Pink Pony Is Underrated

During my last visit to Tampa, The Pink Pony was not the first stop on my list. It was the third and final stop of the night. I visited two of the commercial, “you should go here if you've never been to” strip clubs, Scarlett's at Ybor Strip and 2001 Odyssey. If you haven't already read any reviews in the Tampa area, know that any club where women provide topless and nude dancers and lap dances cannot serve alcohol. That said, the clubs don't really start picking up until around midnight or so, give or take an hour or two. So, in Scarlett's defense, I'm going to say I was just too early, so I left. 2001, on the other hand, was a huge disappointment.

Although 2001 has a handful of young, beautiful women, the salesmanship is in full force: Every few minutes another dancer is running over to ask for a $25-30 dance on top of the $10 upcharge just to go to the (not so) private dance area or $200 starship (cameras) or $400 champagne room (no cameras). And the bartender makes the rounds, asking if you want to buy them overpriced drinks—namely, $8 Red Bulls. Thanks, but no thanks; I was out of there in under an hour. It's definitely the last time I'm going there.

Pink Pony saved my night. The cover charge was twenty dollars, which included the mandatory one drink minimum. One drink is included in that price, except for Red Bull, which is an additional two dollars with the entrance drink ticket. The club is relatively spacious. There's two dance floors, with the main stage housing two poles. Before committing to any of the VIP areas, I asked one of the managers for a tour of the different rooms. The $200 20-minute room is a couch covered by a curtain, and the $300 30-minute room is a very spacious room (about the same size as the bathroom) with a closed door. The dancers were attractive (sixes and sevens)—no supermodels at this establishment, but no orges, either—and a nice variety to boot: white, primarily, with a sprinkle of Cuban/Dominican/Other Latina (it is Florida, after all) and black. Although I didn't want to spend that much, I opted for the $300 room with the Selena Gomez-looking girl who spoke little to no English. Fortunately, her phone has a Spanish-English translator, and she was very willing to accommodate a guy for $10 per minute.