a reliable good time

Having been out of Houston for a few years, I was curious about the club scene when I got back in. Well, there have been a few changes. Trophy Club is closed, Gold Cup was torn down for the 290 expansion, Cubans have invaded Centerfolds, and Treasures is dead. Or dead-ish. I thought I would see if St. James was still about the same. For those who have not been, it's an upscale and rather large club with two VIP sections upstairs, non-VIP both upstairs and downstairs, and very good food. They used to offer complementary car washes, but it was lunchtime, I was hungry, and didn't stop to ask. I think that there didn't used to be a cover charge before 1 and I asked about that. I think I paid six dollars. Metal detector is the same.

One change is that the wait staff is much more attentive than they used to be. They line up by the door and show you to your seat. The food is still very good and came out quickly. Happily the dancer quality is still excellent, as well. There are lots of attentive dancers. I mentioned my Centerfolds experience to one of them (who is Mexican) and got quite an earful about the Cuban invasion. I hate to say that the dancers were English-speaking because people might see that as a white bread crowd, and it was a mix of everything, including some non-US people like the lady from Mexico I spoke with and got three initial dances from. But, well, yeah. With all of the Cuban dancers now I probably should point that out. Which seems weird, but there it is. Lots of ethnicities, including three Asian dancers that I noticed, but all can make conversation. The dancers are still very thin -- that was apparently the owner's thing, no fat chicks -- but there were a few busy ones, and generally not as many scary skinny dancers as in years past.

Dance cost is still $20 per dance, no three for $100 hustle, or at least not that I encountered. I got a few dances each from four dancers. All dancers basically asked me to not poke anything covered with fabric, and they would be fine. Dances are topless, on your lap, and otherwise unrestricted. I had a very nice time, in contrast to the odd experience at Centerfolds, and being basically ignored at Treasures. It was basically like it was ten years ago, which is nice. Songs were normal length, oddly some country. Two of the dancers were willing to go the extra mile, and the other two were polite about it. I left happy, relaxed, and upbeat. I with it weren't so far up there.