Top Five Strip Club Restaurants in the United States

by David Farley on

There once was a time–so I’m told–when the only feast at strip clubs was for the eyes. And when food eventually popped up it was in the form of a lunchtime buffet: the greasy fried things, limp hot dogs, and meatballs of questionable provenance sitting for hours in a hot dish left visitors with a flaccid appetite. But that’s changing, as strip club owners have realized that all that ogling can build up quite a hunger. And why deprive these “dance aficionados” a good meal.

As a result high-quality, titillating grub has emerged in various strip clubs around the country. Sure, some eaters might have a hard time taking any restaurant seriously when it’s served a few feet away from where women named “Roxy” and “Cherry” are gyrating against a chrome pole. But a few strip clubs have added some edibley enhanced menus that could rival restaurants where people (normally) keep their clothes on. So, here, without further ado, is the highly subjective list of the top five strip club restaurants in the United States.

Just to get you in the mood, click here for a striptease soundtrack for your reading enjoyment–if you’ve never seen someone remove their clothes to this song then you haven’t been, uh, eating at enough strip clubs yet.

[Flickr photo by PinkMoose]


•Robert’s Restaurant at Scores, New York City

“Where else can you have a hot topless woman literally feed you a great piece of steak?” said Scores manager Edward Norwick when he was explaining why having a great in-house restaurant is an excitable experience in more ways than one. Welcome to Scores, where topless women from three elevated pole-studded posts writhe and chef Will Savarese cooks up hearty man-food for the big-spending clientele at Robert’s Restaurant, located inside the club (with views of the rest of all the action). Savarese, who has manned the stove at acclaimed restaurants Le Cirque, Aureole, and Le Cote Basque, is masterful with brick-thick cuts of juicy steak as well as creamy truffle-oil risotto, miso-glazed Chilean bass, and tender Moroccan-spiced lamb chops.

•Alluvia at the Cheetah, Atlanta

Sure, some randy Atlantans are lured to this strip club for reasons other than eating (food), but get a whiff of chef Bill Toro’s dishes and another part of your body might soon be rumbling. Think pan-seared duck with caramelized garlic risotto, pastrami-crusted tuna and lobster dumplings doused in a Vietnamese pho broth, and, of course, what’s stripclub grub without a juicy 16-ounce filet mignon–all in a white-table-cloth atmosphere. Reserve the chef’s table for some special attention and eye-popping sightlines of the main stage.

•Delilah’s, Philadelphia

Skip the evening buffet of finger foods and go directly to the restaurant at this Philadelphia riverfront strip club, which takes itself seriously enough to lure the Zagat folks in for a rating (at least we assume they stopped by to dine). Dishes like lobster ravioli sprinkled with a Cognac-cream sauce, steamed little neck clams, and–fittingly enough–a melt-in the-mouth 12-ounce strip steak will dazzle even the most impotent taste buds. And if that doesn’t do it, the gooey, decadent warm lava chocolate cake is the happiest of endings.

•Casa Diablo, Portland OR.

It’s not as demonic as you might think at this Portland, OR club/restaurant where Girls Gone Wild and PETA have collided to make one of the coolest strip club dining experiences in the country. The club’s motto, “The meat’s on stage, not on the plate,” should be a clue as to what you’re getting into here. As the tattoo-clad ladies gyrate in their sexy pleather getups, guests munch on things like veggie burgers, “meatball” sandwiches, and tofu nachos. That’s right, no animals were harmed in the making of libido-laden experience. The fare here isn’t going to win any Michelin stars (and let’s face, it vegan cuisine never will), but Casa Diablo wins points for having the courage to eschew the meat = masculinity formula.

•Sam’s Hofbrau, Los Angeles, CA.

As with the case of Casa Diablo, not every restaurant–or, strip club restaurant, for this matter–needs to serve highly stylized, elevated cuisine to get the attention of flesh-loving foodies. Enter Sam’s Hofbrau. Located near downtown Los Angeles, Sam’s, as the name suggests, serves up a hearty bite of mitteleuropa to go along with the dancing Heidis. But it’s not all Teutonic all the time. After all, this is southern California, so guests can indulge in a carne asada burrito or variations on the theme of taco while ogling the dancers. Wash it all down with one (or two) of the 24 beers available, but leave your lederhosen at the door.

Local budget travel secrets

by Alex Robertson Textor on

Most countries and territories have their own local domestic budget secrets that don’t get a lot of press beyond their borders. To call these local travel habits secrets is to miss the point just slightly, as they’re actually widely appreciated and utilized, though by locals. In this sense, they’re the opposite of secrets, even as they remain more or less unknown to foreigners.

This post is designed to work as a companion piece to yesterday’s post, which detailed ten real budget travel tips for the keenly frugal.

1. Gîtes in France. Every region of France sees this inexpensive accommodation option in great numbers. Gîtes tend to be fully furnished apartments or houses, usually in rural locations. Owners live on site or nearby and charge typically very little for stays, which often have be made for a minimum of seven nights. Peruse the Gîtes de France web site and you’ll find many listings for incredibly low rates, like a week in the Ardèche for two for €75 ($98) found during research yesterday. Here’s some simple division: $98 per week for two equals $7 per person per day.

2. Ride share in Germany. Check out Mitfahrgelegenheit.de for ride share information. Many Germans get around the country via this inexpensive and convenient form of transportation, which sees riders connecting with drivers who have open seats that they want to fill. How inexpensive are ride shares? Next-day fares for rides between Leipzig and Berlin start at €5 ($6.50). See this great English-language description of the German ride share set-up. The German-language site is broken down into domestic, Europe-wide, and commuter ride share spheres. Tip: Use the UK drop down to get your information in English and then set your search to relevant locations.

3. Rural tourism in Slovenia. Slovenia’s tourist farms offer very cheap nightly accommodation. Often meals are included in the nightly rate. This official listing includes 260 tourist tourist farms across the diminutive Alpine country. Slovenia’s tourist farms can be compared to neighbor Italy’s better-known agriturismo network, though rates in Slovenia tend to be far lower. Much of Slovenia is mountainous and offers a much better value than comparable Alpine areas of Austria, Italy, and Switzerland. Kmetija Birsa, one of many tourist farms in Slovenia, offers accommodation starting at €25 ($33) per person per night.

4. Spas in South Korea. I defer to Christine Ka’aloa for her suggestion that visitors to South Korea take advantage of the local gender-segregated tradition of the jjimjilbang, or public bathhouse for a restful and budget-friendly night’s sleep. Most jjimjilbangs are open 24 hours a day, and have sleeping areas. According to Ka’aola, entrance fees start around 6000 won ($5).5. Bungalow parks in the Netherlands. Bungalow parks are typically set in rural areas. Some bungalow parks in the Netherlands are low-tech, consisting simply of a number of cottages, while others are over-the-top, with tons of facilities for children. Take a look at D-Reizen’s bungalow park section for a Dutch-language overview of bungalow park deals. One recent deal turned up during research: €92 ($121) for two people for four nights at a bungalow park in the Dutch province of Limburg. Here’s a tip for dealing with the language barrier: D-Reizen operates around 170 travel agencies throughout the Netherlands. Given the widespread English-language abilities of the Dutch, you can explore bungalow park options with a live salesperson at a travel agency.

6. Camping in the Caribbean. This generally expensive region boasts a surprisingly inexpensive (that is, often free) accommodation option: campgrounds. Puerto Rico leads the region with 17 camping sites. Some of Puerto Rico’s campsites are run by municipalities, while others are situated within territorial and national parks. The US Virgin Islands and British Virgin Islands are also great places to camp, with several sites per territory. In the French overseas territories of Guadeloupe and Martinique it is possible to camp at a number of campsites; always check with the local mayor’s office in these territories to obtain the proper permits. Trinidad and Tobago’s Department of Agriculture operates a number of campsites, and camping is allowed throughout Tobago.

7. Swedish ferries. Sweden’s big ferry companies regularly offer insanely cheap promotional fares for travel around the Baltic, typically to Åland, Helsinki, and Turku in Finland and to Tallinn (Estonia) and Riga (Latvia). These cruises include both same-day and overnight sailings, and are much loved by locals looking to enjoy a cheap getaway. Viking Line is currently listing “last-minute” fares from Stockholm to Åland from 19 kronor ($2.75), to Turku from 21 kronor ($3), and to Helsinki from 90 kronor ($13). Tallink-Silja is currently promoting a 100 kroner ($14) round-trip fare between Stockholm and Riga. If the prospect of trying to decipher Swedish-language websites has you flummoxed, fear not. English is widely spoken among Swedish travel industry workers, and you can stop by local ferry company offices to find out about last-minute deals.

How can you find great local deals on the ground? First of all, remain flexible and receptive to whatever is especially inexpensive at the local level. Scour local newspapers for mention of cheap travel opportunities. In Europe, package holidays and budget flights are both great examples of the sorts of deals, many seasonal, that usually will not be advertised internationally.

Got a local travel “secret” not mentioned here? Right on. Add it in the comments below.

[Image of a gîte in Guadeloupe: Flickr / Toprural]

North Korean theme parks: communism meets amusement park fun

by Joel Bullock on


I would imagine that there are few Gadling readers that have ever wanted to visit North Korea. The communist country that recently took hostile actions towards its neighbor isn’t on any top vacation lists that I know of. And, I would imagine even fewer would want to visit North Korea for its amusement parks. But, if you’re a huge theme park fan like the globe trotting Stefan Zwanger, then a trip to the strange, isolationist country is right down your alley.

Wearing his signature red hat adorned with a tangle of roller coaster track, Zwanger, also known as the Theme Park Guy, ventured into North Korea. He described his trip as a “time machine journey many decades back.” His trip report includes dozens of great images from Pyongyang’s three parks including an image of a roller coaster with the red star of the Communist Party on it. Zwanger also encountered a Zamperla flying roller coaster at the newest park, Kaeson. Kaeson has the distinction of staying lit at night when much of the rest of the country goes dark.

Asia has some excellent theme parks, but I was surprised to see that North Korea actually has three currently in operation. I guess even an oppressive government like North Korea’s must be open to amusements of some kind. The other two parks were Mangyongdae and Taesongsan. Most of the rides at these older parks look pretty neglected and the parks themselves look deserted, bleak, and devoid of a lot of color.

As I analyze the country’s theme parks I don’t mean to belittle or overlook the plight of its people. Theme parks are obviously way down on the list of quality of life improvements needed by the North Korean people. As a long-time theme park blogger, this is just what I do. I make observations about theme parks. See Zwanger’s North Korean theme park trip report.

[Photo credits: Flickr user giladr and Theme Park Guy]

Teen sailor Jessica Watson barred from race

by Kraig Becker on

Jessica Watson, the Australian teenager who made headlines earlier this year by becoming the youngest person to ever circumnavigate the globe, has been barred from sailing in an upcoming yacht race because she doesn’t meet the age requirements for the event.

Watson, who completed her round-the-world voyage back in May, had hoped to compete in the Sydney to Hobart sailing race that will get underway on December 26th, but her application was denied because she is just 17 years old. The organizers of the race require that all participants be at least 18 years of age.

The annual race, which is a popular event in Australia, begins in the Sydney Harbor, and plays out over the Tasman Sea and Storm Bay before coming to an end in the city of Hobart on the island of Tasmania. This will be the 66th running of the yacht race, which typically takes about three days to complete and crosses through 725 miles of treacherous waters. Just how treacherous? Back in 1998, a deadly accident occurred during the event which killed six sailors and prompted officials to institute the minimum age policy.

While Jessica has expressed disappointment in not being able to sail in the event, she says that it will give her more time to prepare for next year’s race. She had hoped to set out with a crew of young teenage sailors who could join her on her latest adventure on the high seas, but instead she’ll watch from the sideline as 99 other ships, some as long as 100 feet and sporting crews of more than a thousand, will race for the championship.

[Photo credit: Rolex Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race]

Zagat survey: five ways customers say they hate airlines … in their own words

by Tom Johansmeyer on

It’s almost sport for customers to describe how much they hate airlines. Sure, there are a few that do well from time to time, occasionally delivering high levels of service or eschewing ancillary fees. But, the overwhelming trend tends to be one of customer dissatisfaction.

Zagat, which is in the business of measuring and publishing value and taste, has taken a shot defining the highs and lows of the airline business, and the results aren’t all that positive. Well, let’s be frank: there’s nothing pleasant about flying.

The survey results aren’t all that shocking, and you can get them here from Zagat. What’s more fun is the stuff Zagat wouldn’t print … on the advice of its lawyers, the company announcement claims with an implied smirk.

How bad can it be? Let’s look at five insights from the Zagat airline survey … with customer claws bared in all their gory glory:1. Akin to an execution: Zagat’s surveyors seemed to spend a lot of time talking about death. One noted, “The only thing missing is a blindfold and a cigarette.” Another said, “At least they haven’t killed me yet.” Get the message? In case you don’t, one called air travel, “A violation of the Geneva Convention.”

2. Service with a scowl: again, it’s not much of a shock that customer service didn’t score all that high. One surveyor summed it up: “Unwelcome aboard!” But, if you think that’s the most creative, you’re out of your mind. I did enjoy the comment, “My bags get better service, but they pay extra.” Nothing, however, beats one disgruntled contributor who asked, “Who made them mad at their customers?”

3. Not even money can buy you happiness: do you think the rich have it better? Well, not in the skies they don’t! According to one Zagat surveyor, “The only difference between economy and business classes is a shrimp on your salad.”

4. Training is key: and this is what led one to muse, “Flight attendants seem to have trained with Frau Blucher.” Yes, but what instruction guide was used? That’s where another chimed in: “Staff must use Orwell’s 1984 as a training manual.” Ouch.

5. Get comfortable? Get real: the fact that passengers don’t get a lot of space didn’t escape notice. One surveyor says, “I don’t love getting up-close-and-personal with the head of the person in front of me.” Notes another, “Seats make an iron maiden seem comfortable.” It gets worse: “Like a cattle car, except the cows are mercifully slaughtered at trip’s end.”

[photo by joiseyshowaa via Flickr]