I remember when the topic of sex was very much a taboo. Then an establishment like Hooters came to town, bringing together men’s fantasies in beautiful girls in orange hot pants and spicy chicken wings to a bright, PG-13 daylight. And the recent emergence of a show like E! Network’s The Girl Next Door introduced the once-risqué magazine to the mainstream masses, making it acceptable to watch sexy women jump around naked while having dinner with your family (and no more excuses about how much they love the article). What can we say? Sex sells!

If you thought Hooters were sexy, you’ve got to try Gaslamp Strip Club in the heart of Downtown’s Gaslamp District in San Diego. This place is like Hooters on steroid, with much better food and way hotter waitresses and bartenders (girls-next-door type, totally NOT sleazy). It was our special friend Lita’s birthday weekend, and Maya and I traveled to San Diego to celebrate it in a bachelorette-party-meets-girls-night-out style, while our husbands and boyfriend stayed home 🙂

In addition to the unique concept, Gaslamp Strip Club is not just another place where sexy waitresses serve you food. It actually allows you to cook your own steak on a smoking hot grill. Say goodbye to getting a piece of well-done meat when you ordered a medium-rare steak (my pet peeve), or complaining about its lack of seasoning, when you’re on the driver’s seat!

So this is how it goes. First, you order a piece of steak you like. Maya and I ordered the Porterhouse steaks (very reasonably priced at $21.95) and Lita ordered the Strip Club Skirt steak ($14.95). Once you get your uncooked, 21-day aged, Mid-Western, corn-fed Angus meat, you walk over to one of the two grills in the restaurant. Season the steak to your likings from the various available seasonings and slap that meat on the grill!

Look at this big ass Porterhouse steak perfectly cooked medium rare!

All meals come with garlic bread and a delicious family style house salad with creamy Italian dressing.

You can order other side dishes from the XXX-tras selections like the crisp onion rings!

The food offered here is pretty average but it’s the ambiance and the price that makes it irresistible for people looking for something unique and affordable.  As you can imagine, majority of the patrons were men, but the atmosphere is so non-threatening that any women can walk in and have a great time.

It was so nice that our beautiful and wonderful waitress brought us a complimentary dessert of chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwich with a candle for Lita’s birthday! (All three of us had a little girl crush on her.) This night was so much fun, we really thought it should have been illegal. And if you ever thought good girls don’t know how to have fun, you’d be very wrong!

By the way, Maya and I had several of the cocktail called, “Kinky Key Lime Martini,” which was absolutely delicious and potent! When we got back to our hotel room right around the corner, I totally fell asleep (I’m a total light weight), while Lita and Maya watched Sex and the City, the movie. Talk about an ultimate slumber party! Happy birthday, Lita baby!

Gaslamp Strip Club
340 Fifth Avenue, San Diego, CA
★★★★☆