The Place Starts Slowly

Visiting Ft. Lauderdale in mid-December, looking for a new experience and winding up with some spare time around 1:00 pm. The Gold Club was the option I chose given my location. Neither the club nor its signage is visible from Powerline Road, and is a bit “off the beaten path” tucked in amidst warehouses and light industrial/commercial buildings. The empty parking lot should have been a tipoff, but there seemed to be no harm in looking around inside.

Through the front door past an unstaffed reception area, and on into the club. Large stage dead ahead, a bar to the right with four stools occupied, and…no dancers. The bartender was friendly and efficient, and the booze was a relative bargain ($6 call whiskey). One of the men at the bar appeared to be a manager, and delivered lunch from the back to one of the (apparently regular) customer. Quiet banter with the bartender, classic rock on the sound system. My impression of the facility is that it was decently appointed, not as glamorous as Solid Gold or Cheetah, but not a dive like the Porthole. After 20 minutes or so, I decided to cut my losses and head down the road to Diamond Dolls. Unfortunately, I can’t rate the dancers, but the staff seems decent and trying hard. As I walked to my car, the kitchen staff was grilling chicken for the Happy Hour buffet on a gas grill.

Given how competitive the strip club business is in Pompano Beach, it’s hard to determine precisely what niche the Gold Club is intended to fill and on what basis they expect to succeed. I may try again a little later in the day on a future visit, assuming they are still in business.