​You're in town for the Midwest Regional of the NCAA Tournament. The basketball has ended for the night, and you're still looking for some "live" entertainment to keep the party going? Well, does Riverfront Times have some advice for you! (And they say service journalism is dead?)

Plug a few of the addresses below into your rental-car GPS and make your way to the fine nudie bars of the East Side. Why? Why not!?
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Laura Miller

The dining room at Harry's Restaurant and Bar.

Downtown mainstay Harry's Bar is undergoing a facelift. The long-running nightspot is abandoning its fine dining concept and becoming a boutique dance club.

"Yeah, we're switching things up," says owner Tim Pieri. "I get 50 calls a week asking where people can go dance downtown, and there's just nowhere. The old Velvet and all that back in the day, they've all disappeared now. This is kind of a smaller-scale dance club."

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Mabel Suen

The stage at Plush.

Back in October, RFT Music reported that Plush would be opening "next month," which is new-club code for "we'll let you know when we know." Owner Maebelle Reed has been laboring to get the club off the ground for more than two years, but renovating the 40,000 square foot behemoth hasn't been a walk in the park. "The recipes are ready, the liquor has been ordered, we're ready. We just keep running into these little complications." Reed doesn't have a final date in mind, but says they're waiting on a few final details, and if pressed, they could be open "in two days."

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Well sports fans, it's the day you've all been waiting for. The St. Louis Squirrels will face the Texas Trash 'Staches one final time on this most hallowed day of baseballing, Game Seven.

5. Friendly's: There's no point in going broke just for a baseball game, and at Friendly's, that's barely an option. Whiskey diet, and keep 'em comin'? That'll be $2. The covered outdoor bar serves up $1.50 hot dogs and cheeseburgers during game time, and unlike downtown, this Tower Grove South gem is too out of the way for Rangers fans. But bring cash.

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Diana Benanti

Inside the Jumpin' Jupiter.

St. Louis' first neo-supper club, the Jumpin' Jupiter, opened its doors in Maplewood this weekend in the old Jive and Wail location (7376 Manchester Road, Maplewood; 314-645-5867). We reported on the opening back in March, and now the wait is over.

"We think of ourselves as a mini-Fox or a more intimate Pageant," says manager Ryan Callahan, son of Jim Callahan, who owns Jupiter Studios as well as the Jumpin' Jupiter.
"We're more like the Fox because we do more theater-based stuff, but we're going to be doing all different kinds of music. We're not going to be doing metal or anything like that."

He adds that eventually they'll start booking high-end, national acts, and uses Rod Stewart as an example of someone he'd "love" to see at Jumpin' Jupiter. "It'd be perfect for him. Who wouldn't want to see Rod Stewart here?"

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Wikimedia Commons

A venue with an ambitious take on entertainment is slated to open in the spot last occupied by the now-closed Maplewood branch of the Jive & Wail (7376 Manchester Road, Maplewood). Called the Jumpin' Jupiter, it's being dubbed a "neo-supper club" by its owner, Jim Callahan.

"We specialize in unique, Las Vegas-style entertainment, everything from variety acts to circus acts to, like, classy burlesque," he says via phone from Colorado, where he was purchasing some kitchen equipment for the venue.

The Jumpin' Jupiter's main attraction indeed will be a Friday and Saturday night supper show, which will feature a cocktail hour, a five-course meal and a two-hour variety show. Preliminary pricing for the ticketed event is $59.95 a person, with drinks extra. Callahan stresses that it's not what you might expect from traditional dinner theater.

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Spring is still being a big ol' tease, but new venues are blooming across the Southside like crocuses. The Heavy Anchor opens in a few weeks, The Warehouse has a new sign and is open for business, and Halfway Haus (7900 Michigan), a new bar and venue coming to South Carondelet, opens March 10.

Diana Benanti

Bar in progress at Halfway Haus.

Benjamin Simms, president of development firm Stein's Broadway, is opening Halfway Haus with Brian Scholtes, current owner of The Patch Tavern a few blocks away. Scholtes said Halfway Haus is the fifth bar to open in the neighborhood in the past two years--a sure sign that the area already has a willing and thirsty public. "All these bars work together, we promote each other's events," he says. "That's the kind of camaraderie we have with other bars."

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Diana Benanti

The Warehouse, 2501 South Jefferson.

If you've been to the Way Out or Trader Bob's in recent months, you may have noticed a new venue popped up a few doors down from those Jefferson Avenue institutions.

The Warehouse opened in late November, and owner Tony Labarbera says so far, the reception from the neighborhood has been "good."

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Last week, rumors surfaced on Facebook that the VooDoo Café and Lounge at Harrah's Casino was changing its programming. As it turns out, score one for Facebook gossip hounds: At least on the weekends, local bands are out, and dueling pianos are in. The Monsterball Halloween show with local rockers The Real Me is the last concert in the venue's current format.

Lindy Kirsch, advertising and public relations manager at Harrah's St. Louis, confirmed the rumors in an interview with A to Z.

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Here's one way to brighten up this dark, chilly Friday: Head over the brand-spankin' new HandleBar (4127 Manchester) tonight for its grand opening bash. $2 Fat Tire drafts, music by Box of Nerves, New Belgium and PBR giveaways and a "special surprise" from the bartender if you bike to the joint--though as far as we're concerned, few surprises could top the small bowls of yummy kettle corn they keep on the bar.

The concept bar is run by the folks behind the Cabin Inn the City at the City Museum and features kinetic bike art, craft beer and awesome murals from local artists, as well as a super enthusiastic staff and a small army of soon-to-be regulars won over by two successful soft openings. The party gets underway at 4 p.m., so blow off that last hour of work (you were just going to spend it on Facebook anyway) and head to HandleBar.

Diana Benanti

Last night at HandleBar.

Diana Benanti

Mural by Bradley Pipkin at Handlebar, 4127 Manchester.