Post #275483 by Formikahini on Fri, Dec 29, 2006 11:17 AM

Name:Balinese Room
Type:restaurant
Street:2107 Seawall (21st St. at the beach)
City:Galveston
State:TX
Zip:
country:USA
Phone:(409) 762-9696
Status: as of Hurricane Ike - No longer operational (see pics below)

Description:
The Balinese Room, located at the end of a looong pier over Galveston waters, has had many periods in its history.

1.) It was a grand casino/restaurant/bar/supper club from 1941-1957. You can read its story on their website (and see scads of photos in the History section), but suffice it to say that when you have the likes of Sinatra, Bob Hope, Groucho Marx, Jack Benny, George Burns & Gracie Allen, Duke Ellington, Tony Bennett, Jayne Mansfield, Gene Autry, Howard Hughes, and Diamond Jim West frequenting the stage and/or casino floors, you're talking a BIG DEAL. One of the many origin-of-the-Margarita stories holds that Balinese head bartender Santos Cruz invented it for Peggy Lee in 1948. Stories abound of Galveston County Sheriff Frank Biaggne's being on the take and telling the casino when the Texas Rangers were planning a raid. By the time the Rangers got to the end of the long breezeway, the tables were dumped off the balconies or (more likely) folded and hidden away.

Asked why his men never raided the place, Biagge told the legislative reform committee (before being booted out of office), that he never raided the Balinese casino because the place was a private club, he wasn't a member and he couldn't get in. :lol:

My favorite story is of the band's launching into "The Eyes of Texas" when the cops moved in, thus impeding their entrance substantially; we Texans will always stand to sing the national song of Texas, natch :wink: The story goes that the new sheriff did not play ball, and thus a final raid closed The Balinese Room until:

2.) It was re-opened as a supper club from 1965-1985.

3. ) After almost two decades of neglect, Houston lawyer Scott Arnold recently bought the Balinese and re-furbished it to its former glory. Its stage is a thing of bamboo beauty and the room is filled with tall copper and neon :roll: palm trees. Tikis are minimal but present; I counted 3 on my last visit. Tropical murals adorn the walls. I have only been there by day and have not had the opportunity to sample the bar's work. At the seawall (the street entrance), there is a store selling typical beach/tropical wares, plus there's a nice display of photos from the club's illustrious history. Local cover bands are the featured entertainment now. Not exactly Sinatra, but if it will keep the place open, I'm not going to complain. Openly.

One more cool point:
Just as they did with the best little whorehouse in Texas ("La Grange"), local boys ZZ Top wrote a song about this spot: "Balinese" (1973)

Note: there was a thread on here long ago about the Balinese, But "Search" seems unable to pull it up.

http://www.balineseroom.net
[email protected]

[ Edited by: Formikahini 2006-12-29 11:26 ]

[ Edited by: Formikahini 2011-03-19 15:00 ]