Houston is often described as the largest US city without a zoning code, and that is broadly true: it has never adopted a comprehensive land-use plan of the kind other major Texas cities use. Even so, strip clubs cannot open wherever they like. Houston controls where they go through a separate ordinance for sexually oriented businesses in Chapter 28 of the City Code, and that ordinance — and a long lawsuit over it — explains a lot about how the city’s clubs operate today. For state-level rules, including the per-customer fee, see our guide to strip clubs in Texas.
Houston’s rules
Houston first regulated sexually oriented businesses in 1977. The rules that matter today come from 1997 amendments, now in Chapter 28, Article III of the Code of Ordinances:
- Wider buffers. The minimum distance between a club and a school, church or licensed day-care centre went from 750 to 1,500 feet, and public parks were added to the protected list.
- Spacing between businesses. Two sexually oriented businesses may not be within 1,000 feet of each other.
- Relocation deadline. Businesses that no longer met the distance rules were given 180 days to move.
- Interior rules. Requirements for lighting, layout and open sightlines, including no doors on the entrances to entertainment rooms.
- Licensing. Entertainers and managers must hold and display licences, and the business needs a city permit renewed every year.
Club operators challenged the ordinance, arguing among other things that it was really a zoning law adopted without the state’s zoning procedures. In 2003 the Fifth Circuit upheld it in N.W. Enterprises v. City of Houston, accepting the city’s evidence that there were 128 such businesses when the law passed and at least 1,362 sites where they could legally operate. Distance rules, not zoning districts, are how Houston decides where clubs can go.
The dispute ended in November 2013, when Mayor Annise Parker announced a settlement with 16 clubs. The city agreed to stop enforcing the three-foot rule between dancers and customers at those clubs and to allow fully topless dancing there. In return, the clubs agreed to:
- remove all private rooms;
- report prostitution, indecent exposure and drug use to police;
- screen out certain hires;
- together pay more than $1 million a year to fund a Houston Police Department human-trafficking unit.
Four clubs in the list below were among the 16: Club Onyx, The Colorado, The Men’s Club and XTC North. The settlement applies only to the clubs that signed it, so rules at other venues may differ.
Texas also charges a state fee on every customer entry at venues combining nude entertainment with alcohol — now $10 per entry, raised from $5 in September 2023. The Texas guide explains how it works.
Galleria and Uptown
Most of the directory’s Houston listings are in and around the Galleria, near Westheimer Road and Richmond Avenue west of Loop 610.
- The Men’s Club of Houston — 3303 Sage Rd, Houston, TX 77056
- Onyx Houston — 3113 Bering Drive, Houston, TX 77057
- Vivid Live Gentlemen’s Club Houston — 2618 Winrock Blvd, Houston, TX 77057
- Scores Houston — 6340 Westheimer Rd, Houston. At least one major review site lists this location as closed; check before you go.
Southwest Freeway
- The Colorado Sports Bar and Grill — 6710 Southwest Freeway (US-59), Houston, TX 77074, at this site since 1989.
North Freeway (I-45 North)
- XTC Cabaret North Houston — 11415 North Freeway, Houston, TX 77060. At least one major review site lists this location as closed; check before you go.
South Houston
South Houston is a separate city southeast of Houston, so Houston’s Chapter 28 rules do not apply there.
- XTC Cabaret South Houston — 802 Houston Blvd, South Houston, TX 77587. Some listings show a different name at this address; check before you go.
What to check before you go
- Confirm the club is open. Houston venues open, close and change names often. Call the number on the listing or check the club’s own channels on the day.
- Ask about the format. Some venues serve alcohol under a state licence; others are 18+ and bring-your-own. The format affects age limits, drinks and what the cover pays for.
- Know which city you are in. Houston’s permit, licensing and layout rules apply only inside Houston city limits. Clubs in South Houston or other nearby cities fall under their own rules.