- Local
- Community
- Journalism
Support the independent voice of Dallas and help keep the future of Dallas Observer free.
Amid the rapid urbanization of Deep Ellum, the need for a dance club is high. As quirky, Instagrammable food spots seem to be pushing out the culturally significant bars and clubs, Beauty Bar’s new Deep Ellum location aims to create a space where people can have fun, be themselves and, most importantly, dance.
The original Beauty Bar location in Knox-Henderson — which hosted its last weekend of parties last month before making way for developers — was lauded by many as the best place to dance in Dallas. Its new home marks the latest venture into Deep Ellum by owner Brooke Humphries, who already set up shop elsewhere in the neighborhood last year with Mama Tried.
Beauty Bar’s resident Saturday night DJ, Blake Ward, hopes the club's legacy will continue to grow in its new location. “I’m excited because I’ll be able to take more risks with my DJing and capture a new crowd,” he says.
Last Saturday, Ward's long-running Glamorama made its first appearance at the new location during its soft-opening weekend. The night before, the club was christened with the brand-new Night Moves with It'll Do Club's resident DJ Red Eye.
“Anytime a bar has been open for eight years, it starts to eventually lose its luster and you lose the advantage of being new," Ward says. "Whenever something’s new, people want to come and try it out and people get excited about it. I’m excited to have that advantage (again).”
The new Beauty Bar is a lot more spacious than the original, which was known for its tight, up-close-and-personal dancing quarters. Up front, the bar is styled similarly to a retro beauty salon, with three large mirrors mounted on the wall. A “waiting room” with a couch welcomes club-goers upon first entry.
In the back is a large, designated dancing room that feels positively luxurious compared with the former Knox-Henderson digs. While the dance area is still under construction, it proved to be sufficient for Dallasites to get their grooves on during the soft opening. The dance floor surely was not empty when Ward spun throwback tunes like Terror Squad’s “Lean Back” and Juvenile’s “Back That Azz Up.”
Ward hopes to help cultivate a fun and inclusive environment for everyone who comes to Beauty Bar.
“Beauty Bar has always been a place that anyone can come to, but at the same time, we want it to be safe. We’re going to put lights in the back," Wards says. "We aren’t going to be selective at the door, but we are going to limit the amount of the people we let in, just so it’s not crowded and squished.”
Beauty Bar is now open to the public in Deep Ellum. It will be open Tuesday through Saturday from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m.
Keep the Dallas Observer Free... Since we started the Dallas Observer, it has been defined as the free, independent voice of Dallas, and we would like to keep it that way. Offering our readers free access to incisive coverage of local news, food and culture. Producing stories on everything from political scandals to the hottest new bands, with gutsy reporting, stylish writing, and staffers who've won everything from the Society of Professional Journalists' Sigma Delta Chi feature-writing award to the Casey Medal for Meritorious Journalism. But with local journalism's existence under siege and advertising revenue setbacks having a larger impact, it is important now more than ever for us to rally support behind funding our local journalism. You can help by participating in our "I Support" membership program, allowing us to keep covering Dallas with no paywalls.
