I've been to pearl on a number of occasions and I've also attended their Thursday steak night (4/5,…read moreit was tasty!!) and their crab boil (did not eat any but I was told it was very good) but the real action is on weekends!! The DJs can be kinda meh 50% of the time but the bartenders are always friendly, fast, attentive and ofc very cute. Great place to go with your friends, almost completely women on weekends for dancing (as it should be.) I haven't gotten to try the taco truck yet but if you get out late at 2am when they close there is an amazing greasy smash burger place just a 2 block walk away. Love pearl, always excited to go back

if you're looking for a place that confuses attitude with atmosphere, Pearl Bar Houston delivers…read morewith remarkable consistency. What could be a lively neighborhood spot instead feels like an exercise in exclusion--where the staff's indifference borders on performative, as though hospitality were an optional add-on rather than the foundation of the service industry. The ambiance aspires to trendy but lands somewhere closer to contrived, with an energy that feels curated for appearances rather than genuine enjoyment. Drinks are serviceable at best, though priced with the confidence of a far more polished establishment. One might overlook that if the experience itself compensated, but unfortunately, it does not. Ultimately, Pearl Bar seems less interested in cultivating a welcoming environment and more invested in projecting a selective image. It's the kind of place that might appeal if you enjoy the feeling of trying to belong--but for those who value substance over pretense, there are far better options in Houston.

We had so much fun stopping by on a Thursday evening. We missed some of the line dance lesson…read more(which starts at 7:30) but caught the end. It was packed! I like how the instructor talks about the steps on the mic but there are people positioned throughout the dance floor who know the dance who you can follow. We stopped by with a few of our friends who come more regularly and have mastered some of the dances! Some are more complicated than others but in general these are fairly tricky dances. There's a website you can use to practice the dances at home to prepare for each week. After the lesson there is more open dancing and they play various line dance songs for anyone to join. They also include the song that was covered during the lesson. It's fun to watch - so many folks here are really talented. We only bought some waters and did not try any of the drinks so I can't comment on those. Service was good and the lines at the bar move pretty quickly. We've already been talking about going back here to check out another line dancing class! Would definitely recommend.

Ok yall. Great spot. Stopped by here last Saturday night and closed the place down till 2am. Great…read moremusic. Great environment. Good people. Drinks are amazing. Will be back one day. Made a ton on memories. The best line dancing in Houston. Not clubby at all.

It's not like it used to be. Service from Tomas is great! This used to be a safe space for leather…read moremen, now straight women with twinks frequently invade. Good smoking patio.

Ripcord is a very niche bar. You'll see a very specific type of environment. People that are…read moregenerally friendly. Drinks typically come out fairly well-timed. The wait time generally isn't all too long, even on weekends. The bar aesthetic is very very bold a d tasteful in a sense. There's a nice patio area outside where you can sit down and chat with friends. Fair warning, it does get fairly crowded enough for the air to feel saturated and damp at times. Dress accordingly.

It was wonderful place for me , had a great time, drinks were amazing. I will definitely coming…read moreback to this place. You can be totally yourself.

This is a great place to go with your friends for drinks. If you get hungry they have a food truck…read moreoutside with tasty food. All of the staff is friendly. They welcome all sexual orientations. Everyone is welcomed to go and have fun. Drink prices are reasonable.

I have not been to the club scene for a long while until recently. I only came here because my…read moreout-of-town friend visiting. I couldn't believe that was my first time step into South Beach Club (SoBe) since I moved to Houston almost 2 decades ago. Every time I came to SoBe, I got turned away by the long line wrapped around the parking lot before midnight. That's when I normally get off work. But this time, we stopped by on Saturdays. We came super early, like 9:30 pm. Yeah. We got our free pass. Normally, it's $10 cover charge, which isn't bad because there is a huge dance floor with high tech lighting system and sounds system. It was totally worth every penny. Because we love to dance. We adore the music to our liking, more like in the 90's oldies. Yeah, we are older than most people on the dance floor. Thank goodness they didn't kick us out. I remember one night there was a huge group of young Asian guys came in around 10 pm. There were also many birthday celebrations around the seating area. Boy, I would love to sit on a cozy chair after dancing my ass off. Looks like they have some kind of VIP access. There were also girls and straight couples on the dance floor and around the lounge area. Oh, there is a cool patio on the side. Restroom was clean. Looks like there was some kind of upgrades at the club. Yeah. I would definitely return.

Always great staff and fun times. A true open and accepting environment. I recommend getting on the…read morespeakers and dancing the night away.

I live in The Heights so I cautioned three "newbies" to Rainbow Lodge that Chicken-Fried Chicken…read moreSundays will be busy and essentially, if we want good service, sit in the dining room. Yet, we sat in the bar area and LAUREN was extremely attention and helpful. We did not want for anything!!!! All 5 of us had a spectacular time!!! Kudos to manager, Mary, and server, Lauren. And I'll even mention our water server who also found a pair of tweezers for my friend's splinter! ABOVE AND BEYOND. A Heights GEM!!!!

Upon entering we were greeted friendly by staff. While attempting to explain we had reservations we…read morewere told we need to step aside and we'll get back to you when a regular customer entered. Long story short, over priced and not worth the snooty factor or the overpriced menu. Too many other choices in the Heights to deal with this bs.

Get ready, set and play! Then, pause…read more I recently discovered a dance bar after the closure of my beloved Eagle Houston bar. This Play Nightlife bar is located at the former Hamburger Mary's and Buddy's aka Kiki's on Grant Street of the Montrose Gayborhood. The entire complex has Hollywood neon sign on it. The left side is called Club Pause. The right side is called Play Nightlife. Together they are called Pause/Play (like on the music machine). On the weekends, Club Pause opens at noon and music starts at 10 pm. There are other activities like karaoke nights on Wednesdays and Thirsty Thursday etc. I'm usually here on Friday and Saturday nights after 11 pm. Saturdays seem to have a bigger crowd. Club Pause has bounce music by DJ Jimmy D on Saturdays and Sundays. It's a place to hang out and dance. I like to dance at Play Nightlife because the deejays are from the former Eagle Houston. CJ Fader was the resident deejay upstairs and DJ Jimmy Skinner was the resident deejay downstairs. Music is more danceable than South Beach Houston. There are not many parking spots up front. People usually park elsewhere and bar hop to Play from neighboring bars. There are 2 taco trucks in the parking lot. My favorite food truck Pixi Dust Houston is previously called Eagle Eats. That explains why I come to Play Nightlife more often than any other gay bars in the Houston's Gayborhood.

One of Houston's best kept secrets. We simply refer to it as "The Blue Door". Atmosphere is…read moreintimate, service is immaculate and drinks are intense. Highly recommend

I was there for 8 minutes, here's what I learned: this is a swingers bar. Whether you're a couple…read moreor not, they do stuff upstairs separate from the stuff downstairs. When people in reviews say this place is dark, I mean "the lights are almost out" dark. The bouncer told me he's seen it all upstairs...orgies, girl-on-girl, gangbangs, swingers, you name it....it's not exactly a casual speakeasy. You need to plan a night here if it's your prerogative. The upstairs is couples only, but the bouncer told me that if you'd slip him $20 then you can go upstairs and try your luck. The pictures they show you are brightened. This place is nearly pitch black. And I'm not saying this to blow up anyone's spot, it probably is a great spot for couples but it just wasn't my scene, especially when I vouched that it was a good place for me and my guy friend to chill. Also, the bartender wouldn't give me and my friend the time of day. I was really excited to see how this place made drinks and they wouldn't even service me and my friend...she just was checking her social media. I might come back here one day with a girlfriend I know VERY well, but as for now I'll keep my change and go somewhere else

This updated review is about Varsity's dance floor upstairs. I went there the day after Halloween…read moreand it didn't open until 10:30. Once it opened up, the paint smell punched in my nose. Masking tape was still on the staircase. My biggest complaint with the old Eagle was the creaky floor. Varsity fixed it by laying industrial floating tiles. It's not for dancing. The acoustic quality was terrible. It sounded like a dance party at high school gymnasium. They put a scoreboard on the big wall where it used to be a painting with the former bar. Upstair bar is usually packed. Clientele was mostly younger crowd. They sang songs with the music it was playing while dancing. Varsity installed several TV monitors on every single wall. Not sure what they trying to create. Extremely gaudy. That's not what a video dance bar should look like. Ugh. Not sure if I want to come back. The downstairs bar and dance floor were so empty. I went there on a Friday night. They turned off all TV's around 12:30 am. I was watching a cricket game while dancing. WTF!! I don't have a good taste after that.

Staff is friendly and super awesome. Meet great people there and dance the night awayread more

Love this place! The food is amazing, the service is great…read moreand the music is always jumping! I will say that I do prefer the Long Point location rather than the Chinatown one. The ambiance is a bit different between these two locations. Long point location is smaller but the tables are more closed off/private. Chinatown is very open and has a live dj after 10pm!

First of all the parking is horrendous over here. I was driving around for a while to find…read moreparking.once you walk in you're greeted right away and they have a bar, claw machines, and tables for eating. The karaoke rooms were clean, cute, and nice. It had tambourines in there to play with as well. The rooms are a bit smaller maybe 4 people would be comfortable in there. I do believe they do have a bigger room as well. it is recommended to book a reservation ahead of time. It I've a bit loud in the I could hear the next room singing. I didn't like the karaoke set up. It's literally your own YouTube WITH ADS if you don't have YouTube premium. I could do this at home to be honest. I kind of expected a whole karaoke machine with the book to select a song but that was not it. The only reason you would come here is for food and not even the drinks. They do charge by the hour and if it's only 15 mins over you get charged for another hour. The drinks soju didn't do much but it was tasty. I tried the watermelon soju and it was a giant shareable slushie of soju. That slushie a spicy sweet wings I had was not a good pairing. I got a stomachache afterwards. The spicy sweet wings seemed boneless at first because they're such a huge piece but there was a small bone inside it(I didn't order boneless). They do give you a couple of side dishes like a mac and cheese coleslaw type thing and radish. The kimchi fries just seemed like a bunch of frozen fries heated up all thrown together with the kimchi toppings. I also got the cheese corn fondue that wasn't bad. It was nice and cheesy as expected. They also have ice cream for dessert.