sinclair's Review
I went to the Novelty Lounge at 23:20 on a Friday night. I parked on Main Street right in front of the storefront. There was no cover charge. I have stayed in Oneonta several times prior, but I never went to the Novelty Lounge because the locals said it sucked. I was bored with time to kill, and the last review was over six years ago, so I decided to take one for the team. The entire time I was inside, there were never more than one or two other customers. This place was as dead as Dillinger on a Friday night, while other bars in town were popping.
The bar is on the right side of the room. Sincweisers were $5. In addition to bottled beer, there were three beers on tap. The stage was about ten by four feet and is located behind the bar. There is a six foot tall pole and a full mirror on the wall behind the stage. The back part of the room has a lone pool table and the washrooms. The dated interior probably has not changed much since the 1960's as the antique sign outside would indicate. Music is selected off of a tablet by the entertainers.
There was only one dancer working on Friday night. She was Caucasian with light brown hair and saggy, pierced B cups. She was covered in tattoos of horror movie characters like Michael Myers, Jason, Freddy Krueger, and Scream. The tattoos were fading, so I would guess she was in her early forties or late thirties if I am being half blind or generous. I think she might have been bipolar. She was complaining about the lack of customers and started acting erratic at times. She tried to verbally pick a fight with me; the bartender had to shout her down to just do her job.
There are no private dances or lap dances offered here. You can watch dancers stage dance and strip down to topless on the stage behind the bar. To tip the dancer, you have to crumple up dollar bills and throw them about five or six feet onto the stage. Occasionally the dancer would pull open her thong and tell the customers to try to throw the dollar bills into her bottoms like it was a basketball hoop. This place is essentially a go-go bar where entertainers can take off their tops. It got boring quickly.
Only snacks were offered for food despite the word “grill” being on the outside of the business. I think an older version of the lounge had a kitchen. Bags of potato chips were $0.75 and bags of nuts were $1.00. Novelty Lounge is a hard pass for me. I have no intention of ever returning to the Novelty Lounge. Oneonta has two colleges. Go to college bars like the Red Jug if you want to actually see attractive women.
