After years of hearing about McDoogals...

After years of hearing about McDoogals and wanting to check it out I finally made the drive from DC to see for myself if its reputation is well earned. Once a top 10 club I see that it has now dropped out of the top 40. Maybe I waited too long, but I was not dissapointed by what I found.

The club is rather out of the way, but not too hard to find. It is in a small outlying community near Baltimore, so it's only a few minutes off the beltway. I found it with some trouble, the sign seems to blend in more than I expected. It is a low white building on the left as you're heading south. If you get to the Wendy's on the left you've passed it.

I arrived at about 7:30 on a Friday after stopping for some beer (club is BYOB). The club is a low one story building, for some reason it reminded me of a Chi-chi's inside. Probably the Stuco walls. Inside the club is pretty spacious. Most of the main room is taken up by the main bar and stage. The bar is pretty much a large rectangle probably 40'x20' with the stage inside in the middle. The bar does, as mentioned have an offshoot to the stock room so you can't walk all the way around it. The stage is only about 20'x4', about 2' high so even sitting at the bar you're fairly far from the stage. Any further you'd be unable to see it for the most part. A bit of a dissapointment if you're used to the DC up close and personal show. They do get up close and personal, but it's just offstage. More on that later. The rest of the club consists of two side stages, about 6' square in the right and left corners as you enter, a few tables on the left side of the bar, a lapdance area on the far side of the bar, a few pool tables next to the LD area, and behind that the dressing room, which is open to see into from the rest of the club. Overall the club is clean and well kept. The bar staff, bouncers, doormen, and dancers were all polite and prompt with service or to answer a question. Cover was $16, drinks $4, but with the BYOB that wasn't a concern. I handed over my beer, was given tickets for them, and took a seat at the bar. I tipped a buck for getting my beer for me, making my beers $2 for BYO, but still, not a bad deal and the bartenders appreciated it (and were very quick).