By: Jason Reid
July 1, 2008
*** UPDATE *** Club Carnival is closed and is now Vino.
Club Carnival, Reno’s newest addition to the bars and clubs for the LGBT Community, formerly Vino’s offers a new experience to our community. With the swanky décor and elevated dance floor Club Carnival should be the Reno’s newest hotspot for our community. So why isn’t it? When Club Carnival first opened, they may have “jumped the gun” a bit with the soft opening, the build up was huge, and the expectation was set high, and the delivery fell short. Way short. But the official grand opening was better, the staff was fast and friendly, and some people over looked the soft opening and still supported the club. Good bartenders and friendly door men greeted you, the music was a good mix, and the cocktails on the other hand, a wee bit over priced and short poured.
Now walking into Club Carnival the doormen are not friendly, the music is lackluster, and the only thing that has remained consistent is the drinks. I absolutely love the idea behind this club, a nice upscale bar for our community, with a V.I.P. lounge which again over priced and under delivered, $200 for one bottle of Ketel One and some mixers for 5 people, I alone can put half a bottle of vodka away on my own! The idea is nice but the price needs to come down. Most of the people I know in the community who could afford that on a regular basis don’t go out in Reno. I like the Club Carnival, don’t get me wrong, but I think they are clinging to clichés of the LGBT community. Club Carnival has done some great things for our community; hosting the after-party for A Salon 7’s White Party, and also raising money for charities in our community, hosting the “Free Phillip Brown” fund raiser. I think Club Carnival could be a great new place for us to party, but some serious changes need to be made.
I give Club Carnival one dirty martini! 
*** UPDATE *** Club Carnival is closed and is now Vino.
240 N. Sierra St.
Reno, NV 89501
http://www.myspace.com/clubcarnivalreno
When I first arrived at Club Carnival, my thought was that it was roomy and not so “ass to ass” as the other LGBTQ bars/Clubs in the Reno area. The décor was ok, but it still had that Venice feel to it…with the canal and all. It was nice to see go-go dancers, however, from their dancing skills and their not so hot appearance…. I would guess that they were volunteers!! Perhaps I came on the wrong night (Saturday of the Grand opening weekend) because it seemed dead to me. Are there enough gays here to support this place every weekend?? This place doesn’t open their doors till 10….. I’d rather start somewhere at 8 PM and stay the duration of my evening to prevent driving under the influence. Just my thoughts!
Let’s get to the restrooms! Sure the bathrooms can accommodate more potty needs than any other place in town….but the marking on the tiles to show gender….it’s just ghetto. I say that a grand opening weekend needs to be the completion of all restorations made.
I’ll give Club Carnival another shot…maybe on a Friday…but for now…I give it 2 stars!
P.S. At the 5 Star I was charges zero (complementary) for a bitters and soda (non-alcoholic upset belly formula), Carnival charged $5…
Again Kudos to the owners, staff, DJs, bar tenders / waitresses of the Club Carnival!! We went Friday night (didn't make it Sat. due to party pooper out of town guests!) Just between the time of the soft opening and the Grand they built a dance floor / stage (would be GREAT for karaoke hint hint) furnished the place with some very cool pimpin couch and chairs with hidden features I want them! These could have come from first class cruise liner!
Has anyone been on a carnival cruise ship? Well we have and if you look at the place from that view the Venice feel is right on! Paying the cover and for drinks is reasonable (I don't drink when I have to drive) my partner thought his amaretto sour could have been a bit stronger but after 2 he still had a buzz! Compared to ALL the other BARS here (nothing personal) this place has the class and style we like!! Not to mention having the security come over remembering us shaking our hands asking how we were is unheard of! (Not to mention he's cute including his hand cuffs hmmmm) anyway I digress I hope maybe to work here it's the kinda place I'm accustom to coming from southern California! Either way it will be our place of choice when we can afford to go out! PLEASE GAY RENO support this club if you want a classy place to go otherwise all you'll have are store front and hole in the wall bars (unless that's you thing then it's all good) The more you support them the more they can make improvements! Like the very cool toilet seats in the mens room! We have one we bought from La Bussola!
P.S. Club Carnival PLEASE get complimentary parking stickers from the parking garage on first St. it would be a BIG help!!!
EtheDJ & KtheEditor
Thank you so much for everyone who took a few minutes out of their busy schedules to give us feedback on Club Carnival. Everything that you have shared has been so helpful, and we are working very hard to address all of your concerns. Club Carnival started with about 15 LGBTQ volunteers painting, cleaning, and constructing until the wee hours of the morning. We truley want somewhere that is loved and supported by Reno's alternative lifestyle community. So in order to provide that perfect place we have made some improvements...
No marker in the bathroom...we thought it was ghetto too ;-)
New DJ on Saturday nights...DJ Bobby G will be catering to all of your dancing needs :-)
And our favorite...DRINK SPECIALS!!!! 2 for 1 wells (midnight to 2am), and shot specials all weekend
Keep your eyes open for even more improvements soon to come.
See you this weekend,
Molly D. and all of us at Club Carnival
I really think that if a dress code is going to be enforced at this new queer club, it should be clearly posted for everyone to see before entry. I was enjoying myself for a good hour inside the club before I was approached by a staff member of club carnival and told to remove my hat that I had been wearing the whole time. I understand that the creative minds involved with this new club want to have a higher appearance standard than maybe other glbt watering holes in town. I know I don't like to see a bunch of out of shape queers runnin around with no shirt on. However, it's what we are used to in Reno. If you want to be different, great!! Just let us know about it before we have to walk around with damn hat-hair all night. Not cute! Also, maybe think about enforcing the same rules for everyone. Alex told me I had to remove my non-offensive headwear for security reasons, yet there were about 10 females with hats around me. He said that was ok because they're girls. What?! Half the girls in there are more manly that the men! Just a couple concerns. Thanks!! NK
BECAUSE EVER SINCE IT WAS VINOS AND EVEN UP TO THE POINT THAT IT BECAME CLUB CARNIVAL THEY'VE HAD A BIG SIGN BY THEIR FRONT DOOR STICKING OUT POINTING OUT THE SPECIFIC DRESS CODE.
SO YOU CAN'T REALLY BLAME THEM IF YOU WERE THE ONE THAT DIDN'T SEE THAT BIG DRESS CODE THEY HAVE UP.... :( SORRY!
BUT I DO AGREE WITH YOU ON ONE THING- THEY DO NEED TO ENFORCE THE DRESS CODE ON EVERYONE. AT TIMES I'LL SEE THE STAFF ASKING SOME PEOPLE TO REMOVE HEADWEAR.. WHILE OTHERS SIMPLY GET AWAY WITH IT. SO I DO AGREE WITH YOU ON THAT.
for anyone concered about wearing hats. Hats are now allowed. So no worries! Besides the Dress Code is pretty relaxed. Which I like!
Jason Reid
Events/Nightlife Editor
I can't help but wonder, now that the information has spread on Club Carnival's demise, if the failure of this club wasn't partially based on lack of customer respect. I don't speak specifically about individual respect, but the community at-large. They seemed to treat individual customers very well, I thought. But...what about the community?
April 18th's Grand Opening was a fund raiser for A Rainbow Place. They never received any funds from it, though the house was packed and advertising was fierce.
April 19th's event was a fund raiser for Northern Nevada Hopes and Northern Nevada Outreach Team. Again, advertising was fierce. Again, neither organization received funds from this event.
On the surface it appears to be abuse of worthy non-profit organizations just to con people into the club.
Is it?
I hope not.
Club Carnival won't respond.
Club Carnival was a joke! They were broke from the start. 2 straight men decided to profit off of the gays because they were already in the hole. Nothing against the heteros owning gay visited businesses, but it was a sucker punch. They couldn't pay their liquir distributors, so they couldn't meet the demand with their minimal supply. They placed multiple ads in RenoOut (full page) and their check bounced. Their mouth was writing checks that their ass couldn't cash with the non-profit events. That's pretty sad to take advantage of our community organizations that are not for profit and supportive of our youth, our fights, our prevention.....of us as a whole!
Next time someone decides to open a big LGBTQ club in Reno, I hope it's someone with respect for our community. I also hope they don't call it an "Alternative lifesyle nightclub"...I definately didn't choose to be a big homo and my lifestyle is not an alternative to "what should be". It's mine...and I love it!
I give the club "formally known as Carnival" 3 glasses of sewage sludge! Cheers!
Some are now questioning actual fraud. Promises not kept and manipulations to stuff the till.
Collateral damage?....it wasn't the club who proposed the fundraisers...it was the DJs who called the non-profits.
Are the DJs in collusion or just innocent victims themselves? I hope the latter.
We are gathering information from a bunch of different sources and will be posting an article about this. If you have any information regarding Club Carnival, please email us at info@yourgayreno.com
Thanks,
-Bill
I just don't understand how people can go to places like Tronix, Neutron, etc. Club Carnival is by far.. the most convenient and friendly place to go to!! I can't say anything about this whole accuse of fraud.. because I know nothing about it.
But what I can say is that most of the things here stated about Club Carnival are defaming lies towards a business!!
First off, all of the doormen and doorwomen ARE friendly! I don't understand where that comes from, being stated that they're not friendly!! Out of over the 20 times that I've been there with my friends.. they have always been friendly to us! Always checking on us if we want more drinks, dancing with people, even the owner greets everyone and socializes with all of them!
So that whole thing being stated here is defamation of character towards this business! And what is up with the "shortly poured drinks"?? That's a lie! And you say they're over priced??
Give me a break.. they're the same amount and better quality than you'll get at Tronix or Neutron! Not to mention that the drinks are FULLY served! Believe me.. I know this for a fact!
The only thing that Club Carnival needs to do is really invest in promoting and advertising the place in a more effective way! That's the reason why so many people don't recommend that place. And I say this as a positive piece of advise for everyone administrating Club Carnival. Get to work on that... advertise, advertise, advertise! Even have someone on the internet socializing with gay and lesbian people (from the Reno/Sparks area- ofcourse) to let them know how great it is in there.
The person that posted this may have given you one (1) dirty martini.. but you know what?? I know how it really is.. it's great in there so I give you 5 FULL MARTINIS!!
We always appreciate community comments, as that what this site is for...discussion. But Carnival is closed after abusing many many prominent members of the community, and the negative word of mouth sunk the club faster than most people knew it was open.
As for charges of defamation of character...Businesses don't have character to defame. The closest thing that the above posts from members of the community, and our staff, is libel. But they would have to false accusations, which these are not.
We repeatedly attempted to contact the staff of Club Carnival to address these accusations, and got no reply.
I appreciate the input of the community, whether or not I personally agree with them, but I will defend my business and work.
Thanks for your input!
Sam
Community Relations Director
yourgayreno.com
I am a straight girl that works at a gay bar. All my best friends are gay. I am in no way a lesbian, yes women are beautiful and I have made out with a few but it does not mean that I am a lesbian. "sexy_male" I am the girl that you called a nasty whore. I work the front door at Tronix. The only way that the staff would be mean to you is if you were trying to get into our bar underage or because you were being rude. All of us that work at Tronix work really hard to keep it a nice, safe place to hang out. I have always been nice to anyone that comes through my door. Do you know how hard it is to work the door at a club? Have you done this? We have people that come up to us and treat us like garbage. We are called all sort of names and degraded in front of a lot of people. We deal with all the drunk people that throw up and piss all over everthing. We call the cabs for people that are to drunk to handle a phone. When you need our help we will do everything in our power to help you. I think its rude to call someone a whore when you dont even know them. And by the way the manager is a female. The security guard that we have is quite nice. He is fair to everyone. If you have been here "three times" you would know this. You might have come in once and made a poor judgement on the place. Tronix is kinda thrashy but people do come back and hang out. We are here for the gay community. Support us and we will support you.
Well, I am really sorry! You are not the person that I was talking about! Yes, you are a really nice lady. But yet on the other end you can be really mean at times. I do understand how many people can treat you at the door! No, I have not been a doors man and never will. Because I dont have the patience with many drunk people. So therefore you really do your job really good, so I should just say I am sorry, But your not the lady I was talking about, there is a different chick that runs the front and back door. But yet again the really tall guy that has braces is really rude, you cant say he is nice at all. Because he really is not! I am not trying to put your club down at all, I am really upset about somethings and some employees that work for this club, how they do people durty and take there money and give them a wrist band and then tell there manager and/or there bar back man that guy that I was talking just a min ago, that they are not who there ID say they are. Thats just not right, its was a group of 6 people that got kicked out, come now, its all about customer service. I work with lots of customers, so I really feel that your club should be better at customer service. But like I said before, your not the chick that I am talking about. But then again I know its really wrong to call someone any kind of name. But its payback! And Micael Tierney needs to be aware of all the people that basically say the same thing about this place!
This club was the best. It was better when they had all the entertainers in there. Now that it's Vino. I won't go there.. not even for a laugh. They need to turn it back to Club Carnival.
This time they just need to stay away from trouble, by claiming they'll help organizations and not do it!!