Walk into one California strip club and there is a full bar, but the dancers stay partly covered. Walk into another and the performers are fully nude, but the strongest thing for sale is juice or soda. This is not house style. It follows directly from the state’s alcohol rules: a venue holding an on-sale licence from the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control is bound by the ABC’s conduct regulations, and a venue that skips the licence is not.
What the ABC rules actually say
Two regulations do most of the work. CCR Rule 143.2 states that no on-sale licence shall be held at premises where staff serve alcohol or mingle with patrons while exposing any portion of the female breast below the top of the areola, or the pubic hair, anus, cleft of the buttocks, vulva or genitals.
CCR Rule 143.3 covers entertainers. On licensed premises no licensee may permit performance or simulation of sexual acts, touching or fondling of breasts, buttocks, anus or genitals, or display of the pubic hair, anus, vulva or genitals. The same rule sets a layout requirement: entertainers whose breasts or buttocks are exposed must perform only on a stage at least 18 inches above the floor and at least six feet from the nearest patron.
That leaves operators a fork in the road:
- Keep the liquor licence and accept the ABC limits on nudity and contact — the topless-with-a-bar model.
- Drop the liquor licence and run as a non-alcoholic venue, often called a juice bar, where full nudity is permitted as far as local law allows.
The six-foot and 18-inch rules are ABC rules, so they bind licensed venues. Unlicensed nude venues are governed instead by city and county ordinances, which vary considerably.
Los Angeles
Los Angeles adds zoning on top. LAMC Sec. 12.70 restricts establishing or substantially enlarging an adult entertainment business within 500 feet of any lot in an “A” or “R” zone, and imposes distance requirements from other adult establishments, parks and religious buildings. That is part of why LA venues are spread across industrial corridors and outlying districts rather than clustered in one street.
Jumbo’s Clown Room on Hollywood Boulevard is the well-documented outlier. It opened in 1970, founded by former circus clown Jack “Jumbo” Taylor, obtained a cabaret licence for striptease in the early 1980s, and in 2004 city ordinances pushed it to operate formally as a bikini bar. It has never been an all-nude venue — a bar, a stage, and no nudity at all.
- Jumbo’s Clown Room — 5153 Hollywood Blvd
- Cheetahs Club Hollywood — 4600 Hollywood Blvd
- Blue Zebra Cabaret — 6872 Farmdale Ave, North Hollywood
- Silver Reign — 11908 Mississippi Ave
- Sam’s Hofbrau — 1751 E Olympic Blvd
- Dames n’ Games — 2319 E Washington Blvd
- Spearmint Rhino Downtown LA — 2020 E Olympic Blvd
- Alameda Strip Club — 4209 S Alameda St
- Deja Vu Showgirls Los Angeles — 1800 S Main St
- 4Play Club — 2238 Cotner Ave
- Bare Elegance — 4824 W Imperial Hwy, Inglewood
- Spearmint Rhino Van Nuys — 15004 Oxnard St
- Spearmint Rhino City of Industry — 15411 E Valley Blvd
San Francisco
San Francisco layers a Place of Entertainment permit on top of the state rules. It is required for any business offering entertainment on an ongoing basis, only properties in certain parts of the city may apply, and the Entertainment Commission routes applications to Planning, Police and other departments for review. The clubs below sit in and around the North Beach and Broadway corridor.
- Little Darlings — 312 Columbus Ave
- Penthouse Club San Francisco — 412 Broadway St
- Larry Flynt’s Hustler Club — 1031 Kearny St
San Diego
San Diego is the strictest of the three on paper. The city requires a police permit to operate, plus separate permits for nude entertainers. The ordinance prohibits nude dancers from coming within six feet of patrons, bans lap dances and touching of any kind, and confines nudity to the main stage.
- Fantasy Shots — 3895 Pacific Hwy
- Deja Vu Showgirls San Diego — 2720 Midway Dr
What to check before you go
- Nude or topless, and whether there is a bar. The two travel together under the ABC rules. If you want a drink with the show you are looking for a topless venue; if you want full nudity, expect a non-alcoholic one.
- Whether the club takes cards, and where the ATM is. Many adult venues are cash-driven, and on-site machines add a fee.
- Local contact rules. In San Diego the ordinance bans lap dances and any touching and confines nudity to the main stage, so services advertised elsewhere in California may not be legal there.