Gloria’s after dark
My clubbing days are behind me. I can’t tell you which is the hot club in Houston, where to go for the best Latino music, where the good DJ’s can be found, or even where to find a recommendation for a great club. Once upon a time I did know, but I don’t any more. So when I had to help plan a wedding shower party (dinner and dancing), I did the only thing that made sense: I let my sister pick the club.
Gloria’s Latin Cuisine is a restaurant I’ve reviewed on this site. I was pleased with the restaurant, mostly, though at least my dish was a bit of a disappointment. My family loves the food there and I agree that the service and the decor is good. Though I was acquainted with the restaurant, I didn’t know that on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays they offer live music and dancing. My sister, it seems, knew better.
When you book a reservation in a restaurant, or club, there are things you expect automatically regardless of the location: that the reservation will be held, that service will be good, that you will enjoy yourself and so will the person being celebrated. It’s so easy for a night out to go wrong: the food, the drinks, the wait staff, the valet service, the music, the restrooms, etc., etc. A thousand small details that all contribute to a great experience or a bad one.
Dancing at Gloria’s was a great experience.
The bottle service was efficient and seamless. We never ran out of drinks, the wait staff cleared out used glasses quickly, and we always had fresh ice and clean glasses. And we almost never got a chance to pour our own drinks, with their staff always on top of serving the group.
The music was exceptional. With a combination of a live band and a DJ, there was a nice transition from one to the other. If you go to dance, you’ll get a chance to do just that. And the music itself varied from club favorites to salsa to the occasional Spanish rock song. I danced until my feet hurt, then kept on dancing. (Since I am a very bad reviewer, I didn’t take note of the name of the DJ or the band, sorry.)
The place was packed but kept clean. I’d never before seen staff going onto the dance floor, armed with wash cloths and flashlights, checking the dance floor for spills and cleaning them continuously. (Dancers were going onto the dance floor with their drinks, and splashing their contents as they danced.)
The bathroom was clean, remained clean, and the bathroom attendant was friendly. Enough said.
The valet was quick. On a Saturday night.
My family and I decided that we are definitely going to go back to repeat the experience, this time without the wedding as an excuse. It’s not the cheapest night out you could choose (nowhere in Midtown is going to be “affordable”), but we enjoyed it a lot.
There are no photos from the celebration attached to this post; what happens at Gloria’s stays at Gloria’s.
– Posted by Sandra Fernandez
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Sandra Fernandez is a professional communicator, tech enthusiast, book lover, and blogger. You can find her main blog at SandraSays.com and more of her writing at HispanicHouston.com.