Naked Lunch Specials IV

It's baaaack!
I have also provided a quick link over at the right for all the reviews.

Joy of Austin

(warning: link to Joy of Austin may not be safe for work)

Joy of Austin is not actually in Austin, It's actually in Round Rock off I-35 northbound at exit 250. This is the first time I'd been here, but I know from driving by the facade has changed (read improved) over the last few years. It's in between some pretty big shopping centers, but it boasts it's own parking lot, so, no worries about your car being casually spotted from the frontage road. They have valet parking, but no one was at the booth, and I never use that anyway. I did see a sign that intrigued me though. "Car Wash - Cheap" Which implies that theoretically you could get your car washed while you eat lunch at the strip joint. Good deal.

In through the front door, the first thing you see is a leopard skin couch and loveseat. Very swanky. It's a small entrance hall, before the club proper. A young lady behind a desk gave me a "welcome, come on in" and in I went. As soon a you get to the conecting door, BOOM, the stage is right in front of you. It's a round stage of the "hanging raindrop" design connected to the wall at the right. Around the stage to the left is (in this order) a bar area (side wall), a raised VIP section (back wall), a sectioned off second bar area (far side wall) and then the entrance to the teardrop stage (front wall). In front of the sectioned off bar are booths (bench on one side, chairs on the other, bench facing the stage) so that's where I planted myself, feet propped up on a chair.

The decor is kind of gothic revival, all arches and pillars, and the bar was wood panneled, not too shabby, the chairs were all animal print though so there was still a little boom-boom jungle room feel too. I initially thought it was too dark inside, but as my eyes adjusted it just turned out to be too bright outside. The music was loud, but crystal clear. Nice sound system. As I mentioned earlier, it's in Round Rock, so the Smoking Nazis havn't gotten there yet. Feel free to light up.

The waitress was there pretty quick, and although she didn't speak tons of english, was very friendly. I asked if they had Guinness and she asked back "Stout or Draught" I asked for draught, but it only turned out to be a pub draught bottle, not on tap. Still, for $3.75 what do you want out of life. I asked about the lunch special "steak & fries $5". Well, $5.99 but... It's a go. The food was there before I finished my first drink. That's fast.

It was better than I expected. The NY strip was tender, and tasty, about the size of my hand and cooked to order. The fries were thick and crispy, ketchup and A-1 on the side. Not tons 'o food, but a nice little meal. All in all a satisfying experience... and fast. That has got to be the shortest period of time I ever spent in a strip joint. I was out of there in less than 45 minutes.

So... as always, on to the sliding scale.

Service: 9 (would have been 10 if I could have understood her the first time she said something)

Food: 9 (tasted good, cooked well, the portion was a little small for me)

Atmosphere: 8 (nice place, but animal print chairs? come on.)

Value: 10 (I was out of there for under $20, including tip with a couple of bucks to spare)

Total: 9 (Way more than acceptable, this was a deal.)

Next time (notice I didn't say next week this time) I will head south to Expose' on Congress. I have had a couple of friends (No names for professional reasons) offer to meet me there when I go, so we'll see.

If you have a club in your area you would like to review (Food only please, my mother reads this) send a write up to alphaknine@hotmail.com and I may post it. Or if you are in the Austin area and have a club you would like me to visit and review, or would like to join me for lunch, just place in comments.

Update: Do you know the difference between a waitress and a dancer at a strip club? Six months.
One of the girls on stage at Joy was a waitress at Perfect 10 when I went there. Hahahahahahah.