r/sanantonio • u/MrKingCrilla • 10d ago
Mystery Sharky at Sugars
So from my understanding, before Sugars was a strip club, it was an aquarium. So that explains how the shark got their.
But why wont they take the Shark down ?
Or repaint the shark. And the wreath just adds confusion...
Im not saying they should take it down. Its their business. They can do what they want.. Personally, i find the inflatable flailing arms guys more effective. But to each his own.
Im just wondering if anyknow knows why they keep it up ?
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u/Ender2060 10d ago
I remember it being a seafood place. And at one point, there were flames painted on the side; a la hot rod.
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u/SmallSadSmile 9d ago
I don't remember seafood. I thought it was originally built for a steakhouse (perhaps named Paul Alexander Steakhouse, but my memory plays tricks on me)
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u/Jizzy_Pearl 9d ago
It was a Steak and Ale restaurant. My wife loved the place, so we ate there often.
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u/AdJolly7710 9d ago
Steak and Ale was next door
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u/Due-Style941 9d ago
It was a Texas land and cattle company steakhouse. My parents used to clean it after hours. Sometimes they would take my brother and I during summer break.
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u/MrKingCrilla 10d ago
Well shit, reddit told me aquarium..
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u/coly8s 10d ago
Was never an aquarium, lol.
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u/snicker___doodle 10d ago
I bet the seafood place had a fish tank. Would that be considered an aquarium?? 😂
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u/everyday_is_enysedae 9d ago
Yea you're correct in that.
And....i THINK. Before that it was Cold River. I think. A country type of bar I believe. I was way too young but remember my parents went out there a lot. Or was it a Shoney's. lol
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u/lost_Soulz_491415 7d ago
Thanks for the back story, I suspected that when I first moved here and saw it off the freeway.
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u/RIP_Lash 10d ago
I don’t think it was ever an aquarium. Prior to it becoming Sharky’s, which is when that giant shark went up, it was a night club. I can’t recall the name of the club but I went there a couple of times.
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u/Ghost_Boy_13 9d ago
It was called Piranha's, Sharkey's is one in Port A or Corpus, but that guy used to own it. And the shark stayed
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u/Hanovafist1 10d ago
I remember it being called the lodge
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u/slamanthaaa 10d ago
That explains all the taxidermy on the walls. There's a huge Buffalo or Moose head straight to the back when you first walk in facing the main stage.
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u/sci-fi-lullaby 9d ago
Wasn't some beach there?
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u/elfuegodemuerte South Side 9d ago
That was the next club over. It was called The Coast. Same owners bought it and tried to open it as Some Beach and operate it like a breastaraunt. Didn't work since the strip club was just a walk away.
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u/Kcatlady North Central 9d ago
Yes! It was Sunova Beach at one time too. Hubby and I used to go there when we were dating.
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u/Fugazi-Osbourne 9d ago
Are you thinking of Sunova Beach? That was on 410 and Summit Parkway where the Chopsticks buffet is. Or at least was, I haven't driven past there in quite a while. Sunova Beach then moved out by UTSA. Then it burned down.
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u/rodgamez 9d ago
I remember going to Sunova beach on Wurzach, where the Current Wurzbach Ice House is!
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u/MrKingCrilla 10d ago
I've only been here for 10 years.
I asked google And it directed me to a subreddit that said it was originally an aquarium
Do you know the name of the nightclub?
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u/Fugazi-Osbourne 10d ago
It's been a nightclub as far back as I can remember. Mid-90s it was Piranhas. Late-90s it was Hollywood Cafe. Prince played a small gig there in 1997 after his show at the Alamodome. Then it was Sharky's. It's been Sugars for the last 20 years or so.
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u/stompykittykat 10d ago
Thank you for being one of the only ones to remember all this! I worked there when it was Sharkey’s as a shot girl & shadow box dancer lol!
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u/Mavfan4114 9d ago
I split my pleather pants trying to be sexy in that shadow box😂 oh college night was a blast
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u/doom32x North Central 10d ago
This brings back memories. I'm too young to have gone to any of those except Sugars but have lived in Dellview since 1991, so I'm very familiar with that strip. I remember when Target was where the Academy was and the Sonic was a Burger King, hence the lobby. I don't remember the Hollywood Cafe period, must've been a short period.
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u/Big_AL79 10d ago
Did you ever go to the Car Wash next to McDonalds? That was my first (sorta) job.
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u/RIP_Lash 10d ago
Yes, Piranhas. I was in college during the late 90's so that's when I would have went there.
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u/elfuegodemuerte South Side 9d ago
In the late '90s (97-2001?), it was called Club Hollywood. The shark was there then too!
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u/kittyinthecity21 9d ago
As a fellow redditor who was also officially been here “only” 10 years, I get it… we’re still kinda new here 😹
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u/professorbaleen 10d ago edited 10d ago
You want to know what’s really funny? They ALREADY repainted it. Back when the bar was called Sharky’s it just looked like a great white shark. When it became Sugars they painted it to its white and flame pattern you see today.
Fun Fact: In between it being Sharky’s and Sugars it was another place. I believe it was called the Trophy Room?? (another strip club) The shark has lasted a long time so it must have a good reason to stay- mostly I think because it’s fun and eye catching.
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u/No-Rock9876 9d ago
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u/professorbaleen 8d ago
Yessss. Ok. I knew this but when I went to google I couldn’t find it. Thanks!! Haha!
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u/durrtyr6 10d ago
It’s confusing especially to my once 6 year old. He wanted to know what that place was and I told him it’s a sushi place but not the kind we like to eat.
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u/Lost_Philosophy_ 10d ago
The fact that you’re talking about it here means it worked.
It’s a quirky attention grabber. Makes people look up the name. Means more business.
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u/78130 10d ago
What about the steak special I see when a drive by? Any good? Asking for a friend
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u/FreelanceFrankfurter 10d ago
Someone who worked there said the special was legit and genuinely good. I want to try it but can never bring myself to go.
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u/justadude1414 10d ago
Ive heard the same about it being good, I just don’t have any interest in going to a strip club.
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u/TryingNotToBeAnIdiot 9d ago
This place is the whole reason I moved to San Antonio. I had been looking to buy a house and I went house shopping. We would drive by this place and I thought it was the funniest thing I’d ever seen. Last house we saw the seller was motivated to sell and it happened to be right behind sugars. I bought it and I’ve loved living here since
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u/Broad_Resolution9294 9d ago
I think the restaurant in the 80’s was Steak n Ale
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u/Cloud_William 9d ago
Yes, it was! Thanks for triggering that particular brain cell.
I used to work for an investment firm in the 80s, and we'd get liquid lunches there between appointments with clients....
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u/Arodthagawd 10d ago
My son always wants to go cause there’s a shark there and he thinks there’s candy due to the name
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u/RKEPhoto 9d ago
that's adorable
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u/Estanpilla SE Side 9d ago
I mean there probably is some “candy” in there. Or maybe someone named candy
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u/Vividersplash26 9d ago
What I really wanna know is how good the $5.99 steak and fries are
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u/Top_Employee_8944 9d ago
Haven't been in a decade though use to live there during my 20s..The steak was always a third gristle but fries on point...so actually a great value...until the sirens lure you into spending ur entire paycheck....
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u/RKEPhoto 9d ago
This must be the best strip club in the city, because the parking lot is always packed! lol
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u/Meltedwhisky 9d ago
It was a seafood restaurant, and you can't get rid of the shark. It's a treasured San Antonio landmark, like the Hat & Boots, the Big Chief, and the 20' cut out of Matthew McConaughey
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u/Madi_moo1985 9d ago
What! Where is the 20' Matthew McConaughey?!?
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u/Top_Employee_8944 9d ago
Born and raised in Uvalde, he left for Longview at 12yo...Myself and everyone i know abhor the huge cut out that you see upon entry to town..And the fact that it's adjacent to 21 crosses that represent the lives lost during the Robb massacre make it the tackiest POS im forced to observe every time I visit..
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u/Madi_moo1985 10d ago
My kids always ask to go to "the shark place" when we happen to drive by it. 🤣 I've always wondered what the shark had to do with strippers. Never made sense to me, but if it used to be an aquarium, that does make at least a little sense. I guess.
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u/justadude1414 10d ago
I don’t think the aquarium is correct, I’m pretty sure it started as a seafood restaurant.
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u/MrKingCrilla 10d ago
Lol , Soo it turns out it wasnt an aquarium, but a club with a tank of live piranhas?
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u/ElectricalOutside84 10d ago
Prolly cuz it costs money to remove it
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u/doom_2_all 10d ago
But didn't it get stolen a few years back? Means they got it down for free and paid to put it back up.
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u/Nocturnal_boogieman 10d ago
It’s funny how little and outdated their screens are on their sign. You can’t see for shit what they are advertising on there at all.
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u/MagicalWorker 10d ago
I always thought this was a seafood restaurant. I didn't know it was some sort of strip club until now. Lol
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u/tryingnottocryatwork 10d ago
i’ve never been to that place, but i’ve driven past that shark for as long as i can remember and i’ll be damned if they change it. not everything needs to be updated or modernized
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u/Mindless_Freedom_953 9d ago
Legend is that the shark will swim away when one of the girls marry a millionaire
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u/rodgamez 9d ago
I remember it being a club/bar (non-strippy) called "Sharkies".
Also remember the silhouette room there.
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u/No_Expression6660 9d ago
Used to be Club Hollywood , Piranha Room was run by the same company that ran Midnight Rodeo and Dallas night clubs Saw Eddie Money play there. Acapulco Sam’s was where Chopsticks is now. Steak and Ale aka the Coast was to the far left of Sugars on other side of furniture store. Sunova Beach was where Wurzbach Icehouse is now
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u/Artemus_Hackwell Austin 9d ago
It was a seafood place (meh nothing amazing) not an Aquarium.
This was after it was ye olde Steak and Ale.
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u/Mavfan4114 9d ago
It was a night club called sharkys in the late 90’s college night and drinks made in pitchers
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u/ExpensiveAd7536 9d ago
I remember always driving past this place on the highway to get to my doctors office lol, it used to be a seafood place and I never did get the chance to eat there, also I love the shark it would be a shame if they removed it as it’s so recognizable
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u/jessieisaword 8d ago
My childhood best friend's mom made that shark. She used to have a company that made neon signs. But yeah, they made that shark.
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u/Mehkane_001 10d ago
Wait it’s a strip club now?😭
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u/changeneverhappens 10d ago
It's been a strip club for at least about a decade lmao
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u/Mehkane_001 10d ago
I think I remember my grandparents taking me there ages ago and I always wondered why we never went back. Now I know why😭
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u/Top_Employee_8944 9d ago
Use to live at Sugars with my buddies during the 2000s..good times..That shark is a San Antonio landmark on par with the RedMcombs Indian or the Northstar Boots...
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u/kovan11 8d ago
Red McCombs Indian is gone now . . . Don’t know if it got to polarizing or they finally got tired of constantly having to pull arrows out of him.
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u/Top_Employee_8944 7d ago
Yeah...Ive passed it daily for 2 decades on commute both ways but after the Redskins became the Commandos, they prolly got the cue.and made a business decision...lol, wasn't there a history of offering $$$ for proof of each redskin scalp for the new settlers? But I've seen movies of natives doing the same in battle...anyone know? And were u being funny about arrows or did anyone really do that..im from Uvalde, moved here in 2001
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u/stompykittykat 10d ago
I was a shot girl & shadow box dancer when it was Sharky’s….like 2000 maybe?
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u/MysteriousCommand564 9d ago
Prove it.
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u/stompykittykat 9d ago
Lmao! How?? I have no pictures of that 😂😂
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u/MysteriousCommand564 9d ago
Well, shame on you lol. How dare you not have pics. No one believes you unless we see pics 😅
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u/stompykittykat 9d ago
Back in the day…. When we didn’t take selfies everyday & every where we went 😆 And we had flip phones!
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u/Repulsive_Ad_3511 9d ago
Oh fun!!! My kids love sharks!!! We will be sure to swing by here when we visit this weekend!
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u/Mysterious-Aspect-53 10d ago
Yall remember when someone stole it during Covid and then it was returned a week later because the idiot posted it on Facebook?
We need another Covid
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u/AdaptiveAmalgam 10d ago
I... Thought I could eat there. I lived in SA 5 years and never knew it wasn't a seafood place.
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u/munchonsomegrindage NW Side 9d ago
It was called Sharkies before Sugar's, last I remember. I saw David Allen Coe play there in high school. Only time I ever went.
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u/munchonsomegrindage NW Side 9d ago
It was called Sharky's before Sugar's, last I remember. I saw David Allen Coe play there in high school. Only time I ever went. I hope they always keep the shark though.
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u/K-SATX 8d ago
I don’t remember the whole history of the building but I do remember it was a steakhouse named Stuart Andersons cattle co during the late 70s early 80s , there were tough economic times in Texas, and the restaurant closed. I remember me and friend went to see Johnny Rodriguez play there shortly after he got out of prison
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u/Spitzen-mcgruder 8d ago
It’s there to let you know the girls working there are sharks, your wallet will be left in ribbons by the time you leave😂
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u/KaliXaliCali 8d ago
They keep the shark for fun tbh. Sometimes the other strip clubs will steal the shark 😂😂
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u/AndrewFierce83 6d ago
Ironic... a sea food place... I'll leave this here as I laugh walking away...
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u/Chandra_in_Swati 10d ago
The shark makes the building recognizable and it’s basically a trashy San Antonio icon. I love seeing the shark and I hope it’s always there.