Need advice - How to navigate BYOB club

The usual ways BYOB clubs work is some want to sell you ice to put your beer in, which can be a required purchase (something like $6 per 6 or 12 pack), some clubs charge at the door per bottle of beer you bring in, and others hold your beer behind the bar and charge you for each one they give back to you.

The web site for that club says you can put your alcohol in a "pink" locker, which sounds like you may have to get them to serve it back to you (maybe for a fee / tip, which could explain the two drink minimum). I have never encountered one that allowed outside non-alcoholic drinks to be brought in.

From the reviews, it looks like that club sells unlimited mixer for a set price, which may or may not be a good deal, depending on how much you plan to drink and how much the mixer for an individual drink would cost. Probably the best idea would be to call and ask sometime during the day if you're worried about the exact details. Otherwise you could bring in a six pack on your first visit and see what happens, and ask how it works if you were to bring in a bottle of rum and wanted to drink pina coladas and rum & cokes.

Since the reviews say the liquor store near that club sells alcohol for high prices, visiting a store ahead of time would be a good plan.

In my experience - I've bought either a 6 pack or a case prior to going to a few BYOB clubs. One club would allow you to bring your own cooler. The other club would hold your beer behind the bar for you. I've never brought hard liquor to those clubs, as I only drink a few beers.

I'd prefer to bring a 6 pack, as you guys mention, but yet this specific club has a 2 drink minimum. Which is confusing to me since they are BYOB.

@TimJo, If you don't call them to find out for sure, you should bring an extra $10 to be prepared for the contingency of being forced to buy a couple of bottles of water. The reviews don't suggest anything as lame as that, so you'll probably get away with paying whatever fee is associated with bringing beer in. That will probably also be in the $6-10 range. If you end up going, the details of how it works at Pink Monkey would be a good thing to add to your review.

FWIW, I regularly go to a club that has a 2 drink minimum sign up at the door, but I have never experienced any enforcement. Likewise, some clubs have big no smoking signs, but have ashtrays on the table or give out little plastic water cups as ashtrays that might offer a bit more plausible deniability when the government asks then why there were 30 people smoking in the club ("OH! We just thought they all wanted some water! Those bastards!!").

On the other hand, I have been to a no alcohol club (not even BYOB) and they required paying for two drinks immediately upon entry, before sitting down. Also, one alcohol club wanted to charge something like $16 up front for all you can drink beer and wouldn't let me in when I refused, telling them that I only wanted a single beer.

@TimJo - I've been to BYOB clubs that have drink minimums - and I've purchased two sodas while I was there. At one club you would pick a can of soda out of a fridge when you walked in - lol.

I had a buddy who was a drunk - and he regarded lite beer to be a soft drink - so he tried to order coors lite from the waitress - and when she told him they don't sell alcohol - he attempted to order a bud lite...

Pink Monkey is a clip joint for tourists. I have never heard anything good about the place. Go to Club 390, Club O, or Polekatz.

I hear ya sinclair, but I'm staying in the Central Loop area downtown, and those options are like 30 minutes away. Crazy long taxi or Uber rides.

I've been to VIP and just want to try something new.

My BYOB experience is quite limited, and I don't drink liquor, so I either bring a big can of beer with me or order soft drinks ITC:

• XTC Cabaret in Austin: I buy a fo'ty (actually a 24-oz can of Mexican beer) at a convenience store on the way to the club and nurse it there for a couple of hours
• Fluffers in Sparland, IL: same concept
• Hot Bodies in Austin: I ask the waitress to bring me a soft drink from the fridge
• Palace in the Pines in Lowellville, OH: I get my own soft drink from the fridge :)

I don't know much about Palace in the Pines, and I live on the east side of Cleveland. Worth checking out if I ever have the excuse to get there?