Uptown: Club Babalu

[JohnMcKee]

I noticed that Club Babalu has caution tape around their entrance and has painted over their name on their entrance. Does anyone know what's up?

[30kmillionaire]

Looks like it's closed. Finally.

[JohnMcKee]

That's prime property though, I can't imagine the place staying empty for long.

[urbanite07]

That's prime property though, I can't imagine the place staying empty for long.

That club is already sold - there is a new club opening in the Summer - don't recall the name, but it's not a salsa bar, it's going to be another Uptown - 30K millionaire hang-out..

[cowboyeagle05]

They are definitely doing some work on it to, in the back and the front. It looks like they removed paint where the closed up windows and doors were on the original brick building. Possibly making the building look a little less like a warehouse and fit in better with the architecture of the neighborhood.

[Lionel Hutz]

it's going to be another Uptown - 30K millionaire hang-out..
They should call it Club Douche because that's what it will be filled with.

[JohnMcKee]

They should call it Club Douche because that's what it will be filled with.

Club Douché

Fixed that for you, now it has the correct level of Uptown faux pretentiousness.

[urbanite07]

Club Douché

Fixed that for you, now it has the correct level of Uptown faux pretentiousness.

That club, "Lotus" next to Babalu is a joke, packed with idiots who watch too many episodes of Nip/Tuck. Uptown sucks .. I saw the line around the block and it reminded me of everything I hate about uptown.

[JohnMcKee]

That club, "Lotus" next to Babalu is a joke, packed with idiots who watch too many episodes of Nip/Tuck. Uptown sucks .. I saw the line around the block and it reminded me of everything I hate about uptown.

Well, I disagree. I own a condo in Uptown and absolutely love it, I can't imagine living anywhere else in Dallas right now. It's possible to enjoy a lot of things about this area without running up loads of credit card debt and acting like a jackass. There is no way you can convince me to wait in line for the privilege of paying $10 for a drink in a crowded bar

[rantanamo]

we're all idiots when it comes to something.

[logan]

I live in uptown and drive a 94' gmc sierra and pay about 550 a month (with roommates). i hate nip/tuck. dont go to places and run up big bar tabs. have a great time. dont hang with stuck up people. stereotypes are for the birds.

[drycreek]

I wouldn't say stereotypes are for the birds. They exist for a reason. They are the general rule but to every rule there are exceptions, which you seem to be one. I hang out in uptown and I don't think I fit the above description either but I would say for the most part that that's what the crowd IS like.

[1999McKinneyAve]

I though the owners of Babalu owned the building that Lotus moved into? I know they owned the restaurant that was there before. The owners of Babalu were also the owners of the Arcadia before it burned. It was closed before it burned because it could not meet fire codes.

[urbanite07]

I though the owners of Babalu owned the building that Lotus moved into? I know they owned the restaurant that was there before. The owners of Babalu were also the owners of the Arcadia before it burned. It was closed before it burned because it could not meet fire codes.

Lotus and Babalu have nothing in common... Lotus is the old 'Americas' restaurant.. Babalu has been there for at least 17 years, same location, same genre. As I said, Babalu sold to a high bidder to maintain the uptown pretentious $10.00 / drink crowd.

Indeed we all can NOT disagree that stereotypes exist for a reason - I personally know too many guys who make less than $50K/YR and they all drive new cars over their limit (i.e BMW, Infiniti, Lexus, etc), and the one thing they all have in common is they hang out in uptown because "that's where one needs to be seen" type BS.

[ericthegardener]

http://backtalkeastdallas.typepad.com/back_talk/2008/02/neighbors-not-c.html

I wasn't sure they were talking about the same place until I followed the myspace link in the post. It confirms that this is the Babalu formerly in Uptown.

[1999McKinneyAve]

Lotus and Babalu have nothing in common... Lotus is the old 'Americas' restaurant.. Babalu has been there for at least 17 years, same location, same genre. As I said, Babalu sold to a high bidder to maintain the uptown pretentious $10.00 / drink crowd.

Indeed we all can NOT disagree that stereotypes exist for a reason - I personally know too many guys who make less than $50K/YR and they all drive new cars over their limit (i.e BMW, Infiniti, Lexus, etc), and the one thing they all have in common is they hang out in uptown because "that's where one needs to be seen" type BS.

The owners of Babalu also owned The Americas restaurant before it closed. That was my point.

[ihavebeenseen]

wow 17 years that was a pretty good run. Not many clubs can say that. Anybody know what the longest run for a night club in Big D is/was? Lizard Lounge? Seven??

I have been a few times to Babalu about 7 years ago and every time was a good time.

BTW: Don't make it out much anymore due to "new" family life, but i went recently to Lotus and if you are not a douche when you walk in you get a temporary "Douche" membership card once inside. Lotus will be lucky to make it five years. Babalu > Lotus

[urbanite07]

The owners of Babalu also owned The Americas restaurant before it closed. That was my point.

My bad - sorry.. Interesting point though, Americas was a very nice well maintained upktale Mexican restaurant, always kept up .. Babalu in the past years really went down the toilet, why would the same owners allow this to happen? Odd

[tamtagon]

I remember going to Babalu a few months after it first opened. Driving by the place, it seemed like an odd transplant of a Fitzhugh@Capitol pool hall/bar, but on a tip from a DMN reporter my gang checked it out early one weeknight and had a great time. Before the Hard Rock was knocked down, I thought Club Babalu would have been good in the space.


http://backtalkeastdallas.typepad.com/back_talk/2008/02/neighbors-not-c.html


Residents of Gastonwood Coronado Hills will fight a nearby nightclub operating without the proper permit, says HOA president Scott Clumpner.

The OK Sports Bar at 7315 Gaston is zoned for "a restaurant without drive-in service," according to a permit issued in 2005, but it appears the venue is moonlighting as Latino discotheque, Club Babalu.

So, is the rumored New Babalu across the street from the C&W dance-bar Cowboys? Since the city shut down the Deep Ellum I wouldnt be surprised at all if E. Grand kinda opened up.... which has always shown glimmers of being a hot spot.... once or twice it seems that old movie theater over there was opened showing off the wall "art" films.... Brownies (before the change) was where the truely cool people went for hangover lunch..... always had a chuckle to call the area Deep East Grand, mocking the suburban tourist whitewash that happened to Deep Ellum.

[KesslerDweller]

I go to bed at 11 every night and don't wake up with a hangover.

[tamtagon]

I go to bed at 11 every night and don't wake up with a hangover.

So, you just sleep through the hangover? :tmonkey:

[ericthegardener]

once or twice it seems that old movie theater over there was opened showing off the wall "art" films....


Enjoyed seeing a few movies there but never saw how they could make a go of it. Nothing else over there that would attract the same crowd. The owners were super nice though. Isn't an architecture firm in that building now?



Brownies (before the change) was where the truely cool people went for hangover lunch.....

I just started going to Brownie's not long before it closed. Seemed like a great place, the kind of place that is pretty quickly disappearing from Dallas.

[trolleygirl]

Babalu club owners and Lotus club owners don't own those buildings. They have been paying rent to the same old wannabe failed restaurateur for years.....

[trolleygirl]

Oh and yeah, I will agree with the douchebag pretentiousness at Lotus. Those idiots cause so many streetcar wrecks. I was doing a charter one Saturday and it was just after midnight and I had dropped my party off at Cork and had to go all the way back downtown to turn the car around so I could take her home, and as I'm rounding the corner from Cole to McKinney, some idiot tried to speed past me to get in front of me to suddenly stop to turn left at Allen Street, and POW! I bounced him 25 feet. The patrons at Christy's were all laughing and calling him an idiot. The patrons at Lotus didn't notice a thing, they were so far up their own a%&es! Afterwards, I went to Christy's and had a drink on the owner. That place is full of "normal" people.

[tamtagon]

Christy's

Is it still the most luxurious sports bar in Texas?

[urbanite07]

Oh and yeah, I will agree with the douchebag pretentiousness at Lotus. Those idiots cause so many streetcar wrecks

Too funny and soo true.. A friend of a friend invited me to his birthday party some weeks ago at Lotus, he reserved a table with bottle.. naturally the blond plastic surgery friendly gals of course came with the table as ornaments... After two drinks I left because I couldn't' stand the music nor the nip / tuck'ness attitude...

He later told me that bottles of Grey Goose with tip came to $1200 bucks... what a moron.

[trolleygirl]

Too funny and soo true.. A friend of a friend invited me to his birthday party some weeks ago at Lotus, he reserved a table with bottle.. naturally the blond plastic surgery friendly gals of course came with the table as ornaments... After two drinks I left because I couldn't' stand the music nor the nip / tuck'ness attitude...

He later told me that bottles of Grey Goose with tip came to $1200 bucks... what a moron.

I'm not a connoisseur of fine spirits but my S/O does manage a fine dining establishment in town, so I know that GG doesn't cost $1,200 and that is quite an extreme markup. I'm a wine drinker and, fortunately for us, we get all the goods there.....

I have never watched Nip/Tuck so I can't get the joke there. All I know is that Uptown has changed a bunch in the last 10 years....

[Haretip]

Lotus and Babalu have nothing in common... Lotus is the old 'Americas' restaurant.. Babalu has been there for at least 17 years, same location, same genre. As I said, Babalu sold to a high bidder to maintain the uptown pretentious $10.00 / drink crowd.


17 years ago Babalu was Emerald City. I think you need to trim 7-8 years or so off your estimate.

At one time, the quasi-famous litigation television commercial lawyer Kondos brothers had the leases on a few of those places. They would open a place for about 4-5 months and shut it down once the hipness was gone. You could even see a couple of incarnations were the club names used similar letters so they could save money by rearranging the sign letters instead of buying new.

[urbanite07]

Too funny and soo true.. A friend of a friend invited me to his birthday party some weeks ago at Lotus, he reserved a table with bottle.. naturally the blond plastic surgery friendly gals of course came with the table as ornaments... After two drinks I left because I couldn't' stand the music nor the nip / tuck'ness attitude...

He later told me that bottles of Grey Goose with tip came to $1200 bucks... what a moron.

He bought 3 bottled of grey goose each at $300.00, with tip + extras his bill came out to $1200. That's the going rate per bottle at most upscale bars now a days.

As far as my nip tuck comments, it's a TV show about plastic surgeons who live the high life, that's all.

[psukhu]

BTW: Don't make it out much anymore due to "new" family life, but i went recently to Lotus and if you are not a douche when you walk in you get a temporary "Douche" membership card once inside. Lotus will be lucky to make it five years. Babalu > Lotus

Douche Patrol: http://www.break.com/pictures/douche-patrol452539.html

[KittyPie]

what is up with the bottle service anyway? I spend most weekends at Lake Texoma eiither at my dock or Tanglewood or last resort old Pompano's (pre-2007 flood). I was talking to the GM of Highport Marina and they are putting in 4 private rooms for bottle service!!! I had to laugh---the sad thing is the high rollers and wannabe highrollers will probably fight each other for these rooms (yes, we get the 30K millionaires there too-in addition to the crowd that used to be high roller status but don't want to give up the "status" lol :2lol:

I had heard rumors of Martini Park being shut down due to the disportion liquor/food sales. I went there when they first opened and lobster nachos were $15.00/plate so no wonder people don't buy much food. I didn't think Plano would allow them to continue too long since they are in the heart of the upscale Plano dining area---people take their kids across the street to Nicola's, MiCocina and families aren't wanting to run into the meat market crowd/drunks at Martini Park when they are out dining with "kids and grandma" - felt it was a matter of time before someone complained to City Council --- had a friend who lived above bars in Addison Circle.....he was a partyer but he hated being home at night when the bars below him closed---said all the drunks would get thrown out at closing time and yell/get into fights.

[Lakewooder]

Not too keen on getting Babalu over here unless it is the Ricky Ricardo version...I do remember having fun there quite a while ago though...does anyone remember when it or something very similar was further up McKinney near West Village? On a corner I think...

Eric -the Oscar Levant avatar is great...he knew Doris Day "before she was a virgin."

Kitty - my family has had a place a couple of coves west of Highport since 1961. It cracks me up that they are putting in bottle service but I know a few types up there who might 'bite'. Pompano's was certainly fun in the old days when bands played out on the deck and they had full dance floor lighting..

[KittyPie]

lakewooder -- they are supposed to rebuild Pompano's with one bar down by the courtesy dock for very casual (walk off the boat and get a burger) type. Up around where the Clipper is/was is where they plan to build the area with the bottle service --- Still going to have the area for the bands. Me - I prefer Tanglewood Tower and Yacht Club - even tho the "country club" is a little long in the tooth (heard they are supposed to remodel it also). Connie, my fav bartenderess is usually in the Yacht Club -- I call her to find out where she is-I mean she knows how to take care of customers! Wish I had one of those coves for my private dock but guess I'll have to hang out at "L" dock where it's always party time. :2peace:

[ericthegardener]

Eric -the Oscar Levant avatar is great

Been using that pic for an avatar on various sites for years and sadly you're the first to recognize him.


he knew Doris Day "before she was a virgin."

That's one of his best quips!

[Lakewooder]

Well, it's nice to find another fan of Oscar. I have a friend who lived on Marquita for 20 years (she moved back home to Amarillo to take care of her mother) and we love to talk about him. A particular fave is "Humoresque" where he mixes it up with Joan Crawford and John Garfield. I have also seen a few tapes of him on TV in the 50s and early 60s. Of course he was a masterful musician as well..

Another great quip: "When Frank Sinatra, Jr. was kidnapped, I said, 'It must have been done by music critics.'"

The man was fearless.

Of course we also love Eve Arden and nobody gets that either..

I guess we are the only weirdos buying 'obscure' (to others) star biographies and autobiographies and looking them up in find-a-grave and reading reviews of on imdb and amazon their work. I even have hours of old movie quotes on my iPod -- haven't scored a wav or anything for Oscar Levant. My prize ones are from Monty Wooley, Cary Grant, Groucho, Mae West, Bogart, Jimmy Stewart, Claude Rains and Kate.

Of course I have several other old movies fan/friends (serendipity! one in Vegas was reading the Esther Williams autobiography at the same time), one of the best grew up here in Lakewood and is married to Broderick Crawford's son. They have his Oscar and I have held it! Also Jimmy Cagney, Edward G. Robinson, Andy Devine, Marx Bros, Errol Flynn, etc were his friends so I have 'touched' the same things they touched...

Oh wait we were discussing that club...sorry to bore the rest of you...

[larryT]

The new club will be called 'Aura'.

http://aurauptowndallas.com/

And if you email info@aurauptowndallas.com with your name and address, you'll get invited to the opening.

[urbanite07]

The new club will be called 'Aura'.

http://aurauptowndallas.com/


AWSOME!! I can't wait be stand iin line for 2 hours then to wait at the bar for 45 minutes for my 12 dollar vodka!! HURRAY!!!

[cbr3]

^ You forgot the bartender with an attitude, bouncers who think they are important and the pretentious clientele.

[AeroD]

In all fairness, even dive bars have pretentious bartenders. They are pretentious in a hipster sort of way. As though not smoking Parliaments or drinking PBR makes you less of a person.

[cowboyeagle05]

^ You forgot the bartender with an attitude, bouncers who think they are important and the pretentious clientele.
The bouncers are supposed to act important thats there job to keep people out so the attitude goes with the job

[BigD5349]

The old Club Babalu site is looking clean and modern. It's hard to tell from the pic, but the facade has little sparkly things on it.

http://img524.imageshack.us/img524/9818/clubbabaluqc0.jpg

[jredallas]

Wow, that is a big improvement.

[BigD5349]

Here's a pic of the old Club Babalu/Rocco's Pizza, now sporting a new Rock N Taco...

http://img715.imageshack.us/img715/3681/rocktaco.jpg (http://img715.imageshack.us/i/rocktaco.jpg/)

[R1070]

looks sexy!

[tamtagon]

Too bad the minimum height for new buildings on McKinney is not 10 stories.

[UrbanHope]

I'll give it a shot... but saw these comments on Sidedish and found them amusing

"Ed Hardy is seling tacos now?"

jenny @ October 14th, 2009 at 11:10 pm
"Ed Hardy Guacamole w/rhinestone tortilla chips & graphic t-ortilla soup"

[MarkL2023]

Too bad the minimum height for new buildings on McKinney is not 10 stories.


So we could have more surface lots and fewer buildings?

[JohnMcKee]

Too bad the minimum height for new buildings on McKinney is not 10 stories.

That site really isn't appropriate for a 10 building, it's not very large at all, there isn't even adequate parking for the club as it is.

[tamtagon]

I was thinking of the apts behind it.... Increased population density is the only way McKinney will become the pedestrian thoroughfare of vision.

[codytravers]

Good thing we still have plenty of lots available on McKinney, such as the old HRC site, old construction parking next to the Ritz Carlton, and the abandoned bank and art gallery. Not to mention the new highrise apt buildings such as 1900 McKinney and 1717.