PlanJam!From your screen to the scene

Tired of having to send back the steak that’s a little too bloody? Like your toast just a little bit more, well…toasty? Well, you’re sure to always have it your way at Gaslamp’s The Strip Club because every steak is cooked to your liking: hey, at Strip Club you cook ‘em yourself! Not done enough? Slap ‘er back on the fire, old boy! Too well done? Oh, well—you can always complain to the chef: that would be you!

2006 Gold Medallion Winner, Best Casual Steakhouse, this downtown institution is a second home to lovers of grilled steak, chicken, fish, and vegetables from all over San Diego County. And while the meals may be self-cooked, the menu is nothing if not full-service, with appetizers to get your motor going, drinks to keep ‘er purring along, and desserts to top off an evening of fun spent ‘round the community grill. Locals and visitors alike rub elbows vying for space on one of several cooking surfaces available for fun and feasting. Popular as Strip Club has become, however, there’s never a great wait once you’re there–meat in hand, a hungry look on your face–ready to charbroil your way to heaven. There’s always room for another porterhouse, filet mignon, shrimp, or an Ahi kebob or two. Steak, soy, and hot sauces, salt, pepper, and a variety of other tasty seasonings ring each grill’s perimeter, for those ready to savor some flavor.

And in the unlikely event your little cooking experiment fails to achieve the status of culinary masterpiece, they’ve lined the walls of Strip Club with original works by Spanish artist Vargas, whose masterpieces of feminine beauty—the Vargas Girl—tastefully graced the noses of World War II fighter planes, the pages of Esquire and Playboy Magazines, and the covers of many rock and roll albums from the 1940s through the 1980’s.

There’s a downside to the story, though. Because the bar’s not self-serve, hunky bartenders must keep the refreshments pouring for those just there to enjoy the bevy of plasma TVs shining down on the festivities from above, the jumpin’ music, and the gorgeous bar patrons. ‘Seems not everyone needs a charbroiled steak dinner with garlic mashed potatoes, sautéed asparagus, or beer battered onion rings. And because it’s a proven, scientific fact that not everyone shares the same tolerance for the plush, luxurious, naughahyde booth, Downtown San Diego’s exhilarating nighttime atmosphere, or some of the most beautiful waitresses San Diego has to offer, some people never get to experience the Strip Club’s self-serve wine cellar and Steak n’ Dom Perignon special. You may just need to go on down and take one for the team!