Everyone is a friend here, from dancing to karaoke, it was an absolute blast, bar lines weren't…read moreinsane, and we had the most fun ever.

Overall a super welcoming environment with plenty of people watching. Very diverse and mixed crowd…read more I think my bartender was trans and they took good care of me when I ordered my drinks!

The service was amazing the energy was great I really enjoyed my time for it being my first time…read more5-5 would recommend

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.

Somehow I've never been here?? At least not that I can remember. Sunday funday started off with…read morebrunch of course. Seating in the main room is better than the little back room. The back room has a cute view and is generally quieter but hotter bc it's by the patio and serves as a sort of service pass through area. It was lovely, service was great and food was delish. Complimentary valet. Faves: Fried Texas quail bites Agnolotti with English peas Field breakfast

Met a friend at Rainbow Lodge on a Sunday afternoon for a somewhat early-ish dinner. For some…read morestrange reason, we both thought it was located somewhere else. Upon entering everyone was very friendly, and since I arrived before my friend did, they went ahead and sat me and let me know that they'd bring her to the table when she got there. The restaurant was nicely decorated and our server came over and took my drink order while I waited. I ordered San Pellegrino and our server brought me an ice bucket like they put the wine in so that it didnt get hot before I could finish it. Its little touches like that, that mean so much. After my friend arrived, and we had time to look over the menu, we ordered appetizers. The way we do it is... I order one and she orders one and we share. Thats pretty much how our whole meal usually goes. Appetizers: Me - Jumbo Lump Crab Cakes- they were pretty good, but not anything that really jumped out at me. Friend - Seared Sea Scallop with Rainbow Trout Caviar - it's served wirh a crispy potato nest, champagne butter, and chive oil. It was delicious and we both were sad that it didn't come with more than one scallop. I'm sure both of us could have eaten a few of them. Entee: Me - Griddled Gulf Red Snapper with Creole Remoulade - its served with dressed shaved brussels sprouts, asparagus and lump crab salad topped with a fried oyster. The fish was very good and super fresh. The thing I wasn't crazy about was the shaved brussels. I guess I didnt think that they wouldn't be cooked. I understand wanting to add texture to the meal, but it just wasn't my cup of tea, but I would eat that fish again any day of the week. Friend - Rainbow Trout with Lump Blue Crab and Pecan Brown Butter with sauteed spinach with garlic. I must admit, she was winning at ordering. Once again, hers was much better than mine. The trout was kind of crispy and had a great flavor. Next time I may just have to order that myself. Dessert: Me - Chocolate Mousse Cake. It's described as a decadent trio of fluffy mousse layered on rich cake base topped with chocolate ganache seasonal berries. It was very good and super rich. The mousse was smooth and the cake was moist. What more could you ask for in a chocolate mousse cake. Friend - Warm Croissant Bread Pudding. They describe it as bread pudding with brown sugar whiskey sauce, almond tuile cup, vanilla ice cream. So my friend prides herself on her bread pudding. I mean, she makes a REALLY good one, but as soon as she tasted this one, she said... this one is BETTER than mine. Thats a huge compliment coming from her. She is super picky about bread pudding. I also thought it was good. Service: This is my only real complaint and it isn't awful. Our server was pretty busy with a larger table so we kind of got neglected. She did apologize, but we did have a wait a bit to request things. We weren't upset, I would just expect a little bit more from Rainbow Lodge. Also, the valet staff wasn't very friendly at all. They didn't say thank you when given a tip. They acted like they weren't very happy at all.

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.

love drag events here, pretty chill environment. wish there were more nonalcoholic drink options…read moreand bathrooms were cleaner

Drinks are always strong and consistent. Love that it's tucked away. Ample parking. First floor is…read morequiet and allows for free flowing conversations. Upstairs lets you enjoy the show. Been here several times and will go back again!

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