20 Aug 27th - Sept 2nd, 2026 phoenixnewtimes.com PHOENIX NEW TIMES | NEWS | FEATURE | FOOD & DRINK | ARTS & CULTURE | MUSIC | CONCERTS | CANNABIS | Downtown Debut Roosevelt is Phoenix’s newest, hottest nightspot. BY BENJAMIN LEATHERMAN D owntown Phoenix got its latest nightspot recently, and it’s a room built for sound. Roosevelt, a new “listening-focused” bar, club and restaurant, opened on Aug. 23 inside the former home of FilmBar, pairing high-fidelity sound with house music, vinyl nights, cocktails and food. And there’s a “dream team” of night- life behind the project. Roosevelt is the brainchild of Arizona electronic dance music promoter Thomas Turner of Relentless Beats, Phoenix nightlife veteran Steve Kushnir, Ocotillo owner and chef Walter Sterling and nightclub lighting designer Stephen Lieberman. Michael Hooker, a longtime Arizona house music DJ, is also involved. Over the past two years, they’ve trans- formed the 4,000-square-foot spot at 815 N. Second St. into a space designed with the listening experience in mind. Turner says Roosevelt was designed to deliver high-quality sound at any volume, but won’t go “full bore as a club” every night it’s open. Roosevelt’s calendar will feature a mix of events. House music nights with local and touring DJs will share the schedule with vinyl listening sessions and even movie screenings, tying into the proper- ty’s legacy as FilmBar. “So it’s really a restaurant, a bar with food and a fun place for the neighborhood,” Roosevelt, a new bar, restaurant and club located in downtown Phoenix, features dramatic lighting and a high-end sound system. (Benjamin Leatherman) Turner says. “And we’re going to let the neighborhood kind of decide what it is.” Turner says food and music will be Roosevelt’s foundation, but its program- ming will evolve as the owners figure out what works. “We’re starting the engines now,” Turner says. Why Roosevelt is built around sound Roosevelt boasts the only Funktion-One sound system inside an Arizona nightclub and what Turner describes as studio- quality acoustic treatments. Speakers are positioned throughout the room to deliver clear, high-fidelity sound without having to ratchet up the volume. “You don’t have to turn the system up really loud,” Turner says. “The system has great coverage and really high fidelity.” Hooker has another way of describing the setup. “It’s kind of overkill but in a really good way,” he says. And Roosevelt’s owners plan to put the sound system to work most nights. Weekends will feature club nights geared toward what Turner calls a “broad spec- trum of feel-good house music.” During the week, though, Roosevelt will dial things back. Local DJs will spin funk, soul, jazz and disco tunes or stage vinyl listening sessions for entire albums. “We can bring back the romance of listening to an album from start to finish,” Hooker says. Phoenix currently has only a handful of listening bars where the focus is on a curated musical experience. Hooker says Roosevelt will take a similar approach with its listening nights. He’s working with Konstadinos “DJ Cocoe” Tsimahidis, owner of Phoenix’s Grand Avenue Records, on these sessions. “It’s going to give people the opportu- nity to hear music they’ve never heard before in a room built around the music and sound,” Hooker says. >> p 22 ▼ Arts & Culture
