The thrill isn't gone, but it was missing

When one thinks of Milwaukee, or southeastern Wisconsin, strip clubs, Silk is the first one that comes to mind. Folks with long memories and few actual club visits might say Heartbreakers because of the plane that used to circle County Stadium or Rickey's because of the newspaper ads. Some folks on the southeast side of town might say OTB. Some people who got drunk a few too many times on Water Street might say Art's. Truly experienced mongers might cite TNT or Hardware Store out in the sticks. But Silk has basically been "the one" for about 15 years now, especially given their protracted battle with the City of Milwaukee to try and add a downtown club to their mix. By now, just about every guy has probably been to at least one bachelor party at Silk at some point.

That said, Silk has become a fairly consistent product, so much so that, if it were an Old World Third street bar, they'd probably have looked to change the theme by now like everything from Have a Nice Day Cafe to Buckhead Saloon. The only alterations through the years have been the addition of a video screen behind the base of the 'V' on the V-shaped stage and a few different options for time in the VIP area.

With consistency comes some good and bad, however. For instance, it's fair to say Silk's talent roster, which I think has always been more consistent and better than OTB's, has had ups and downs through the years, with this probably being a down time. Silk has a number of dancers who have been on their nighttime roster for years: A thin brunette with a distinctive back tattoo, a blonde with some baby fat, one somewhat busty but otherwise nondescript asian, etc.