TEAK- 2 BBM Thumbs Down, Hoboken- Get OFF your High Horse

Hello there my little Bloggie Readers,

Let me start off on a happy note... I have been going to Hoboken for several years now and I rarely found reason to complain about the town and it's bars/lounges. Actually, Hoboken was always like a "little getaway" from local bars, but and this is a BIG but, I am starting to realize that the bars/lounge are a TAD bit overrated.

Yes, Hoboken is a town of class... with nice stores, lounges, hotels and water front restaurants, but has Hoboken and it's clubs lost site of HOW they got the money to make their buildings so nice?! I feel like that money came STRAIGHT out of my pocket this weekend.

WHAT HAPPENED:

There are two ways North Jersians make their way to Hoboken: 1) drive in and pay a ton of money to park in a deck (or scatter to find a street spot, which is highly unlikely) 2) Take the TRAIN and leave the club right when it starts getting good, around 1am. Case & point... it's annoying to get there, period.

This weekend was a very close friend of mine's birthday and he had asked me what place in Hoboken would I suggest for a party. I had been to TEAK for a number of parties and although the drinks are a little pricey, its a nice place for a birthday.

WHERE IT ALL WENT WRONG:

So the night begins and I am already arguing with my significant other because we are running late (as usual). Everyone knows that if you get into Hoboken late you will 1) get stuck on a long line (even if the club isn't packed) 2) most likely have trouble parking 3) Some clubs present a cover charge after 11pm. Last minute, we decided not to take the train because the clock was running against us, so we drove in around 9:45pm.

It was a little after 10pm when we pulled up to the parking lot right outside of TEAK, in which there was a man violently waving his arms for us to keep moving because the lot was already full... How? I will still never understand, but Ok.... On to the next parking deck. We had to go down a couple of blocks to find another parking deck, in which we proceeded to pay $30 for 4 hours... I thought we were in Hoboken and not NYC?

Anyway, that had already set the mood. We trucked over to TEAK on foot in order to get there before the usual 10:30pm LINE starts. Of course, there is a line when we get there, but luckily it moved pretty fast. We get to the door and I could see the hostess setting up shop.... I'm thinking "No way, this chic is not going to tell me that I have to pay money to get into this place." 1) I NEVER paid a cover for Teak in my life and 2) it was 10:35pm- far from 11pm... (I just ran there in 4 inch heals to get there before 11pm Kthanks).

Needless to say, it was a $10 cover charge, which doesn't SEEM too bad, but if you add up the $30 bucks we just paid to park, plus the $10 bucks each to get into a place (that charges $11 for a drink)... We had already paid $50 to Hoboken before we even got INTO THE BAR.... (not cool, esp that "times are tough"). My boyfriend was the designated driver of the night, so we went straight to the bar to get ME a drink to calm me down over the ANNOYANCE the night was bringing to me and my boyfriend... Ps- My girlfriend got there 5 minutes before us and did NOT pay a cover... literally 5 minutes before us.

OH IT GETS WORSE:

So, at this point... both of our moods were pretty shot, which is definitely OUR problem- BUT Hoboken and the infamous TEAK did not help the situation. We decided to cool off, get a drink and find the birthday boy. We wait to order a drink and my boyfriend asks, "Can you get me a diet coke?" I order a Vodka/club and a PLAIN diet coke. I give the bartender $20 and get back $4. I think to myself... Ok... a Vodka club is going to be maybe $9 or $10, but a diet coke shouldn't be more than $3? I ask the bartender, "I'm, sorry miss, but did you put liquor in this diet coke... because he just wanted a plain diet coke." She answered, "No that's a plain diet coke, it's $5.00."

I don't know what you people are thinking at this point- either you are with me and this is LUDICROUS or you think I'm cheap... (the ppl who know me well, know that this moment was CJ's BREAKING POINT) because I'm pretty sure I just paid $16 for 1 mixed drink and a (insert curse word) DIET COKE. I feel like TEAK is telling designated drivers, "HEY, you can come here and not drink, but if you want to have a diet coke- we are going to rape you for not spending enough money in our lounge." I felt bad for my boyfriend... it was enough that he decided to be the DD, paid to park, paid to get into a club and couldn't even order a diet coke without feeling raped by Hoboken.

I happen to bounce back pretty quickly when I am set off into a bad mood, so I told my BF to take a breather and lets just go find the B-day boy and friends. Once I saw my friends, my bad mood was lifted, but my wallet was still crying. Unfortunately, my Boyfriend never bounced out of the bad mood and remained in the same chair all night completed defeated by Hoboken (Boken-3 BF-0).

Needless to say, I enjoyed the night and my boyfriend and I laughed about the whole situation on the way home....but when I really think about the night, I feel like Hoboken chewed us up and spit us right back out. I'm not really sure if I will go to TEAK again... I feel kind of violated. Here I am on a Monday morning and I don't have a DOLLAR to my name for lunch, shit?!

In conclusion, even though I have always loved our little trips to Hoboken, I have come to learn that maybe that place is a TAD BIT.... overrated. Sorry Boken Lovers, but it's true. The best advice I can give is: If you plan on going to Hoboken, GET THERE EARLY and be prepared to spend a lot of money. Know that a club can take on a "cover charge" WHENEVER they please. Have more patience than me and remember... if your designated driver wants a diet coke, don't go to TEAK.

Happy Birthday to My dearest friend! (Lol I swear I had fun).

As always, thanks for reading :)
MissCJ.