by Katherine W. on Had a surprisingly good time! I went on a Wednesday night to see Steve Lawler (house DJ). The bad reviews of Opera had me worried, and normally I'd steer clear of an 18+ night, but I couldn't pass up seeing Steve. My friend and I made sure to get on the guestlist beforehand, and we also bought $10 tickets online for will call. Parking was easy -- $5 public lot with plenty of space, right across the street from Opera. We arrived around 10:15pm and the line was SERIOUSLY long. But as soon as we got in line, a door guy said if we were already on the guestlist, we could jump the line for an extra $10 each. We took the offer but we didn't end up having to pay the extra money (I wasn't sure if it was because we'd bought tickets online, but I wasn't asking questions)... so we got right in, within about 5 minutes of arriving. We walk into the main room and BAM it's 18 year olds, bad hip hop, and a stripper pole in your face. Didn't matter, since we'd come to see Steve Lawler in the Venetian Room (the back room) anyway. We stayed there all night and had a great time. Drinks were about $8, and the bartender was pretty nice. Steve came on just after 12am, and he was amazing as expected. Ugh so it was a little hard to avoid a couple over-friendly skeezes (blegh thinking about it now, I want a shower and strong soap), but there were also some pretty cool people. 4 stars for a one-time good-time. BUT all the bad reviews are for a reason, I'm sure... so I'll definitely go back next time there's a DJ I want to see, but I'm still wary.
by Art Mathew on Prague might be a paragon of fashion and culture in Europe these days, but in Austin, it's a dank, semi-gothic, grotto-like cellar seemingly given to objectifying women, roping off tables and charging out the wazoo for bottle service. So, what better place to spend the later hours of a bachelorette party than at Prague!? When we arrived late- and when I say late, I mean around 11:30- the male to female ratio was about 7-1, so that combined with the fact that a) we were a well-accessorized bachelorette party and b) most of the young men were unaware, in their altered state and that dim environment, that we were probably older than their mothers, meant we got a lot of extra-special attention. The highlight of this place from what I could gather are the highly untouchable dancers on the dais,which provided additional explanation for the attention we received. These lovely girls, dressed in softcore S&M garb circa 1998 and flailing their giant flogs at the young men nearby, seemed to me strange and sad, and made the feminist inside me weep quietly as I shimmied my way around the dance pole. Of course, not to be outdone all we ladies had our turn on the pole, which gave way to hips being humped and, thankfully, the last of the bachelorette tasks quickly being completed so we could return to our hotels and pass out. Aaah, the fond mem'ries Prague will provide.
