomac River.

"I saw people in their 20s and 30s, and a lot of them were from Virginia," Loukas said. "We had a lot of regulars and, as they got older, I thought of starting a hybrid place and felt that the area near Tysons was ready for it."

Loukas said he solicited the help of Stephen Thomas, a former partner of his in Georgetown.

"I asked him mainly because he was always a great promoter. He always had his finger on the pulse of what was going on," Loukas said.

The 14,000-square-foot facility opened in 2000 in what had once been a recycling center. The first customers, Loukas recalled, were the techies.

"It is a very unique place. I had envisioned a New York-type of establishment with high ceilings, a very modern type of place," Loukas said.

The idea took, and eCitie began receiving awards the first year it opened. City Paper voted eCitie The Best Dance Club, while in 2001, The Washington Post Readers Poll named it the Best New Restaurant and The Wall Street Journal listed it among the Top 10 Restaurants on the Regional East Coast. In 2002, Washingtonian Magazine reported it was the place one would most likely meet a millionaire, and Washingtonian also said it got top honors in The Best Happy Hour category. Tech Way Magazine voted it The Best Networking Establishment.

Nine months ago, general manager Robert Dispenza rejoined the team. He had worked as a bartender when eCitie first opened, left the establishment and then returned when Loukas asked him to come back and "pump the place up."

Though the recession "hasn't been easy," eCitie is "bouncing back nicely," Dispenza said. "I think the fact that we are multi-faceted helps."

And eCitie does seem to have something for everyone: There is a restaurant with casual elegant dining; a sushi bar; a dance club; and facilities for private parties, Dispenza said, and this diversified appeal brings in crowds in the 27-plus age range. On Tuesday, Friday and Saturday nights, there are between 400 and 500 people in attendance, and happy hour is also heavy, Dispenza added.

"Back in the day, there were lines out the door -- 400 people during happy hour and 400 people coming in during the late-night shift. Then, when [the] dot.com [bubble] crashed, we altered things a little bit," Dispenza said. "The key factor is the dance club; there is no other dance club for eight or nine miles around us."

Dispenza said eCitie is also preparing for Virginia's Dec. 1 crackdown on smoking.

"We are in the process of designing the club to try and make a non-smoking room and a smoking room," Dispenza said. "We have a large, large group of people that smoke cigars and drink scotch."

Dispenza also said there are a lot of people willing to drive the 45 minutes to eCitie from the already non-smoking jurisdictions of Washington, D.C., and Maryland.

"We've even had offers from customers willing to invest to help build [a smoking room]. In the short term, it hurts us in this kind of economy," Dispenza said.

Amanda Chapman came to work as a bartender at eCitie last August. Chapman described the clientele as mostly business people from all over the world.

"Last week I talked to a guy from Dubai; there are some others from Poland," she said. "There are so many people from different places. ... Recently, we've seen a lot of new faces and a whole new crowd."

Regulars include Raphel Delgado, 28, and Sabrina Patel, 23, who live in Fairfax City. Delgado is a business consultant for Merrill Corp. and Patel is a consultant with Booz Allen Hamilton.

"It was one of the few places you could still smoke cigars," Delgado said. "It's convenient to get to. It has great food and a great atmosphere. [Dispenza] sells cigars at the bar, and that's one of the biggest draws for us. [He] has changed [eCitie] to be more of a hip place for young people."

Patel said the couple has been coming to eCitie two to three times a week for three years.

"I love that from the first time we came in by ourselves, for the cigar dinner, we were treated like family, and it's hard to find places like that," Patel said. "That first time was, hands down, one of the best experiences we've ever had."

eCitie Café and Bar

1524 L-M Spring Hill Road

McLean, VA 22102

Entrance faces Tyco Road

703-760-9000

www.eciticafe.com

Hours: Tuesday-Friday, 5 p.m.-2 a.m.; Saturday, 6 p.m.-2 a.m.