Hyde

CLOSED
Yassine Enterprises, indicted for money laundering, cocaine distribution, gun running, murder, and more… decided, at the eleventh hour, to turn a bar that had previously been a place where people perceived to be gay were routinely refused entry… OPENS AS A GAY BAR. Scum. Of. The. Earth.
Good Riddance.

Ok… FINALLY went to Hyde and all I gotta say is… boy is this location cursed! You’d think a now turned gay bar in between two established and popular gay bars would equal success but for some reason it doesn’t! It’s like a young scrappy little sister to Kiss and Fly… honestly they should just tear down the side walls and expand Rain into it (it needs the space anyways). Although I learned from Nathan’s review this used to be a gay bar back in the day called Boyz Cellar, I remember this place as the Vegas wannabe club called Qua. Although it’s now called Hyde, it still feels and smells like Qua. NOTHING has changed except for the worse. Obviously no shark tanks but the water fountain is still near the entrance with the addition of a bathtub (it’s a gay club now so let’s add a bathroom fixture and make it into a bubble bath for some twinky go go boys? Umm, no… not hot or classy!), and the dance floor changed back to a solid floor (boring!). There’s still a smell of cleaner/​mop water in the air and unfortunately the venue itself is just uninspiring. I give kudos to the DJ though for at least pumping out some good beats but obviously not to the level of Rain… again, this place needs a change in everything from I guess management as I’ve learned the whole backstory from the other reviews to a new ambience and vision for the place… not just a name change and labeling it as a gay club… Gay patrons seriously all have ADHD when it comes to their bars and if you don’t grab our attention from the very beginning and keep us interested, it’s game over…(as you hear some drag queen scream out… NEXT!).

CLOSED. Finally, need I say more?
Looks like poor Hyde had to close down. Awwww… when you walk by and look past the steel bars that close the place off from the public. You can see the bathtub that once let a half naked boy wash himself off with water for entertainment. Well, either that or thats where the owners did most of their money laundering (clean money is always nice when youre buying stuff)
Not surprised at all that Yassine would have this happen to them, can I get a refund on my drinks or is it tooooo late?

Wow. Hyde. Listen… I don’t know really know where to begin with this whole thing, mostly because this particular venue space has – for years – been a hotbed of so much drama, dissent, decadence, and douchebaggery, that I feel a certain weight not usually present in other reviews.
Let’s rewind for a second, and remember that this place was once Boyz Cellar. To say it wasn’t the classiest of joints is perhaps the understatement of the month, but it held sentimental value to me as one of the places that I frequented having just come out. I fondly recall spending time with gay and straight friends alike as I began my journey into this very complicated new world. It was also where I was first propositioned by a sweaty guy looking to hook up in a men’s restroom. Which I still think was gross.
This Yassine Enterprises outfit (the same owners of Kiss & Fly, Roial, and Pure, among others) sets up a place called «Qua», that earned my ire even before the place was fully functional. Please refer to my 1-​star review of Qua for all the acerbic barbs (e.g: «This place is inexplicably nestled in between two hot gay clubs. Jesus, can’t you heterosexuals at least give us one damn street in this town? I miss Boyz Cellar, where Qua now holds court. Believe me, even that petri dish of STDs and meth was more fun than this uppity, pretentious nonsense.»).
As time went on, the PETA protests of their gimmicky dance floor-​cum-​shark tank (that’s the Latin cum, you pervs), and the never-​ending stories of bullshit dress code harassment that disproportionately fell on would-​be LGBT customers all came to a screeching halt with Qua’s abrupt closing. Obviously, I wasn’t bothered in the slightest.
Apparently, common sense dictated that a GAY BAR inbetween two other GAY BARS would profit more than a rude, phony str8 bar crudely shoehorned between them. Whoulda thunk it?
Jen, Miss Sugarbaker and I arrived on a Friday night. The first thing we (and anyone) noticed was the half naked guy dancing in a bathtub. I’ve seen stranger, but I tried to piece together the Craigslist ad that led to that moment. «New upscale gay bar seeks twinky Latin guy to writhe around in bathtub all night. Must have good interpersonal skills, and possess 3 – 5 years of previous bathtub-​dance experience. Cage dancing a +, but not required. Be prepared for audition in the plumbing section of The Home Depot.» Or something along those lines.
Not much has changed physically, with the «grotto» and open seating at the front, and a long (now shark-​free) blue illuminated dance floor running down the center of the space. Extra seating on the left, full bar on the right. My friend and bartender Jamie was pouring at the back bar, so we made a beeline for him.
Jamie is a straight Australian sweetie who is an excellent bartender and has put up with my crap for years. Actually, the latter is why he is the former. Jamie is also experimental with shots; frequently, my friends and I have been willing guinea pigs for his various concoctions. Some turn out fantastic, and some use wretched bubble gum flavored vodka that I end up spitting out on the person next to me. I can’t tell you what he had lined up for us when we arrived that night, but whatever they were, they were the good kind of shots. A round of good vodka tonics, and we decided to check out the wildlife.
We sat in some comfortable chairs with a view of the dance floor, and had to wait approximately 5 seconds before someone ridiculous came into frame. Enter a skinny chick, dancing like she’s never danced before. That girl was insane. And alone. Until her pocket gay hopped on stage with her and they both started doing their absurdly fast gyrating that made me think I was watching a tape of two short-​circuiting robots being fast forwarded. As a bonus, they were the only ones on the dance floor. They were soaked in perspiration. And they just didn’t. Give. A shit.
I spent the next twenty minutes laughing. Not a low chuckle, or a guffaw. I mean straight up hysterics. I couldn’t stop. It was the giggles on smack. I sat in my Chair of Judgment and laughed so hard I cried. I spilled my drink a little. My sides ached worse than a day at the gym. I even (almost) pissed myself. Whatever it was about Crazy McWhackJob and her equally energetic minion, it tickled me pink and I couldn’t stop laughing until we went to OCH where I was able to compose myself. But just barely.
Well, I am totally happy with the fact the last domino fell, and the gays now reign triumphant again on the 4^th Street strip. I’m not sure how Hyde will fit into the new OCH-​Hyde-​Rain gay bar trifecta, but as long as they can ground themselves and not take themselves too seriously, it should make for a decent third alternative on those treasured nights of barhopping. Jamie is a big part of why *I’ll* be back. And the laughs were priceless.
A solid A-​OK for now, with ample room for growth. And yes, that last phrase was meant to be dirty.
3 Stars.

Despite all the controversy surrounding this company (see Sam E.‘s review), I decided to give Hyde a chance.
My experience there was enjoyable enough. I went on a weeknight to celebrate a good friend’s birthday. Small crowd. Drag show was entertaining. The bartenders gave me really attentive customer service & served some delicious cocktails. Based off that pleasant episode, it’s hard to say if I’d frequent this place when in Austin. It’s just unsettling to picture myself going there exclusively as a final destination, knowing its questionable past. Maybe in passing with friends as we caravan from one bar to the next. But never as a final destination. And I’d definitely chose to spend more money at one of the neighboring bars which flank either side of Hyde before I spend any money there, and then only patronize the openly gay bartenders to keep as much money as possible within our own community.
So, what’s fresh about this place compared to ‘Qua? Mainly, no more sharks/​stingrays in the dance floor aquarium. Everything else is virtually the same as it was a few months back when it was still str8, except now with a predominately gay staff. It almost feels like a desperate company with dwindling customers jumped the shark & abandoned a failing business model in order to strike glitter twice by switching another one of their hetero-​venues into a homo-​haven. Kiss & Fly, Part II.
It just makes me wonder … if this same company had wanted to create a cutting-​edge club at one of their other existing place on 6^th Street, would they’ve just closed the door for a few days, chosen a new name, put up a stylish marquee outside, hired different faces behind the bar, then reopened with the exact same tired look? Or did they just do that here because they knew they could quickly profit off a community they’ve been fleecing for a few years already?

In every big city where I’ve done some serious partying, the magical question past midnight always seemed to be, «Uh, where can we get drunk and dance?» It wasn’t until I moved to Austin when I first heard the interesting followup question, «Uh, isn’t that place a gay bar?»
Pfffft. Here’s a secret about Austin’s post-​midnight dance clubs — no one will screw with you unless you want them to, and it just doesn’t matter which bathroom you use. All you need to do is enjoy the moment and use the first available stall. Really, how complicated should night life be?
Hyde is the new kid in the Warehouse District — it’s hip, it’s cool, and it’s got a killer sound system. I think this place is more about being like every promo you’ve seen about Miami Vice or Las Vegas, rather than turning 4^th Street into Austin’s very own gay ghetto. On the night we were there, the place was filled with hot women watching hot trannies in some dance-​off contest: All the women-​type people in the place were dressed to kill, they all smelled great, and they all were having a good time — I’m not sure who kept track of the gayness quotient.
So I’m a fan of Hyde, not just of the venue itself, but for its role in «Keeping Austin Weird»: Name me another area in Texas where there’s a Truluck’s, Péché, and a live 80’s cover band playing outside, but directly across the street from a Rain, Hyde, and an Oilcan Harry’s with all the eighty-​four decibel Electronica you can handle. Oh, and don’t forget the silky smooth elegance of W’s lounges around the corner, or the fast and furious pace of Kiss and Fly around the other. Doesn’t that pretty much cover the entire spectrum of Austin’s night life, all within walking distance of each other? Girlfriend, we just call that being in Downtown ATX. Now let’s go dance.

Same owners and location as QUA with a different name. The community may have no gay ghetto but we do talk. Do yourself a favor and google Yassine Enterprises and Google’s handy tool will also suggest lawsuit as well (from fall of 2011). Granted it concerns wages, but if you ask the rest of Austin’s LGBT community you will find stories some good, most bad about their time at what was QUA. Mostly stories about being turned away for being «too gay». So what to do when you are jammed between two to the most popular gay bars in the ATX and you can’t get ‘em off your back and off to your other club across the street? You re-​open and become a poser.
What it boils down to is this, to our knowledge Yassine Enterprises has done nothing positive for the gay community except gladly take our money. Sure they can put on a good show and give you a good time even give great drag queens a platform to perform upon, but what happens after that. All the other gay bars in Austin are about more than booze and dancing and drag – they are involved in the LGBT community.
The solution, is a challenge for Yassine Enterprises to be out front in the community by supporting it through programs that have an impact on the Austin GLBT community and calling your weekly Tuesday event «Tranny Tuesday» (even though it’s currently a popular idiom in the gay community) is offensive and would not be tolerated in other progressive cities. If you have no idea how a gay bar does this, and why it is not there just for entertainment, they you just don’t understand us. And if you don’t understand us, why should we support you.
The gay bar is a cornerstone of the gay culture. Where there is no physical meeting place for the community like there is in LA, NYC and many others there is the local gay bar. It is where you go to find people like you. Personally, I like to know that when I buy a cocktail that the cash is going to the community, because guess what folks – we aren’t equal just yet.
*Steps off soapbox*