The Emerald Club is a strip club in the US city of Knoxville. It is just a short drive from the previously reviewed Mouse’s Ear. Yet the atmosphere inside the two clubs couldn’t be more different. The Mouse’s Ear feels like a down home local bar. The Emerald Club is set up more like a show bar.
I have covered various aspects of the commercial sex industry worldwide for the last 10 years. I’ve written about all sorts of different venues and even individuals. American strip clubs generally operate in a similar way. But there can be a lot of variation between individual shops. Even when they are located inside the same city. Hopefully my coverage of several US strip clubs will show how true that can be.
Inside The Emerald Club
The Emerald Club is stationed alongside a fairly major road. Still the place is easy to miss. The club is housed inside a pretty plain looking brick building. Two illustrations of yellow gems on the walls and a green awning are the only indications that the place exists. There is white writing on the awning that reads “The Emerald” but that’s difficult to see from the parking lot never mind the road.
The cover charge is $12 USD. It is paid up front to rather laid back staff. Thankfully this place is not haunted by brawny bouncers as is the case with some other clubs. Perhaps they just don’t feel they need them. The atmosphere would reflect that as everyone seems either friendly or indifferent.
The inside of the bar is pretty interesting. There is a large T-shaped stage at one end of the building. The words “The Emerald” are scrawled behind that in large neon letters. The whole interior looks like a big bright bash could break out at any minute. Sadly the place seems to stay slow and steady throughout the night.
Strippers, services, prices and summary
The famous line says “if you build it they will come“. But that’s from a movie. Life doesn’t always play out the same way. So it is with The Emerald Club. At least on my visit the place was very quiet for a strip club. I could tell that the owners had good intentions. Yet there just weren’t many people inside.
There are just a handful of dancers working at The Emerald Club on an average night. They are a mix of white and black women who tend towards their early 20’s in age. Most are fairly fit too. Don;t get me wrong. There are some bigger women working here. But I didn’t see any older women. Few of the ladies are heavily tattooed. This may be a sign of inexperience since ink is now so common not only in strip clubs but in general society. If that’s true it could help explain why a lot of the dancers here seem more interested in their phones than the customers.
The ladies take turns dancing on stage and getting fully nude. With few guys inside the place even fewer still seem to actually go up the stage and tip. I think the ladies deserve some compensation for their work so I was happy to get up close and have a look. This only cost me a couple of bucks in any event. Private dances are more at $40 USD each. They are nothing to write home about though with very little contact. More interested to me is that customers can spin a wheel for prizes when they do pay for a private dance.
This is one of the many American strip clubs that has a BYOB policy. Because they have fully nude dancers they can’t sell alcohol. They can only sell soft drinks and snacks. Customers over the age of 21 can bring their own alcohol into the club. This is a strange thing but it is fairly common in some parts of America. I don’t know if it hinders the fun here. But it certainly doesn’t help.
The Emerald Club isn’t a bad place. But it is too quite of a place to have much fun. Lacking a party atmosphere or overly intimate activities means there just isn’t much left. It’s basically a building with some naked ladies inside. That might sound incredible to a sexless guy in the middle of nowhere. For a guy who has seen everything from ping pong shows in Patpong to public blowjobs in Japan it just isn’t that exciting. So I give the place one star.
The Emerald Club. 6302 Clinton Hwy #1215, Knoxville, TN 37912 USA. Click here for a map. Open Tuesday through Saturday from 6:00 PM until 3:00 AM. Phone: +1-865-938-2345.