The Next Best Thing to Being There

Crocodile Dundee might mistake this place for a beach joint Down Under.

The bartender pours Shark Attacks in the Koala Bar upstairs, Crocodile Coolers below. The waitresses wear bikini tops. Surfers hit the waves on a big-screen TV. Tropical fish dart in their tank.

Welcome to the Australian Beach Club, mate.

Although miles from the beach, this casual club in downtown Burbank is bustling with beach types looking for fun after sunset.

The two-story entertainment parlor features dancing to alternative and Top 40 music almost nightly and a host of games that range from Ms. Pac Man to air hockey.

“This place is not fake or pretentious like a Hollywood club,” owner Dan Sherbondy says. “Here, you can be a real person.”

Sherbondy set out to create a laid-back club unlike those in Tinseltown, and believes he had the right idea. The average life of a Hollywood club is six months, he says, and the Australian Beach Club has been open nearly two years.

The club carries out the beach theme with its bright, sunny ambience. Hanging on the walls are neon-colored airbrush paintings of Australian fauna and a sign that reads, “Outback Airlines: We Don’t Crash Very Often.”

This club is quirky, but that’s part of its charm. Surfboards and fake stuffed sharks hang above the dance floor where a deejay shoots rolls of toilet paper over the crowd with a leaf blower. On a recent evening, club employees joined in for a fully costumed rendition of the Village People’s “YMCA.”

And there are a host of bizarre “outdoor” activities. About once a month the club offers a camel ride in the parking lot.

Starting Saturday, an elephant decorated with Christmas lights will be there to get customers in a festive mood.

Sherbondy provided Velcro wall jumping in the parking lot once, and says he wants to put a roller coaster out there sometime, though it’s probably too big.

The folks who come here treat this place like the beach, and dance to beach music such as “Summer Lovin’ ” from “Grease” and the recent hit “Macarena.”

When the right music is playing, the dancers break into a conga line and occasionally the limbo.

Melanie T. of Encino got up on a star-shaped platform above the dance floor on a recent Friday night and shimmied to Gloria Gainer’s “I Will Survive” as if it had been written for her. Melanie says she comes here to dance almost every weekend.

Don’t get dressed up for a night at this club. Shorts are in fashion and T-shirts are standard. There are, however, some who wear jeans or get a little dolled up. After all, the beach does get chilly at night.

Take jean-wearing regular Frank Valle of Burbank. Valle, 28, says he comes to the Australian Beach Club often because he knows he can kick back here.

“I come here because it’s clean-cut, and I know I’ll have a good time,” he says. “I always come back.”

What: The Australian Beach Club, 237 E. Olive Ave., Burbank; (818) 848-CLUB.

When: Tuesday-Saturday, 5 p.m. to 2 a.m.

Cost: $5 cover. Shark Attack (Malibu and Bacardi rums, grenadine, Blue Caracao and 7-Up), $4.75; Crocodile Cooler (vodka, Midori, Sweet & Sour mix and 7-Up), $4.75. Kangaroo chicken sandwich, $5.95; on the barbie-qued chicken, $7.95.