Seattle Area Strip Club Overview
Mistoff
Washington
Years ago Seattle had a scene more exciting than Portlands. That was Frank Colacurcio Sr.'s doing. Frank was Seattle organized crime. Got convicted in 1943 when he was 36 for having sex with a minor, did time in Monroe about 20 miles northwest of Seattle. Then controlled cigarettes, was regularly investigated for raqueteering, and ran a chain of very liberal clubs - Ricks, Honeys, Sugars. These made COI look tame.
He was brung low on FBI-investigated bribery charges, which escalated into everything else. The clubs and Talents West were raided in 2008.
That was five years ago. Sugars and Honeys are no more. Ricks has been reopened as "Ricks at Deja Vu". In Seattle now, Deja Vu is the big name. More than half the clubs are Deja Vu. Deja Vu is often a franchise that started in porn but went upscale. It shows in the clubs. But Deja Vu went all-in in Seattle, with corporate (Lansing, MI - Mahoney) even buying The Showbox, a large venue near Pike Place in 1997. (That's the heart of the fish-flinging downtown part of Seattle.)
So there are no clean hands in Seattle.
But there are clean clubs.
Seattle has basically three classes of clubs:
1. Anything Goes
2. Classy
3. Dive
The Anything Goes class is reminiscent of Frank. It's a short list. Pandora, Sands and Centerfolds. And it depends on the time of day. The more liberal policies are before 5pm on weekdays.
But your dancer may not be an 8. If you don't like tattoos and piercings, not even a 4. Seattle is an alternative town and these gals are skank.
The Classy clubs are most of the Deja Vu ones. Yes, the perpetrator of porn, Harry Mahoney, made good. That includes the Deja Vu in Lake Forest Park (Bothell or Kenmore, the nicest one, that's on the 522), Dreamgirls at Ricks in Kenmore, Little Darlings in Seattle near the stadiums, and the Deja Vu in Seattle. All are Deja Vus, and all have, well, certain restrictions.
The two clubs on 522 (Kenmore) have great looking gals. The others, except Tukwila (near the airport), are nice. Tukwila is worth skipping.
The Dives are the rest. Notably Club Sin Rock in Renton, about 5 miles from Tukwila (SeaTac airport), and the other two Deja Vu clubs, Tukwila and Tacoma. Sin Rock has uptight unpleasant and not particularly attractive dancers toeing very restrictive rules. TUSCL calls the Tacoma Deja Vu "Parkland". It's Tacoma. The Tukwila Deja Vu is in a poor and ethnically disadvantaged area, and the staff reflects this. Tacoma is in... Tacoma. The Deja Vu Tacoma (Parkland) survives on desperate military leaves, with okay lookers but no service or ambience.
So there you have it. If you want a certain amount of interaction, hit Pandora, Sands or Centerfolds during a weekday. If you want great looking dancers just out of reach, hit the Deja Vu clubs including their Dream Girls and Little Darlings names, but not south of Seattle.
And if you want frustration, go south of Seattle.
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20 comments
CP
Generally a good overview, but I will disagree with you on one point and offer some corrections to your material.
1. DIVES
I would say that Dancing Bare, is definitely a dive. I've clubbed all through Southern California, the Puget Sound Region, Las Vegas, and a smattering of other U.S. cities. I've seen no lower a club than Seattle's Dancing Bare anywhere else. However, I would also include Centerfolds as a dive. Just read it's reviews. The club is managed and maintained very poorly. Conversely, I would not consider Club Sin Rock a dive. It's well-appointed and maintained. It's weakness is that its rules are so strict. I won't go there as a result, unless I have some specific recommendations. Perhaps it's a dive in that sense.
2. GEOGRAPHY
I would offer some corrections to your geographical references:
a.) The Deja Vu, Lake Forest Park is in the city of Lake Forest Park. You mentioned Bothell and Kenmore which are the next two incorporated cities east of Lake Forest Park. (Some confusion can exist with that club, because although within the city limits of the city of Lake Forest Park, it advertises itself as its "Lake City" location, which is the name of the neighborhood in the adjoining city of Seattle, just one block south.)
b.) Dreamgirls (at Sodo-Seattle for "south of downtown") is one block south of the stadiums. Neither Deja Vu, Seattle (across from Pike Place Market as you alluded to), nor Little Darlings are near the stadium district.
c.) State Route 522 has three strip clubs, not just two: From north to south - Deja Vu, Lake Forest Park, Dreamgirls at Ricks, and Pandora's. The latter two are within the city limits of the city of Seattle. Further confusing the matter could be that State Route 522 changes street names at NW 145th St. It is Bothell Way, north of that point, and Lake City Way south of there. Bothell Way is the street address for Deja Vu, Lake Forest Park; the other two clubs have Lake City Way addresses. There are no clubs within the cities of Kenmore or Bothell. (See TUSCL's club directory.)
d.) The following statement of yours need correcting: "TUSCL calls the Tacoma Deja Vu "Parkland." (I think you simply confused the two south sound clubs. It's easy to do.) What is advertised as the Tacoma Vu is located outside of the city limits of Tacoma and within the incorporated city of Lakewood. That's why it's listed in TUSCL's directory with a Lakewood address. Like the Deja Vu, Lake Forest Park, the Deja Vu company has chose to advertise the Lakewood Vu as it's Tacoma location. Understandable. Dreamgirls at Fox's is correctly stated as located in the unincorporated Pierce County community of Parkland.
Sorry to nitpick your description of the locations. You may have created some confusion among readers attempting to locate these clubs. I spent 22 years working in the field of urban geography. I'm very conscious of municipal boundaries and exactly where incorporated cities and unincorporated county areas are located in areas I frequent.
I enjoyed your synopsis of the life and times of Frank Colucurcio! For just a little longer description, see his Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Colac… (or maybe you did already). If you're really interested, I recommend reading, "Seattle Vice--Strippers, Prostitution, Dirty Money, and Crooked Cops in the Emerald City" by Rick Anderson (2010). The name "Colacurcio" has more entries in the index than any other name or subject in the book. After the 2008 "big raid" on the Talents West clubs that you mentioned, and their subsequent 2010 closing, I became fascinated with the history of the Colacurcios. The book is quite enlightening!
Funny you mentioned Centerfolds on the anything goes list. There is a Centerfolds here in Houston which is anything goes. Wonder if owned by same guy.
He is right that there are 3 clubs on 522. I've reviewed all three. But I meant the sentence about Classy Clubs which Pandora misses. It's skank. Go a mile west to the skank. Its worth it. I didn't expect a proof reader or any attention really.
Other geography. Most of Seattle is pretty close together. Sodo is a 10 minute walk south from the stadium district. Another 10 minute walk to Pike where the Seattle Deja Vu is. It's worth missing.
And yes, Dancing Bare is a dive.
Player11, Houston is random. Would you compare PT or Dolls to Mirage? You mean like Frisco near Dallas? Or skanksville? Dancers set own prices but happiness maybe 40-50% of Texas cost. With a lot less face powder and more tats and nose rings. Everything is bigger in Texas. Including bolt-ons and price tags.
And full nudity- shit I knew I’d never make any money dancing here so I’m not even gonna try it. Dallas was great-$25 house fee, $30 license that never expired, topless only and full bars!!