Ritz is decent on a Saturday night

I hadn’t been to the Ritz in 10 years or so. I had a weekend pass from family responsibilities and decided to check it out and see if a couple dancers I knew from other clubs might be there. One of the downsides of my weekend pass was that it came at a time when I’d been clubbing a lot, so I was working with a limited budget. I had enough cash in my pockets that if I found a gem, or one of the dancers I knew, I’d be fine, but I was planning to visit mostly in recon mode.

The Ritz is a converted row house on Broadway in Fells Point, and the place is deep and narrow. I paid a $15 cover at around 10p on a Saturday night about a few weeks back before Coronageddon. After paying at the window, I entered and there is a bar on the left, with a long stage on the right with 3 poles. The stage is open to the second story where there is additional seating. Just past the bar on the left are stairs to the second floor, and past the stairs are some tables, chairs and cushioned benches with a view of the stage. There is a walkway between the seating area and the stage, but the stage is raised a good 4’ off the floor so unless Tony Siragusa stands in front of you, your views from the tables are usually fine. There are also a good amount of stage side bar seats. I ordered a Corona (no irony) for ~$7 plus tips and took a seat along the benches with a small table.

The club was moderately full and I could always find a seat after wandering around. There were maybe 30-60 patrons at any given time, including a lot of couples and a lot of girls groups. I’m guessing it’s Fells Point bar overflow and not like this on a weeknight. People sitting at the rail are expected to tip, and tip they did. There was a lot of rain making, including from the second story and some of the girls were cleaning up their tips in buckets.