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Photos: New Dallas club Citizen serves late-night crowd and buckets of fried chicken

It's called The Drop: that moment at a nightclub when the volume goes from 10 to 11.

The chandeliers shoot smoke late at night.
The chandeliers shoot smoke late at night.(Allison Slomowitz / Special Contributor)

At new Uptown club Citizen, bartenders hop up on the table tops and and servers light sparklers. Then white CO2 smoke shoots from the chandeliers, bringing a chill to the room as the DJ cranks up the music and the lights come down. The Drop turns this Dallas bar into a Vegas nightclub.

Citizen's co-owners Imran Sheikh and Mark Hearl say the new club is a "bona fide cocktail lounge" that's more upscale than the existing ones in the neighborhood.

The club is located near "the golden mile of Uptown restaurants," Sheikh says. He's talking about "Nick & Sam's, Uchi, Ocean Prime, Capital Grille, Truluck's, Zaza." And that kind of clientele wants cocktails during happy hour, bottle service late at night, he says.

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Citizen isn't an upscale nightclub at all hours, it's worth noting. It hosts a $5-per-cocktail happy hour from 5 to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. It transforms into a full-on club -- ushered in by party trick The Drop -- late on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

The sexy space was designed by John Paul Valverde and Miguel Vicens of Coeval Studios. (That company has been involved in some big projects recently, such as Smoke in Plano, the Rustic in Uptown, ramen shop Tanoshii in Deep Ellum and new two-story bar Happiest Hour.)

Peek inside Citizen, no little black dress necessary:

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Citizen is located in an old house that used to be the office for an oil and gas firm. Beyond the tricked out chandeliers, the interior has exposed brick walls and purple suede couches.

"While it's true that this is a club, you should feel comfortable coming here by yourself or with a few people and not feel intimidated. The concept of it being an old house lends to a little bit of that feeling," Hearl says.

The club just debuted its food menu, created by the chef at next-door beer bar the Common Table.

Items include bacon-caramel popcorn, oysters and a Champagne bucket filled with fried chicken.

The designers went with "simple colors, nothing too poppy" so the furniture inside Citizen...
The designers went with "simple colors, nothing too poppy" so the furniture inside Citizen didn't take away from the party.(Allison Slomowitz / Special Contributor)