The renovation and new concept is a big miss

My first visit since pre-COVID, meaning also my first visit post-renovation of the Cheetah. And I did not like what I saw.

First, the basics: parking is only valet $10, but I used the ample street parking nearby. Street parking wasn't late enough to be free and I had to feed the meter (actually downloaded the stupid parking app) but it's a matter of principal. No hassles from the parking attendant when I walked in, they must be used to it. $10 cover at 7 pm on a Wed. night. There was a serious looking bouncer dude packing a sidearm but no ID check or pat down. I went into the main room sat at the bar and ordered a bottle of Stella for $6 or $7 I believe. Service was quick, but then there were only a couple of people at the bar (and only a few occupied tables on the floor).

The main room is large and basically rectangular, with a bar along each of the two long walls. There are large TVs on the wall, though annoyingly none are directly behind the bar so if you want to watch a game or something you are craning your neck looking to the side. This is just one of the poorly thought out designs of the renovation. There are one or two main stages (I forget), basically islands in the center of the room that can hold 4-5 girls each. There are a few stages to the side, each for one girl. As far as I remember, there is no seating directly at the stages--the closest you can get are the tablecloth-covered dining tables in the middle of the floor. Worst of all, gone are the long stages that ran down the length of each of the bars. In my opinion, taking these away was a serious mistake--those stages enabled patrons who were sitting at the bar to get a good view of the dancing girls, tip them, and strike up a conversation that might lead to dances. Now, the bar seating is far from the stages and the only floor seating is at tables, which are clearly meant for dining.