Visiting the French Quarter? Start at the Penthouse.

Penthouse is the best option in the French Quarter! Although the fees are slightly higher, the club is well worth the expense. The dancers were all beautiful, talented, and friendly. Even the waitresses were all above average. The facility is very comfortable (though we did have to move once to get away from excessive AC), well-lit, and every stage is easily visible from every chair. I was even impressed with the DJ for playing great music at a reasonable volume. There were several large-screen TVs around the room; most had sports (the NBA draft while we were there), but the two behind the bar were showing a documentary about feminism from 1960 to 2000. Go figure. Above and behind the main stage is a projection showing Penthouse magazine photo-shoot videos that included snippets of full-frontal nudity.

We got to the club at about 11 PM, paid the $12 cover charge, and our waitress escorted us to a table. I opened a tab, and only once did have to go find her to order another drink. BTW, I would have been happy to get a lap dance from her or any of the waitresses! We sat between the main and rear stages, both of which had stage-side seats; we also had a good view of the bar stage. They had three dancers up the entire time we were there. The pole work was typical, but I was impressed with how many dancers knew how to really work the pole! Usually, only a few can do the acrobatic tricks, and most just spin around. I believe most of the dancers we watched were above average.

I didn't go to the VIP area, but there were a lot of table dances on the main floor throughout our stay. Although I didn't end up getting a dance, it looked like the "mileage" was pretty good. The customers were pretty open about caressing butts and groping nipples; none of the numerous bouncers seemed to mind. One innovation I hadn't ever seen before: the bouncer at the main stage had a long squeegee that he used to sweep up all the money for each dancer during her performance. My only criticism is that I didn't see (or get) any contact from the dancers for tipping them on stage. At other clubs, I've had dancers pull me in for a motorboat, hook their legs over my shoulder, or at least give me a thank-you peck on the cheek. While on stage, the dancers typically didn't pay much attention to the people standing along the stage with tips.