Ybor bets on burlesque

By Susan Thurston, tbt* Staff Writer
Published December 7, 2007

Honey Pot

Ybor City's newest nightclub opens Dec. 14 at 1507 E Seventh Ave. Burlesque show nights are 10 p.m. to 3 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays. Call (813) 247-HONEY (4663) for information or (813) 919-3712 for bottle reservations. www.myspace.com/tampahoneypot .

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Over the years, Ybor has tried just about everything to attract crowds, from goth bars to oxygen bars to bikini bars.

Now it's about add a burlesque bar.

Honey Pot is set to open Dec. 14 on Seventh Avenue in the former Club Code. Sexy female dancers will strut in boas, beads and as little else as the law allows.

"They'll be scantily clad, but they will be clothed," said guest services manager Ernie Webb.

Club operators D. Stephen Moss and Steve Donahue came up with the idea as an alternative to the cookie-cutter clubs that have eroded Ybor's image. No sink-or-swim specials, they say. Just flashy entertainment for the 21-and-up crowd.

The club will feature cabaret and Las Vegas-style shows on Fridays and Saturday nights and live music the rest of the week. Aside from performing on stage, dancers will hang from a swing and soak in a 7-foot-tall glass of champagne. In keeping with Ybor tradition, go-go girl-types will shake it around poles and in dance cages.

"Show palace atmosphere," Moss said, with red velvet drapes, chandeliers and mirrored balls.

Modeled loosely after the Pussycat Doll Lounge in Las Vegas, the club will have its own dance group led by local choreographer Jenna Grainger. There will be no seating for the shows; clubgoers will just mingle on the dance floor in front of the stage.

Although clubs in Ybor have a history of coming and going, Honey Pot owners believe patrons will support a new concept. Moss points to G.Bar, their year-old gay and lesbian bar a block away on Seventh, which draws huge crowds.

"We've seen that people want Ybor to rebound," he said. "There's a resurgence of quality nightclubs and a departure of nightclubs that gave Ybor a bad name."

Honey Pot will cater to 25- to 45-year-old professionals. Moss, 41, always liked Honey Pot as a bar name and figured a burlesque club, with its emphasis on attractive, sensuous women, was a perfect fit.

Admission will be $10 for men and free for women. For a bottle fee - $135 to $400 for four people - customers will have access to the club's "preferred" area on the upper level, with couches and stage views. Unique to Ybor's nightclubs, Honey Pot plans to have curbside valet parking.

Moss and Donahue partnered with building owner Marvin Solomon to open the 13,000-square-foot club. They began remodeling in November, repolishing the main dance floor area and building dressing rooms for the dancers. They left much of Club Code intact.

Dancers began auditioning a few weeks ago. Some work at other clubs in Ybor, and a few have dance backgrounds in burlesque.

Despite the cabaret theme, DJs will play mostly top 40 hits. A track from Moulin Rouge might sneak in somewhere, but the owners wanted to keep the music current for the nightclub crowd.

After all, this is Ybor.

[Last modified December 7, 2007, 09:06:56]