A quick look around Club Dada last night, and you wouldn't necessarily know that anything crazy had been going on at the venue in recent weeks. Indeed, there were bands on stage, patrons listening to the music and bartenders whipping up drinks as fast as they could.
"We're open," Club Dada co-owner Ben Tapia said last night at his venue. "We've been open."
Since Tuesday, actually. And, again, Tapia stresses, the times in which the club wasn't open? Strictly voluntary--and, in this case, an excuse to clean up the joint.
"The state of the actual bar--not the venue, even though that's needed some work--was fucking disgusting," he says, before noting that, in his opinion, the bar is in the best condition it's been in since he took the reigns of the place a little over a year ago. "It's cleaner than it's ever been. The bar staff that I have now just went to town."
The cleaning wasn't necessarily all Tapia's idea, though: Just as his club had been visited by the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission in recent weeks, it's also seen two visits from Health Department officials wanting to make sure the place was up to snuff. In turn, they gave the venue a list of things the department wanted to see taken care of.
Now, Tapia says, that's all settled. So, too, he says, are his debts to alcohol distributors. And, sure enough, if you check the TABC Official Delinquent List, on which Dada appeared earlier this month, this afternoon, Dada's name is nowhere to be found.
Admittedly, though, Tapia's moving forward somewhat cautiously, mostly because of concerns on how his club was being viewed in recent weeks.
"I'm still trying to get together all of the facts," he says. "And there will still be an official statement or follow-up. So stay tuned."
Update: Club Dada is now closed. More coming soon...
"We're open," Club Dada co-owner Ben Tapia said last night at his venue. "We've been open."
Since Tuesday, actually. And, again, Tapia stresses, the times in which the club wasn't open? Strictly voluntary--and, in this case, an excuse to clean up the joint.
"The state of the actual bar--not the venue, even though that's needed some work--was fucking disgusting," he says, before noting that, in his opinion, the bar is in the best condition it's been in since he took the reigns of the place a little over a year ago. "It's cleaner than it's ever been. The bar staff that I have now just went to town."
The cleaning wasn't necessarily all Tapia's idea, though: Just as his club had been visited by the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission in recent weeks, it's also seen two visits from Health Department officials wanting to make sure the place was up to snuff. In turn, they gave the venue a list of things the department wanted to see taken care of.
Now, Tapia says, that's all settled. So, too, he says, are his debts to alcohol distributors. And, sure enough, if you check the TABC Official Delinquent List, on which Dada appeared earlier this month, this afternoon, Dada's name is nowhere to be found.
Admittedly, though, Tapia's moving forward somewhat cautiously, mostly because of concerns on how his club was being viewed in recent weeks.
"I'm still trying to get together all of the facts," he says. "And there will still be an official statement or follow-up. So stay tuned."
Update: Club Dada is now closed. More coming soon...
