sinclair's Review

Another year goes by and I find myself back at Centerfold. I walked in on a Thursday night at about fifteen minutes after midnight. There was a $20 cover charge at the door, and the club briefly inserts your driver's license into some kind of scanner. Centerfold is BYOB. You can bring beer, alcohol, and wine in aluminum cans and glass bottles. A cooler with wheels and loaded with ice is the way to go if you plan on partying here. I had to briefly open my cooler for the doorman to check. Maybe they are making sure you don’t have a gun in there, or maybe they are making sure you are not bringing in nonalcoholic drinks because they sell those inside. Apparently, there is no dress code enforced because I have been to this club in shorts and muscle shirts. One thing I want to mention up front is that there is no ATM at Centerfold, so it is best to get cash at a bank or ATM before driving over. The club said they can just charge your credit card, but that seems too sketchy.

The main stage is a large half circle on the left wall. There are three poles on the stage. The front two poles are stationary, and the back pole spins. There is a sign on the wall that says "tips on hip only". There is a bar that serves nonalcoholic drinks on the right wall. Mixers are sold for $5. Cups, sodas, juices, Red Bull, water, and ice buckets are all available for $4. If dancers sit down with you, a waitress will approach and ask if you want to buy the dancer a drink. The drinks are $20 and a straight hustle where the club keeps half and the dancer keeps the other half. The drink hustle was not as bad as it was in the past. Smoking is allowed inside, but there is enough open space inside that you don’t get bad secondhand smoke like you do over at French Quarter.

There were eleven or twelve dancers working. About half of the dancers were Caucasian, and the other half were African-American. There always seems to be a couple heavier dancers every time I go here that no one will tip on stage. At least there are some athletic and slim dancers to round out the line-up. Centerfold has a reputation of being a starter club for new dancers since dancers only get topless, and it is considered a “clean” club. French Quarter is considered a “dirty” club, and dancers can go nude there if they want to. Dancers do three song sets on stage. Patrons can only tip dancers in their g-string on their hip or toss money on the stage. There is virtually no stage contact here.