If you build it, they will come. Right?

Well, not always. Take Spice — a new downtown Scottsdale bar that opened Dec. 15. On a recent Friday evening, there were only about 20 customers in the large club — surprising, considering Spice oozes class and hipness.

Red lights line the bar area and the steel staircase. There are two small dance floors, booths, glass tables and funky furniture in the restaurant and bar, which used to be Moloko. There's also a patio with heat lamps. It's clear that a lot of money went into creating this club's upscale New York look. So why the small crowd?

Customer Peter Richards has a theory.

“It's a destination bar,’’ the 24-year- old Paradise Valley man says of Spice, which is adjacent to Pattie's First Avenue Lounge. “In downtown (Scottsdale), people tend to stumble across new bars because there's so many of them around each other. You won't stumble across this one unless you're at Pattie's. It'll probably take some time before word spreads.’’

Chef and general manager Will Tews doesn't seem to be alarmed by the lack of business.

“I don't think it's going to be a problem to bring the nightlife business to south of Indian School (Road),’’ he says. “(The staff) has 60 years of bar experience combined. The chemistry is there. I think we could put the concept anywhere and it would be successful. But it's going to take time.’’

Tews says that he considers the last few weeks to be a “soft opening’’ for Spice. “We'll have our official grand opening on Feb. 24,’’ he says.

In addition to the lack of people, some customers are put off by Spice's drink prices. Bottled beer — the bar doesn't serve draft — is $4 to $5, while martinis, which range from the Spiced Apple to Banana Cream Pie to Toasted Almond, are $10.

“I think the drinks are overpriced,’’ says Meredith Porter, 27, of Scottsdale. “Even in Scottsdale, $10 for a martini is pushing it.’’
Richards says Spice still has time to prove itself.

“It really hasn't been open that long,’’ he says. “If it's this dead a month from now on a weekend night, it's going to be in trouble.’’