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San
Antonio Guide
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Art
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NightLife
Places to have fun! |
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Nothing
more exciting that San Antonio at night with or without a
date... |
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Bonham
Exchange
Always a party in
this mansion filled with men.
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411
Bonham
San Antonio, TX 78205-2011
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Phone
(210) 271-3811
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Cross
streets
Houston Street |
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The
Building
Located about a block from the Alamo and built in 1891, the
building is magnificent. Since its creation, it has housed a
number of establishments, including a German athletic club and
during WWII, the USO. In 1981 it became the Bonham Exchange.
The Names
There are five bars and three dance floors--three of the five
bars are named after Alamo heroes. Worth mentioning are the
Travis bar, which offers a view of the main ballroom's dance
floor, and the Gymnasia, which has a capacity of over 1000
people and has featured talents including Debbie Harry and
Tina Turner.
The Problem
What if they had a dance club and nobody came? The Bonham
Exchange can be empty a 12:30am on a Saturday night. Best bet
is to go around 2am.
Citysearch restaurant and bar reviews are based on multiple
visits by our critics, and all related expenses are paid by
the company. |
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The
Atrium
Six clubs in one
let you shake your booty, refresh at the oxygen bar and belt out some
karaoke tunes.
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8505
Broadway #2
San Antonio, TX 78217
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Phone
(210) 822-1912
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The
Scene
A hopping singles scene winds through six themed rooms
thumping with Latin, hip-hop, disco and top 40's hits. Live
bands play the stage in Red Square-the best place to cool off
when body temperatures heat up the dance floor. If you're
looking for a mellow scene, stroll into the oxygen and hooka
bar and kick back with the crowd.
The Crowd
When the clock strikes 10pm an older, sharply dressed crowd
fills the club and hits Martini Alley for a designer cocktail,
then hovers around the karaoke bar and the funky town disco
for the rest of the night. As the evening progresses, the
Mirage, an Egyptian dance room becomes a favored spot of a
slightly younger crowd. Expect a healthy mix of college kids,
military men and a bevy of singles shamelessly flirting. |
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Studio
794
Wannabe-hip dance
club keeps the young crowd grooving and the cages shaking.
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1174
E Commerce St (in Sunset Station)
San Antonio, TX 78205
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Phone
(210) 222-9481
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The
Scene
The name may evoke the disco-era Studio 54, but no modern club
can match the unbridled and sex-plicit spirit of that New York
hot spot. Instead, Studio 794 offers a cleanly-produced,
flashing-lights obsessed dance experience. The club is
ordinary except for the inclusion of two dance cages that
permit anyone to exercise their right to public exhibition.
Plus, when you tire of dancing, you can experience Studio
794's other mind-wringing distraction: a small video game room
just off the dance floor.
The Crowd
Although situated in the Sunset Station complex next to
tourist-heavy downtown, Studio 794 attracts a lot of San
Antonio natives. Full of a heavily under-21 crowd, this is a
club for those who appreciate pounding techno beats, tight
clothing and a seriously watered-down version of Rave culture.
Two bars provide pricey drinks to the older patrons who mainly
lounge in a strike-a-pose torpor while the younger crowd
grooves on the floor. |
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Taco
Land
Inside it may look
like someone's basement, but this is a music institution.
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103
W Grayson St
San Antonio, TX 78212
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Phone
(210) 223-8406
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Behind
the Door
When you walk through the picnic-tabled patio and open Taco
Land's heavy, nondescript door, you may not realize you're
entering a landmark. And when Ram places your beer ($1.50 for
cans $2.00 for bottles--regardless of country of origin) on
the bar, you may not know you're being served by a legend.
Under the Drop Ceiling
Taco Land is dark, dingy and not for the fainthearted (the
single stall men's bathroom literally opens onto the patio
because the bathroom door won't stay shut). There's a stage
for bands, a small red glitter bar to the left, a pool table
and a few randomly placed tables, sectioned off by staple
gun-scarred wood pillars.
Back in the Day
Random flyers cover the low ceiling, letting you know that,
had you been sitting in that space a couple of years ago, you
could have seen Yo La Tango or Eugene Chadbourne, or a few
years previous to that, the Fleshtones or Dead Milkmen. |
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Casbeers
The heart and
sound of Midtown.
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1719
Blanco Rd
San Antonio, TX 78212-2601
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Phone
(210) 732-3511
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Cross
streets
Fulton Street |
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The
Scene
In the early 1930s, Newt Casbeer, a politician who owned
racehorses, built the small strip center that houses Casbeers.
The space, initially a plumbing supply store, quickly turned
into a bar where locals played pool and dominoes. There is
still an old domino table near the small stage area, and a
beaded wire--an old scorekeeping method--is suspended from the
ceiling. In the 1960s Casbeers began to serve food, and that's
when it became an institution. Now all types of people from
all over the city flock to Casbeers for regional and local
music.
The Food
If people are going to call the roots-rock and country bands
that play Casbeers "Third Coast," then the food it
serves is Third Coast cuisine: big, juicy burgers, famous
enchiladas, Frito pie. Be warned: The portions are large, even
though the prices are shockingly low. |
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Howl
at the Moon
Squeeze into the
crowd and belt out the tunes at this popular Riverwalk piano bar.
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111
W Crockett St
San Antonio, TX 78205-2547
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Phone
(210) 212-4695
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The
Scene
Piano bars exist to serve one indelible human need: to sing
after you've had a few. They're not for picking people up and
they're certainly not for quietly listening to some guy play
pop tunes on a beat-up piano. Howl at the Moon is a
sometimes-excellent piano bar that falls short of piano-bar
nirvana because it wants to be too much. A dearth of seating
and the large area around the two bars make the place feel
like a pick-up joint. Plus, the piano players try too hard to
be musicians and spend far too much time on obscure and
complicated songs.
The Sound
Nevertheless, Howl at the Moon is a piano bar and that means
you can't help but have fun when the best songs are played and
the packed-in audience starts rocking in beautiful, off-key
enthusiasm. |
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Polly
Esther's
Dance through the
'70s, '80s and beyond at this funky, freewheeling Riverwalk club.
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212
College St
San Antonio, TX 78205-1813
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Phone
(210) 220-1972
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The
Scene
Located across the street from the Hard Rock Cafe, Polly
Esther's offers three levels of dance music and raucous
reveling. The club includes a '70s disco, an '80s room
(Culture Club) and a room with high-energy, hyper-BPM dance
music (Generation DVD). Believe it or not, Polly Esther's
isn't only about nutrition of the liquid kind: In the
restaurant on the first level, dinner is served beginning at
5pm.
The Crowd
Expect plenty of barely-clad barflies, slick talkers and
body-pressing beats. You won't find many at this Riverwalk
club who shun the limelight and avoid ogling others. |
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