lwood Posted January 3, 2006 Share Posted January 3, 2006 We celebrated the New Year at the Balinese Room in Galveston. We were surprised at how nice the place was and the service was excellent. The big band sound played by Ezra Charles and his group was a perfit match to the 1940's decor. This place is a step back in time and well worth the trip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Posted January 3, 2006 Share Posted January 3, 2006 We celebrated the New Year at the Balinese Room in Galveston. We were surprised at how nice the place was and the service was excellent. The big band sound played by Ezra Charles and his group was a perfit match to the 1940's decor. This place is a step back in time and well worth the trip.Ezra is actually a friend of mine and he loves that room. I need to make a trip down there and take in such a historic club. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lowbrow Posted January 4, 2006 Share Posted January 4, 2006 Ezra used to play at Trumpets on the Strand when I worked there back in the early 90s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
native_Houstonian Posted January 4, 2006 Share Posted January 4, 2006 We celebrated the New Year at the Balinese Room in Galveston. We were surprised at how nice the place was and the service was excellent. The big band sound played by Ezra Charles and his group was a perfit match to the 1940's decor. This place is a step back in time and well worth the trip.I was there too! It WAS a great evening. And the "Casino Room" in the back looks like a wonderful place to have a private party. There was an event in there New Year's with their own band, and there was no noise pollution between the rooms. A good time was had by all! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
houstonfella Posted January 6, 2006 Share Posted January 6, 2006 I remember in the mid-80's when it was a hopping restaurant and we had a birthday dinner down there. It was cool to be over the water. Very unique place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MidtownCoog Posted January 6, 2006 Share Posted January 6, 2006 I read not long ago the TABC was doing one of their regular walkthroughs, and they found the employees in the walk-in cooler smoking the sweet, sweet cheeba.D'oh! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Posted January 6, 2006 Share Posted January 6, 2006 I read not long ago the TABC was doing one of their regular walkthroughs, and they found the employees in the walk-in cooler smoking the sweet, sweet cheeba.D'oh!aahhh, down at the Balinese! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Posted January 17, 2006 Share Posted January 17, 2006 Last week we had a thread on the Balinese which prompted me to look into the club. I went to the Balinese site yesterday and was wowed by the history of this place. It was actually an illegal casino in the 40's which is why they initially built the long walkways into the club. It was frequented by huge stars long before Vegas was on the map. Stars like, Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee, George Burns, Benny Goodman etc, frequented the famous club.Another interesting tidbit was the invention of the margarita at the Balinese. According to the website, a well known latin bartender used to make this particular drink, which he invented for Peggy (Margarate) Lee. Peggy would have him make the drink everytime she was in town, thus the bartender eventually named the drink, "The Margarita".They also talked about the wonderfull "original" murals which have been completely restored, including some very expensive and original acrylic drawings.The restoration of the club was taken on by Houston Attorney Scott Arnold who obviously has a great passion for the history and nastalgia of such a great piece of history.There is to much history to mention, so if interested go to scottarnoldpc.com/br/. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cabanaboy Posted January 17, 2006 Share Posted January 17, 2006 We celebrated the New Year at the Balinese Room in Galveston. We were surprised at how nice the place was and the service was excellent. The big band sound played by Ezra Charles and his group was a perfit match to the 1940's decor. This place is a step back in time and well worth the trip. I was there for new years but don't remember a damn thing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sevfiv Posted January 18, 2006 Share Posted January 18, 2006 the balinese room is neat, although i'll think many will argue about the origins of the margarita! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
native_Houstonian Posted January 18, 2006 Share Posted January 18, 2006 the balinese room is neat, although i'll think many will argue about the origins of the margarita! Well, one of the stories about the invention of the margarita does belong to Santos Cruz Sr. who worked at the Balinese. Today, his son, Alex Cruz, still mixes the original recipe at his bar "The Turf Club" at 2402 Market St. I've had one or two of those margaritas and they are very good. Mixed like a martini in a shaker, served on the rocks. No pre-made mix. Very tasty. Anyone want to join me? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cabanaboy Posted January 18, 2006 Share Posted January 18, 2006 Well, one of the stories about the invention of the margarita does belong to Santos Cruz Sr. who worked at the Balinese. Today, his son, Alex Cruz, still mixes the original recipe at his bar "The Turf Club" at 2402 Market St. I've had one or two of those margaritas and they are very good. Mixed like a martini in a shaker, served on the rocks. No pre-made mix. Very tasty. Anyone want to join me? You can count me in. Whatcha weeeeaaaarrrrrin? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
riverrat Posted January 18, 2006 Share Posted January 18, 2006 Last week we had a thread on the Balinese which prompted me to look into the club. I went to the Balinese site yesterday and was wowed by the history of this place. It was actually an illegal casino in the 40's which is why they initially built the long walkways into the club. It was frequented by huge stars long before Vegas was on the map. Stars like, Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee, George Burns, Benny Goodman etc, frequented the famous club.Another interesting tidbit was the invention of the margarita at the Balinese. According to the website, a well known latin bartender used to make this particular drink, which he invented for Peggy (Margarate) Lee. Peggy would have him make the drink everytime she was in town, thus the bartender eventually named the drink, "The Margarita".They also talked about the wonderfull "original" murals which have been completely restored, including some very expensive and original acrylic drawings.The restoration of the club was taken on by Houston Attorney Scott Arnold who obviously has a great passion for the history and nastalgia of such a great piece of history.There is to much history to mention, so if interested go to scottarnoldpc.com/br/.Former Harris County Sheriff Johnny Klevenhagen's dad was a Texas Ranger who led the raid on the Balinese Room back in about 1957. They threw the confiscated slot machines, at least some of them, into the water below. It made a good publicity shot. There were also lots of illegal gambling sites along Highway 3 and Highway 146 from Kemah to Galveston. There is a great book available thru the Harris County library which documents gambling in Galveston County. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.