The Castle

The Tampa legendary landmark club is unique within the known world. Bring your open mind and your positive attitude and enjoy! Most important, be the one person you truly should be. Yourself.

Ever wanted to enter a world of magic and mystery? Boom! Right here! A two story building of awesomeness! The people prefer the darker things in life so expect fishnets and chunky boots but the drinks are generous and music is awesome. There’s a courtyard downstairs for outside dancing, a lower bar that had a real running fountain/​river built into it, and a «dungeon» with metal chain spiderwebs and cages! And that’s just the first floor. Second floor has a «tower room» bar that has an open ceiling and one hell of a bartender. Then there’s the main dance floor. Three dancers get up on podiums to dance every hour. They are always immaculately dressed in amazing outfits. In between the podiums is a fog filled dance floor. Outside of the podiums is another giant bar and plenty of seating. Even if the music isn’t exactly to your taste it’s great for people watching. The fashion here is different than anything you’ll see on 7^th. If you’re looking for something with a bit more character, this is it. Just be forewarned: their drinks pack a punch. You get your money’s worth but if you’re not careful you’ll fall down… Or up… The stairs. Eat a heavy meal before hand. And this doesn’t even touch the events they hold. That in and of itself deserves its own review. Don’t go on Halloween or gasparilla if you want a real taste of the castle. Go on an event night like Taboo. Pay the $ 20. Dress up for it (everyone else will be pulling out the stops, you might as well too!) It’ll be worth it, I promise. By and far my favorite club.

Wish there was a club like this in Miami. The music was. Ranged from goth, industrial, & depeche mode retro. The building spot is huge. Has several rooms. The main room is so cool goth. The decore looks like church/​castle.
Loved it.

The atmosphere was dark and kind of sexy with industrial dance music. They had a nice drink special of Jameson for something like $ 4 — what a steal! The other movers and groovers were from all different ages and sizes and I loved it.
I’ll give it a try again another night. I went on a Friday night.

Lowering my rating because of the way my group of friends was recently treated. A group of us had gone to Hamburger Mary’s on a Friday to celebrate a birthday. It was fun, and when we left we at some point all agreed that a trip to The Castle was in order. We got there and were served by a very nice bartender on the first floor. A couple had never been to The Castle before, so we took them to the outside area. It was empty, likely because we got there pretty early. We headed upstairs (my favorite area) and saw that there were more people. The music was great and we all sort of split up — a few people went to the restroom, others went to the bar for a drink, and some others went straight to the dance floor. It felt like we were getting strange looks, but I chalked it up to us being a larger group.
Well, it ended up being more than that. A tall, aggressive person on the dance floor was getting in a lot of people’s personal space and seemed to have an attitude. Maybe the person was drunk, maybe not. He bumped into my friend and almost knocked her over, then grabbed her arm and attempted to pull my friend to the ground. Her husband saw this and moved in to make sure his wife was okay. (She was in disbelief and a little shaken up to have been pushed and then grabbed by a stranger.) Next thing we all know, a bouncer is barking at my friend and her husband, telling our whole group to get out. The husband asked why we were the ones being kicked out and said he was only trying to check on his wife. The bouncer told him to shut up and get the fuck out. He escorted the couple and the rest of our group followed, not understanding why we were being kicked out while this overly aggressive person was allowed to remain on the dance floor.
I don’t want to think that the way we looked (just some normal folks who have mostly all been to the Castle and made it a special point to go there because we all liked it so much) made us targets for the bouncers. We were on our absolute best behavior. I still like the club and would not hesitate to go back, but I think we deserved some answers. My friends that got kicked out, the husband and wife, were especially hurt because they are regulars at the club. There was absolutely no judgment on any of our group’s part, but I think we were unfairly scrutinized because of the way we were dressed.

Like most goth clubs, this place has potential but the patrons ruin it. The goth scene in all the states I’ve been to have been comprised of a few extremely low quality, fat guys and quite a lot of hot goth chicks. WTH is up with that?
If you are a hetero female looking to meet handsome guys, do NOT come here. The choices are ragged and you will be outnumbered by LOADS OF CHICKS. If you are a hot guy, please come here because the women are desperate for attractive men since none hang out here.
And if you’re looking for some good goth/​80s DJs and dancing with your alternative friends then The Castle might be your thing.

Touted as a goth club and a place to check out by locals, I figured it would be a good idea to go. The ambiance is awesome, medieval feel. The bar was really cool. Music was eclectic at best, a lot of hardstyle. People seemed to be in their element, costumes and… stuff. The table dancers are hot.
Cannot unsee the things I’ve seen. But not necessarily a bad thing.

The venue was multi-​level with different DJs. Drink prices were decent. At the end of the night the DJ was a wreck. …he needs to work on smooth transitions between songs.

Been dancing here off and on since its inception! I’ve made so many great memories here. I won’t tell secrets!
Friday nights are my favorite because I’m nostalgic and need my fix for stuff I danced to in my youth! Rob, best bartender ever, takes care of me and my drinking adventures. I will keep going back sporadically until they lock the doors forever. Get ready to dance hard, lose some hearing, and wake up sore!

I have been here several times (just recently for the vampire ball) and this is a great place to drink and meet new people. Although the majority of people are dressed in dark clothes and makeup, I typically do not and people here are welcoming. The bar staff are very attentive and this place has the most diverse group of people I have ever met. It is especially friendly to the LBGT community.
I recently went to the vampire ball here which had the highest turn out I have ever seen here. There was a line going around the block, but we got in pretty fast regardless. It was like Halloween in February which was fun! They enforced the costume dress code which made it more ligit. Some of these costumes were mind blowing and definitely worth a second look. The music is more on the industrial side and they play music videos as well. The gogo dancers are beautiful and always have the best costumes. Definitely worth checking out if you are in Ybor City.

As advertised; An eclectic and welcoming crowd who likes to dance goth. I’d give them 5 stars, if their DJs spun a wider variety than just industrial remixes; NIN needs no remixing.

Oh, The Castle. This is a place that you can go and totally be yourself, no matter what that self may be like. There is a great variety of people there and always some fun characters (I’m talking to you, Senator). Honestly though, I’ve had a blast every time I’ve been there. I love the music that they play and just the over all fun spirit of it.

So much has changed over the years… be sure to check which nights are what since the weekend formats hold true but the other nights are quite different.

Good place for the under dog… caters to a more underground crowd most nights but some nights it’s whatever… no judgement good place to chill good pricing and decent music… seems to be a chill place I enjoy going Thursdays it’s more of my kind of music

What can I say? I love this place. It’s truly a place that anyone and everyone can go to and not worry about being harassed or judged. The music is great and the drinks are stiff. If you have an open mind you will love this bar. If you have a closed mind stay in a country club!

I love The Castle! They have great music, low covers, and decent drink specials. I’ve found it to be a definite lifesaver when you feel the urge to do the goth shuffle. They have decent amounts of seating and lots of areas to explore. I especially like the dungeon, though it is often not open. They’re also a prime spot for post-​concert after parties, so you get to see cool folks. Only thing to be aware of is that they seem to have fairly high minimums for credit cards at the bar.

Hmmm… where do I start? I believe that there is a place on earth for everyone to gravitate to where they can be comfortable with folks that have the same interests as them. The Castle has a very niche clientele. It’s one part Goth, one part electro, one part dark and one part S&M. The dark atmosphere is completed with whips and chains. Oh… and then there’s the Senator. Just Google it, because I can’t bear to fully type out my thoughts on that situation. The drinks are standard and the service is okay. I think the Castle is the type of place that you try out once and then judge for yourself.
B. Major Grade: C —

There are plenty of clubs in the area, and this one just happens to play my kinda music. There isn’t any other like it around. Were lucky to have it in Tampa. It can be perceived as a goth club, rawk club, gay club, fetish club, grunge bar, historic drinkery, or party venue and so much more. The inside is quite the Castle indeed. Great for tourists, grandparents, and the clinically insane.

ahhhh — The Castle. Gothic/​Electro/​Industrial/​House heaven. I hadn’t thought to review this place for some reason, but then I saw Kelleigh M.‘s ROTD for this long-​running establishment today, and thought to myself, «Why not?» I started shakin’ my groove thing here somewhere back in 1993, and never once have I had a bad experience. The atmosphere is always good, the beers are big as hell and the DJs are always playing good jams, especially on old school Mondays!
So about a year ago I started going back to The Castle after what was probably a 10 year hiatus, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that the place hadn’t changed a bit. I hit up the Ramstein concert last April with my chica, and we hit The Castle afterwards. We ran into The man AKA The Senator AKA The Mayor and had a blast. Should I post the picture of my girl slapping his ass to prove it? LOL — probably not. But we’ve been going pretty regularly since.
Out-​of-​towners, heed my word; you want this notch on your travel belt!

This is a review from a girl who doesn’t get to Ybor too often and hasn’t been to the castle in over 10 years… it was my bachelorette party and definitely the club I wanted to end the evening with.
It was exactly how I remembered it. It truly feels like a castle and is dark, multi-​leveled and kind of dank inside.
We sat on a floor that that had a «whipping chamber» for lack of a better term. Couples would come up to the chamber and lean against a big X while their partner would excite them with a leather like whip… interesting.
Any outfit/​costume goes. We saw plenty of people in top hats, a girl in a bumblebee outfit, Boba Fett costume and plenty of people in all black. Me in my bachelorette outfit stood out, but everyone was welcoming and nice.
If you’ve never experienced The Castle, of recommend you do. It’s definitely one of a kind here in Tampa.
And oh, I did not see the Senator last night. Bummer!