Tips

I made a trip to Rick's on a Saturday after a night out with some friends. Within minutes of walking in, I was approached by a hot blonde dancer who struck up a conversation and tried to persuade me to take her upstairs to a private room. I had planned to hang out downstairs and have a few drinks before going to a private room, but I decided that she seemed fun, so I agreed. I've been to private rooms at Rick's many times before COVID and the experience was as expected except that it seemed like everyone was a bit over aggressive in terms of demanding tips etc. In particular, the hosts suggested that my generous tip was not enough and persuaded me to give them 20% ($140); then the waitress refused to take "no" for an answer with respect to ordering a bottle (even though I had ordered some shots and other drinks); then the dancer suggested that we do another hour with a friend of hers and they charged me double instead of a discounted rate; then we repeated the hosts/ waitress; and then the girls insisted that they should each get $1K tips (rather than the $500+ I had given them).

Ultimately, it was a bit unpleasant--particularly, the waitress who refused to leave until I ordered a bottle and gave her a large tip and then in the second hour insisted on staying to do shots with us (and ordering 1942 tequila for herself). I've had many good experiences at Rick's, so I will give it another try, but my first post-COVID trip was not great.