Sunday, February 13, 2011

Key Club Cabaret (New Haven, CT)

Note: The Key Club Cabaret was previously the Crazy Horse, but had to change their name due to a trademark dispute with the Vegas Crazy Horse.  Previously, this was Stage Door Johnny's/Back Stage Johnny's.  

Quality of Dances (14.5/20) – There's a huge variation from one girl to the next, with some girls being fairly tame and some girls making a solid attempt to get the job done. Still, even most of the more tame girls have a few moves to make a dance worthwhile.  Also, the dances here are usually nude if you stick around for multiple songs, though that's not a huge plus in my book due to the risk of having to get my dress pants dry-cleaned.  A few girls have indicated that extras are available in the VIP area, but I haven't had $100+ to see if they're true to their word.

Quality of Dancers (5/10) – If you haven't been here since it was Johnny's, you should be pleased, because the quality has gone up significantly under new ownership.  It's still rare to see any girls that I'd rate above an 8 and there are a few who are way past their sell-by date, but the majority of girls are now in the 5-7 range.  Normally that would be worth around a 6, but I had to knock them down a point for having two "girls" that I'm fairly certain are post-op trannies.  Maybe they're just strong-jawed ladies, but in either case, why would a club hire dancers who even beg that question?    

Number of Dancers (6/10) – In the early evenings, there aren't usually a whole lot of dancers or customers.  The lack of customers means that you'll have your pick of the litter, but the lack of dancers means that you still might not have much quality to chose from.  Later in the evening, the number of dancers goes up much quicker than the number of customers, so there might be 2 dancers for every customer if you get here at the right time, and even if you don't, you shouldn't have a hard time getting a girl's attention for a dance. The only time that I've had a real problem was on a Sunday afternoon when there were no dancers, but the manager bought a few rounds of drinks for everyone who was there and the bartendress stepped up to offer lap dances. It still wasn't ideal, but I admire a club that at least makes the effort to make up for its shortcomings.

Variety/Diversity of Dancers (2.5/5) – The Key Club has a mix of black and white dancers and they've got more than enough size variation, but the lack of Latinas is a real shame.  For whatever reason, the black girls here were usually somewhat hotter than the white ones when this was Johnny's, but that trend seems to be slowly reversing recently.

Attitude of Dancers (6.5/10) – On multiple occasions, girls have been happy to show me around the club including the VIP dance area even without me asking, and most of them are friendly whether they're on stage or just sitting around bullshitting with customers.  This seems like the type of place where's you'd run into some strung out girls, but that hasn't been my experience at all.  I did once have to help a girl stay on her chair because she was falling down drunk, but otherwise, these girls seem to be fairly well put together.

Value (3/10) – There's a $10 cover after 6pm that gets you into both clubs and the $5 beers, $25 dances and moderate stage value are all ok, but there are much better values to be found elsewhere in Connecticut.  I love lap dances, and these ones are pretty solid, but I have a hard time ever justifying more than one or two when they cost more than $20 each.  Thankfully, some of the girls drop the price to $20 per dance after the first one since the club isn't taking a cut of that extra cash, so you should always ask about that before you agree to a dance if you're considering staying for multiple songs.    

Dance Setup (3/10) – The dance booths from Johnny's are gone, so even though the dance area is classier now, it's not nearly as private.  Still, it isn't terrible since there are two separate bench areas on the nude side of the club, and you can't see those areas unless you're in them.  The ladies make sure to take you to the second bench area if there's already a guy in the first one, so you get an area to yourself as long as only one or two customers are getting dances at a time.  Any more than that though, and it gets cramped and loses all privacy really quickly.  If you're willing to drop the cash for the VIP dances, you'll go around the corner to a row of decent sized individual rooms with a large comfy couch in each.  They don't have doors on the booths, but no one will see you unless they're going for a private dance, so it's still pretty solid if you're looking to get a little intimate.  

Club Setup (4/10) – The new owners have put a lot of money into this place and it's certainly a huge improvement over the way it was before, but something is still missing.  The topless side has a long bar that fills up quickly, a long bench style couch along the far side wall, and a large stage. The stage is reasonably nice overall, but it has one annoying flaw - it doesn't have a lower shelf or ledge where you can sit your drink, so you're choices are to awkwardly hold your beverage or to sit it right on the stage. Not a huge problem, but who knew they even make stages without a place to sit drinks? The nude side doesn't really seem to be a popular place to hang out, but it also has a decent stage with some chairs around it.  I think the topless side needs some tables and booths to make it better for groups, because I really can't see coming here with more than one or two other guys.  

Club Atmosphere (3/10) – The setup has become more upscale, but the old dive bar atmosphere still shows through.  I imagine that it will eventually be fairly nice, but for now, it's kind of in that awkward zone where it's too classy to be a dive but too shitty to be classy.  I could also see it getting rougher later at night, but the crowd has always been alright while I've been there.

Club Accessibility (3.5/5) – The Key Club is very close to I-91, isn't too far from I-95, and is within walking distance of some of the best pizza in the U.S. over on Wooster Street.  If you're from the area, I'm sure that you already have your preference and I know better than to try to change your mind, but if you're just passing through, I'd have to recommend Frank Pepe's if you're interested in toppings and Sally's if you're going for plain cheese.  You can't go wrong either way though.  

Overall – The Key Club is already the best club, by far, in New Haven.  It may not be great, but the dances are very good and everything else is solid if you can overlook the varied quality of dancers.  I'm guessing that the dancer quality will go up over time, but for now, that prevents me from adding it to my Connecticut rotation.  Overall, it's about on par with Keepers in Milford, and even though I'd still probably chose Centerfolds in Berlin over the Key Club, the Key Club has become a very reasonable option if you're in New Haven and time is limited.

TOTAL SCORE = 51

19 comments:

  1. Went to Crazy Horse tonight, 12/16/10... best strip club experience of my life. Free entry, free food, 20+ gorgeous girls. They just opened under new management and this is their opening week, the place is clean and completely made over. Highly recommend a visit.

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    1. This place is now the Key club Cabaret. We went there last night and it was like walking into a high end NY club! Loved it!!!!

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  2. Checked out the new Crazy Horse New Haven and its really cool. totally updated(it needed it!)
    the girls are all new and very hot, i have been back twice and its better each time. worth the trip.

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  3. I tried the New Crazy Horse New Haven and I was really surprised by the overall improvement of the place. The new owners have done a really great job,and spent a ton of money improving the place. The club feels so much more comfortable and much much safer. The flat screen TV's are a great addition as I am a sports junkie. I have noticed the girls are 100% better looking and there always seems to be a great selection of new ones every time I visit. Overall, I think its one of the best strip clubs in CT. PS. I also visited their other club in the Bronx and was also very pleased with it although I was not sure how safe it would be but the security was top notch.

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  4. Just tried the Crazy Horse New haven and I have to say that I was very impressed. I heard the place just had a makeover and it really shows. The new owners are From New york and they definitely add that "Goodfellas" feel to the club, which is not a bad thing at all as I felt very safe. Also the free buffet was really good as they have it catered from a great italian restaurant nearby. Overall I rate the club a 9 out of 10. I will be a regular customer whenever I am in town.

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  5. Just tried the New Crazy Horse aand I have to say that my buddies and I really loved the place. The girls are very sexy with a really nice selection of them. The security is 100% better than it used to be when it was called stage door johnnies. Overall I would say one of the top 10 clubs I have been to in the country. The new owners and managers really seem to care about the customers and even bought us all a round of drinks! We will make this our regular club for now on.

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  6. The crazyhorse cabaret has changed its name to The Key Club Cabaret. The club is still the same with some minor updating. The slogan they use is "new York Comes To CT" and its is truly so. On Thurs fri and sat nights they have over 40 girls up from thier other club in Ny. This place rocks!

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  7. Went here an had a.very bad time!the owners an.dancers suck.i could say pay extra 100&an get what u want

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  8. I love the Key club!!! By far the best strip club in CT. Went there on a friday night and they had at least 40 girls. The place is great, with one side totally nude and one side topless. Nude side was open till 4am. They have two DJs which makes the place feel like a nightclub/strip club. LOVE IT!!!

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  9. Just tried the all new Key Club Cabaret, and all i can say is WOW! Felt like I was in a NYC club. Love the girls and love the vibe of this place. Will be a regualar from now on.

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  10. Saw the TV commercial for college night and all I can say is im glad i did, this place rocks! this thursday going back with my whole crew.

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  11. lol All the above comments are obviously by someone strongly affiliated to the club, either the owner or Advertising Manager. I agree with the author of this club, it's descent at best, for now.

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  12. Totally agree, someone was writing all the same thing, bit obvious it was someone from the club. Went there after hours, when all the bars are closed, thats when they do their business. Girls were bombed by that time, sloppy. Couple of good girls, definately not NYC!! they just cleaned it up, still the same place, same owners behind scenes! Good for after hours buzz

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  13. Went here a couple of months ago on a random afternoon as I had nothing better to do - and boy am i glad i did. The girls are super friendly. there were like 4-5 other guys there having drinks and probably 5 girls working. the girls were super friendly and flirting, chilling with guys at the bar. not too pushy about a getting a dance which is good.

    Of course i got a dance from this gorgeous girl - (Shae?) and she could totally work it. Quality dance and like the author said, you pretty much get a big room to yourself anyway. So about 80% of the way through the dance she asked me if I wanted to go to a private room and promised a true champagne room experience.

    Now i have done vip room dances three or four times before and they usually will let you touch, get completely naked, maybe let you kiss the tits / kiss your neck etc. but this one was truly top-notch. After 10 odd minuted, she said time to take care of you and give you a champagne room experience. sure enough she delivered. quite surprised and shocked to be honest. never expected such a thing to happen. lol shows how naive i am eh.

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  14. Love the new Key Club! More dancers than any other club in CT. Best night out we had in a long time. Will be our regular strip club for now on. VIP dances are amazing!

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  15. Just left the New Key Club Cabaret, Had a blast! Club has a great vibe and the girls are beautiful and fun. Will come again.

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  16. Somebody at the club is busy with their PR campaign

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  17. my favorite club. like to stop in for a drink after work usually spend some time with jasmine or gia when she's around. bartenders are always friendly and management is pretty laid back. looking forward to coming back after my vacation next week.

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  18. I went to this club a couple months ago. It used to be my favorite. I paid my cover and walked in and damn, it was ALL black. Now I'm not racist, but I'm also not attracted to black girls. There was not a single white girl. As for the customers, also all black. Very uncomfortable being there. Three days later they had a shooting and a stripper died. Place has gone to the locals. No good anymore, too bad.

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