In the Funk Zone

I visited Spearmint Rhino Santa Barbara on Tuesday evening Tuesday August 2, 2022 from about 9:30 to 11:15 pm. A lot of clubs are located in industrial areas but this was somewhat different. The area in Santa Barbara south of the US-101 freeway down to the beach and east of State Street was once mostly small industrial type buildings. In recent years many of these have been converted to restaurants, bars, breweries, wine tasting rooms, and purveyors or various artsy merchandise . This is officially called the “Funk Zone”. The club is at one edge of the zone, just south of the freeway on Montecito St. and a block east of State Street. The club has a dozen or so parking spots of its own and more are available in public lots and on the streets. Seems a safe area. The club is a standalone building that looks rather new. It may have been originally designed as a restaurant or something, it has windows on two walls, covered up inside to make a strip club environment. I was staying in a hotel just across the street and walked over.

The club doesn’t open until 8:30pm and stays open until 2 am Sunday thru Thursday and 4 am Friday and Saturday. Upon entering was asked to show ID but no security stuff. Door guy explained dance prices and number of dancers present. Cover was $25 which included one soft drink. They don’t really have a bar or a waitress, just several of the dancers asked if I wanted a drink. It’s a small space. The stage juts out from the left wall and has one rather short pole and a painting of a nude woman as a backdrop. The stage has a low tip rail and about a dozen chairs around it. A few tables and chairs back from the stage and some raised up a step alcoves with bench seats along the wall opposite the stage. Farther into the club to the right of the stage are more tables and chairs and in the far back is a more secluded area. There were the usual rotating lights and the music was loud but not unbearable.

When I went in there were 3 or so customers sitting in the back corner with dancers for a total of about 4 customers and 6 dancers. A dancer said it usually got busier after about 11 and this turned out to be the case, by the time I left about 10 customers and 15 dancers. Initially no one dancing on stage but after I sat and talked with a pair of dancers the DJ called one of them to the stage and dancing started. Dancers mostly quickly got nude. Often high energy, with dancers doing things like putting their legs over the shoulders of customers seated at the rail. Mostly 20’s in age I would guess, no really ugly or fat, a few with tats. Some names I remember beside the two I did laps with are Sativa, Savannah, Lux (a tall woman with a shaved head).