The new improved Strongbox is open and you can see it here: http://www.phillychitchat.com/2009/09/strongbox-back-and-better-than-ever.html
There’s a new kid in town, an upscale VIP site that speaks to a man’s inner soul and it’s name is Philadelphia Thrillist; Last week Philadelphia Thrillist did a great write up of the new super exclusive luxe lounge in town STRONGBOX, a new VIP Lounge catering to the upscale crowd of Philadelphia including a visit by Gerard Butler and friends on opening night (our venue will be hypersensitive when deciding who is good enough to pass through the door each night. ).
Here’s what Thrillist had to say:
Even in the direst times, there are certain things you can’t give up, like cable television, and visits to the dentist because of all the Swedish Fish consumed while watching cable television. If you stubbornly refuse to give up bottle service, hit up Strongbox.
With Strongbox, the Denim/Pearl guys have converted the former Monkey Bar into a plum-hued bottle-service lounge, luxing things up while maintaining the centuries-old space’s integrity: black leather banquettes, a granite-topped bar, and a back lit, metallic booze wall, paired off against refinished parquet floors (w/ antique heat registers) and high-gloss black paint to enhance the intricate ceiling designs and sharply contrast the cylindrical chandeliers.
While cocktails flow at the front bar, the joint’s centered around seven wood-based, steel-legged cubical tables with inset lighting glowing through plexiglass tops, where “personal attendants” provide ice/mixers/fresh fruit to complement top-shelf liquor and champagne (Perrier-Jouët, Moët White Star, Dom…) available by the 750ml, magnum, jeroboam, or Methuselah — who in Leviticus 3:12 credited his 969-year lifespan to six liters of bubbly daily.
A semi-private, chandeliered back room’s available for reservation, perched slightly above the rest of the lounge, with a window-sized gap in the front wall that perfectly frames a view of the spot’s clientele — just like TV, except there’s no Swedish Fish service.
(End of their article – Thanks www.Thrillist.com)
Interior designer of STRONGBOX Moore College of Art and design student Autumn Oser. I think she did an amazing job; those tables, her creation.
Not since the days of Prohibition has a $200 bottle of gin been such a hot property. Bottle service has become de rigeuer for Philly’s hot clubs, which charge triple-digit prices for a bottle of liquor with mixers. Of course, no one’s dropping that kind of bank for the booze. You’re not paying for the bottle, You’re paying for the location, the atmosphere and the company you keep. Bottle service gets you a guarantee in at the hottest clubs in Philly, gets you a table, a seat and a view of the action. 
In the past couple weeks I’ve stopped by the G Lounge where someone dropped $1000 to get a table next to Jamie Foxx (who last night I heard stopped by Denin w/sister, Charlie Mack & friends); a few weeks before that I was at Pearl where it cost $500 to sit in the high back banquette, but it’s worth it as the club was so pack from all the S&M non-bottle buyers you really need your own space, and now there’s the intimate (100 person capacity) Strongbox who’s bottle service begins at an economic $400 (now remember that $400 a table divided by 4 – 5 of your closest friends)
But there’s plenty of room to hang out at the bar too, let Mike or Stephanie get you a drink
Mike Bruner, Lysee Axelrod, Samantha Blackburn and Hal Greenblatt
Jamie Wolf, Chuck Peruto, Jr. Marissa Frommer, co-owner Brett Perloff and Alise Kuhl
Audrey Lehr, Samantha Rash, Erica Capten and Chelsea Moshey
The Main Room features a spacious communal area, a thunderous sound system, and plasma video on the wall that lights up the room with awe-inspiring visuals. With nearly 30 foot long bar, you will rarely have to wait long for a drinks.
Danielle Poe, Erin Elmore and Tal Jacobson get into the grove
Priscilla and Frank Bardanaro, sexy Sabrina Strickland and magic fingers Aly Green
Diony and Dana enjoy the night
Jared and Dara Lazaroff, Tal Jacobsen, Jill Braunstein and Sabrina Strickland. 
Marni Synder, Sharief, Leigh Anne Burke and Alison Otterbein
Man about town (NYC & PHILLY) ArthurKade spent the night fending off the women who either wanted to congratulate him, be mentioned on the Arthur Kade blog or help end his drought. This girl wanted a photograph of herself on his blog, but I guess she will have to settle for mine at the moment. Arthur had to dash off as he had an early call on the movie set of SALT, starring Angelina Jolie.
STRONGBOX Message: The single most important factor is, without a doubt……….the people. With that in mind, our venue will be hypersensitive when deciding who will pass through the door each night. While the standards may be higher on a Saturday than a Wednesday, know this: There will always be standards. We understand and champion the notion that our product is very much about who you are standing next to and who you can see from across the room.
Lauren A. Beloff with the best seat in the house
Oops!…I did it again
I played with your heart, got lost in the game
Oh baby, baby
Oops!…You think I’m in love
That I’m sent from above
I’m not that innocent
Erin snuck away to call her VIP man away on business, Dr. Shareef Jandali
Jared Poe met his VIP for the night Samantha Rizzo. I caught them as they were trying to sneak out the door and continue the party elsewhere. 
I peered out the window just in time to see the next VIP’s arrive. With them came a few of the actors and crew from Air Bender. I guess they didn’t all fly to Iceland.
Aly Green greets her new friend Tim Connolly, stunt double for Gerard Butler. Tim tells me that neither Gerry nor he has had a famous Philly’s Cheese steak as they are on a strict diet, one for the nude scene that Gerry had just filmed that evening in New Hope, 2) for an upcoming movie where he needs to be buff. If you’ve seen Gerry lately, I have a feeling that Tim will be standing in for him for a lot more scene’s as Tim is BUFF, in fact the body you see in Daredevil is not Ben Affleck but Tim. Tim also played Gerry’s dad in 300. Overheard that night was a few girls telling Tim that he was better looking than Gerry, at which point Tim said I don’t want to hear any of that. He knows where his bread is buttered.
Gerard Butler in the VIP Room
STRONGBOX – Reservations STRONGLY recommended. For priority consideration, email Info@StrongboxLounge.com (click on this to see the larger version)
(I will be putting larger photos on FB in the coming days for your use)
236 replies on “PHILADELPHIA’S STRONGBOX IS NOW OPEN DAILY AT 10PM & A Gerard Butler Update”
Great Photos HughE! Thanks very much. It was great to have you at the opening. Hope you had fun.
– Strongbox Management
I hope those two girls who settled on gerry get tested for every std!! He\’s a slut/sex addict. Be careful fangirls.
well Hugh you know what your imagination and surmising does – he\’s a big boy and can do whatever he likes. Was there really any need to report it like that – annoyed he would\’t take a pic so you thought you\’d trash him a bit?
thats a cheap shot..especially given the fact that you dont know him..how do i know? you ask?
because anyone who knows him…knows hes a big flirt, but not some tawdry star.
geesh.
Thanks for the info. HughE. Strongbox looks like a fun place.
Will the rest of you people relax? Hugh reported what he saw. He didn\’t make any assumptions of what went on after nor did he cast any aspersions on Mr. Butler\’s character.
That\’s the first time you\’ve seen him hughe, he\’s sleep his way through town. When he leaves you\’ll get the story. a A lot of the girls think they\’re going to get a second run so they are tite lipped.
Thanks for respecting Gerry\’s request, HughE.
I went to Strongbox Saturday night, I loved the chains on the wall and how the DJ booth hangs in the air. No Gerry sighting though, plus it sucked to wait in line.
I find it ironic that everyone was gushing on Hugh when he was sharing pictures and stories, yet now he\’s being bashed because he happened to share an opinion contrary to the \”St. Gerard\” theory which, by the way, is not based on fact but the imaginations of some of Gerry\’s fans that think the real Gerard Butler is a tortured, lonely soul who goes home alone every night to flagellate himself.
News flash: the real Gerard Butler is NOT the Phantom. He\’s an actor, and he\’s a guy who loves women. I seriously doubt he\’s going to be sprouting angels wings any time soon.
I am really torn about my opinion of Gerry.I\’m sure part of what makes him so charming is making women feel like they have his interest/attention, however . . . So is he a charming flirt or male slut?? I can\’t decide.
Let\’s say Gerry does have a different woman in his bed every night. Do these women think that having a one night stand with someone handsome and famous makes them any different than any other tramp?? Let\’s not rip on Gerry alone, regardless of his character. These women are more that willing participants in \”whatever\”, so some of the name calling can be directed to them!!
The girls who leave with him for a one night stand cannot possibly be serious contenders. I adore this man but could never spend a night with him and another woman. I\’d rather have dinner with him and talk. After all this whoring, I\’m looking forward to seeing who he settles down with. LOL
Like he is the first good looking guy to have a one night stand, famous or not. Remember these women are also having a one night stand. Do they think he is taking them with him when he leaves. I guess that is the fantasy for them, hoping he will. Sorry girls. That\’s show biz. One night stands don\’t make very good relationships.Can\’t take home to mom.
Donna Kat – Hugh appeared different to the usual Pap and always seemed so respectful of Gerry. The normal antics of a single 39 year old obviously shocked Hugh but he had the option to respect peoples privacy or divulge info as he \”saw it\” and do what any normal Pap scuzz does and he allowed himself to become a Pap scuzz. These women who were allegedly lined up for Gerry were very much consenting adults and knew what they were getting into but still deserved their privacy respected. That\’s if anything did happen in the first place.
As for Crystal Ball\’s prediction Gerry has done pretty well so far with no tell all\’s so it goes to show even if he is a slut he must be a nice one, there has to come a time when some young lady wants her 15 mins of fame and it will be a shame if its a Philly girl that lets the side down as nobody likes a tell all.
Wasn\’t his mom in town recently?
On the contrary you all seem to like a tell all why would you day after day participate in Gerry fan clubsl, and message boards, Hughes blog, because you want to know it all.
What was that suppose to mean?
It was a public club. Also Gerry\’s mom was in town the previous week, I\’m sure she has a separate room. As for pap scum, really most of the photos on all your fan sites were taken by paps.
I was disappointed I didn\’t get a picture, but as I said before the photos are for you the fan, I can get his photo anytime, I know where he is staying, I know he goes to Rouge every Saturday for brunch at 3PM and sat night G Lounge, this past Saturday I was tipped off about 4xs that he was sitting in the window at Rouge, but after Friday night he lost a lot of shine as he had his people \”gather the pretty ones\” and fill the VIP room.
His photos do not sell, no one who\’s taken a photo of him has sold a photo the whole time he is here. Lot\’s of time I haven\’t gotten his photo and just reported what he was up to through friends, I saw it first hand, but I heard the stories, I didn\’t tell you as they weren\’t first hand.
They will be leaving town soon and taking all their money with them. All the restaurants and clubs will miss them. It has been good public relations for the city. Good for the economy. When the movie comes out we will all be happy to see the scenes of phila. Are they filming any more scenes in the city? I wouldn\’t mind having some photos of that. Anyone know?
There are tell alls and tell alls and I think you know Anon what kind of tell all we don\’t like. But hey it\’s not for us to worry about and I\’m sure as long as they are very complimentary I can\’t see it bothering Gerry too much either, in fact he\’ll only be put out if all he is remembered for is his short comings
I wonder what it will be like when Dev Patel comes in April, Leonardo DiCaprio comes in June and Kevin Spacey in August to make their movies? What are their fans like, and does huey even want to bother to cover them because one false statement and he\’s toast.
I don\’t think people know what pap scum really is. Does anyone go to New York? Has anyone ever been to L.A.? Does anyone watch TMZ? HughE doesn\’t do anything like that. People want to hear about celebrities, why do you think there are so many magazines. He has done a good job of keeping the privacy of these people. It\’s a big business. If celebrities don\’t want thier photo taken or be written about, they should be in a different business. Everyone deserves some privacy, but if you are in the public eye then you know what you are in for.
I hope his mom got to see the good things about Phila. The history and beauty of our region. I hope he took her to New Hope. I hope it wasn\’t just women throwing themselves at him. She does come from a beautiful country. I hope we showed her respect and some brotherly love.
Paparazzi SCUM!!! Shame on Hugh!
What\’s with this Anon person, who keeps talking about tell alls? You are really impressed with your self. Are you using your Phych.101 to write this? People like celebrities so the don\’t have to think about thier own boring lives, they escape in a magazine for twenty minutes. It\’s fantasy it\’s not that deep. Lighten up.
There\’s too many Anon\’s on this board LOL
People who fantizize about celebrities want to be anonymous lest their families locke them up for being looney.
I agree with the poster who made the comment \”can\’t take them home to Mom.\” Gerry is not unlike any other man in the sense that there are those women you entertain yourself and play with. They are not the contenders when it\’s time to get serious and take them home to Mom. Whether it\’s the local \”groupies\” or even the actresses and models he\’s been associated with – I don\’t think any of them have been \”Mom\” material thus far.
Who is that chick in the black dress? She needs to get a tan.
He had his people gather the pretty ones for him to choose from? Who does this guy think he is? I had never even heard of him until they started filming this movie in town. He is not even that hot and is kind of old to be clubbing like that.
So you are the person who didn\’t see the movie 300. That movie doesn\’t show his best acting, but it was a huge movie. It doesn\’t matter how old he is, he\’s single and hot. Do you think this practice started with him? There are groupies for every type. Rock stars have been doing it forever. There are celebrities out in clubs no matter what age. Do you think Jamie Foxx is 21?
This really has people fired up. We will miss you Gerry (Gerid) for all you Irish and Scottish people. He sure has people talking.
HughE, has anyone ever caused so much of a stir like Gerard Butler? Will you miss it?
The only reason butler causes a stir is because of the clash of the perception of him and the reality of him. There is the phantom-esque romantic version that the fans like to believe is true. Then there is the reality – a guy who has his people line up the pretty girls for him to pick a couple from for the night. Don\’t get me wrong, he is a nice guy, but on the dating front, he leaves a lot to be desired.
thanks for doing such a good job, hugh!! you\’ve kept us informed all along on the LAC shoot. i appreciate it!!
When I think Gerard Butler the Phantom never enters my mind. I think of raw magnitism. Rock n Rolla. That\’s what I want. Have fun while it lasts. Someday he will be tied down to the same person forever. Ugh.
I like Jamie Foxx, but he has been out in the clubs while he has been here. And he is older then Gerard Butler. He does pretty good with the ladies himself so don\’t think it\’s just Butler.
Stop bashing Hugh! He\’s not Pap Scuzz…He called it as he saw it..not because he couldn\’t get a pic of Gerry. The reality is, Gerry is a man whore, he likes women and likes to F–k them! I DO believe that his so called \”fans\” are bitter, perhaps because they haven\’t f–k Gerry or perhaps they know Gerry would never want to f–k them! They have this sweet image of Gerry in their mind. What I do know is that Gerry is hot and sexy and the women give it up. honestly, I would f–k him and treat HIM like the whore he is…and not regret it at all!!!
I\’d rather you punch me in the fucking mouth that to spend half a second in this bar.
christ.
To the person that talked about Gerry getting serious in his love life, would you say that about George Clooney? :p
Who cares about Gerard Butler and his stupid antics? He\’s a mediocre actor and will never be remembered (if anyone even remembers him in 5 years) as anything else. HughE doesn\’t trash anyone — he reports what he sees.
I was there. And the \’girls\’ he went off with weren\’t female. I saw them pissing while standing up at a urinal, earlier in the evening.
Wow! You really set of a chain reaction Hugh!! It\’s been an intresting read today!
does part of the $400 per bottle go to you to mention names and put photos in your blog? it sure should…these people are paying for people to pay attention to them…
I\’ve enjoyed a couple of his movies, but most of them aren\’t that good. This kind of behavior is downright nasty-not to mention disrespectful of women. I know it happens every day but I can\’t believe women allow themselves to be worse than prostitutes to these type of men. Disgusting on both sides.
Thanks for giving such an honest report, Hugh! Sounds like some of these ladies need a wake-up call about what this guy is really like.
Liked what the Anon said about getting tested! HA HA HA
Also liked what was said about him not being the Phantom. I think a lot of women are hoping for that.
He\’s 40, single and wealthy. What do you expect?
Who cares about George Clooney\’s love life(he\’s way to serious). Why does anyone care about Gerard Butler\’s love/sex life. He just happens to be in the public eye. As you can tell from all the posts today. What a busy day HughE. Who would have thought, all this because a club opened in Phila. He sure has done something right everybodly is talking about him. I have heard from people who have come in contact with him that he is very nice and gracious. This country is very uptight about sex still. If both parties are consenting, who are we to judge?
FYI…Gerry is 39, not 40! I\’m wondering if these anonymous commenters would be brave enough to publish their names? It\’s easy to hide behind anonymous.
Brave enough for what? Oh my god, you are hurt because someone said he was 40. Is he a personal friend of yours? If you knew everyone\’s names are you gooing to come and beat everyone up? He makes movies, he\’s good looking and has sex. He has a family, he shits everyday like the rest of us. He has fans, who seem to think they know him personally. Will life ever be the same when this movie production leaves town? What will be people do? Is there life after this?
I\’ve followed this all day and must admit it made what is usually a boring Monday at work pretty entertaining. However . . . no one has asked the question . . . does anyone know if he (Gerry) is any good in bed????