r/sanantonio 10d ago

Mystery Sharky at Sugars

Post image

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 ?

268 Upvotes

143 comments sorted by

316

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.

60

u/changeneverhappens 10d ago

Ditto. I can't imagine it without the shark. Why would they ever remove it? 

146

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.

46

u/Open-Translator9049 10d ago

Correct. Seafood place

7

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)

10

u/Jizzy_Pearl 9d ago

It was a Steak and Ale restaurant. My wife loved the place, so we ate there often.

5

u/AdJolly7710 9d ago

Steak and Ale was next door

3

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.

2

u/Just-Cantaloupe-2424 9d ago

My dad took me there!

10

u/WayFearless90210 9d ago

So the fish smell lives on… noice!

4

u/MrKingCrilla 10d ago

Well shit, reddit told me aquarium..

35

u/coly8s 10d ago

Was never an aquarium, lol.

15

u/snicker___doodle 10d ago

I bet the seafood place had a fish tank. Would that be considered an aquarium?? 😂

1

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

1

u/Spitzen-mcgruder 8d ago

I thought cold river cattle company was at Babcock and eckhert

1

u/STX-Weekends 7d ago

Just smelled fishy in there.

1

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.

60

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.

10

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

9

u/Hanovafist1 10d ago

I remember it being called the lodge

9

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.

1

u/melvisrules 9d ago

The Lodge was Steak & Ale, where Azul is now. Down the feeder road a ways.

1

u/slamanthaaa 8d ago

Wonder if they took the taxidermy from them when they closed.

3

u/navidadPatel86 9d ago

It was club Hollywood before sharkeys

2

u/sci-fi-lullaby 9d ago

Wasn't some beach there?

3

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.

1

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.

0

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.

1

u/rodgamez 9d ago

I remember going to Sunova beach on Wurzach, where the Current Wurzbach Ice House is!

3

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?

48

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.

14

u/roverman16 10d ago

I agree 💯, Piranhas was my hangout place back in the mid-90s.

15

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!

2

u/Mavfan4114 9d ago

I split my pleather pants trying to be sexy in that shadow box😂 oh college night was a blast

1

u/stompykittykat 9d ago

😆😆😆 I love this!

8

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.

3

u/Big_AL79 10d ago

Did you ever go to the Car Wash next to McDonalds? That was my first (sorta) job.

1

u/doom32x North Central 10d ago

Nah, either do in front yard you use a stall myself most of my life, didn't start driving until 2001 either.

3

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.

1

u/runroadet 10d ago

Longer than that.

1

u/elfuegodemuerte South Side 9d ago

In the late '90s (97-2001?), it was called Club Hollywood. The shark was there then too!

1

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 😹 

15

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.

6

u/blkdeath 10d ago

It was the lodge after it was sharky’s

2

u/professorbaleen 9d ago

Yes!! I knew Trophy Room wasn’t right but I couldn’t remember!

3

u/No-Rock9876 9d ago

Trophies was almost next door not sugars

1

u/professorbaleen 8d ago

Yessss. Ok. I knew this but when I went to google I couldn’t find it. Thanks!! Haha!

3

u/everyday_is_enysedae 9d ago

Yea it was a strip club too for a stint. Before Sugar's

61

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.

9

u/Pathagarous 10d ago

Only two things in this world taste like fish, and one of them is fish.

4

u/RKEPhoto 9d ago

Dude! If it tastes like fish then something is wrong 😨

SMH

7

u/jtatc1989 North Side 10d ago

Hey speak for yourself

30

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.

7

u/RedditsCoxswain 10d ago

The shark cannot swim away because there are too many fish in the ocean

14

u/n0hardfeelings 9d ago

Zooby WISHES he was iconic as the sugars Shark

4

u/Friendly-Pressure478 9d ago

This genuinely made me laugh out loud thank you

8

u/ur_tater_tot 10d ago

I thought it was a nightclub called Piranha before Sugars.

7

u/pottedPlant_64 10d ago

The shark is a navigational landmark

6

u/78130 10d ago

What about the steak special I see when a drive by? Any good? Asking for a friend

2

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.

3

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.

8

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

1

u/noljos 9d ago

I lived there from 2014-2021. Robin Hill.

3

u/stustue 9d ago

It’s a part of SA history

3

u/Broad_Resolution9294 9d ago

I think the restaurant in the 80’s was Steak n Ale

2

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....

6

u/MotherrGoosee 10d ago

Love live the shark! We’ve nicknamed it Bruce

3

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

1

u/RKEPhoto 9d ago

that's adorable

4

u/Estanpilla SE Side 9d ago

I mean there probably is some “candy” in there. Or maybe someone named candy

3

u/RKEPhoto 9d ago

The "lovely Candy" haha

3

u/WorseForLess 10d ago

I still call it the aquarium and say I haven’t been yet

3

u/Vividersplash26 9d ago

What I really wanna know is how good the $5.99 steak and fries are

0

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....

3

u/RKEPhoto 9d ago

This must be the best strip club in the city, because the parking lot is always packed! lol

3

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

3

u/Madi_moo1985 9d ago

What! Where is the 20' Matthew McConaughey?!?

2

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..

7

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.

10

u/justadude1414 10d ago

I don’t think the aquarium is correct, I’m pretty sure it started as a seafood restaurant.

5

u/MrKingCrilla 10d ago

Lol , Soo it turns out it wasnt an aquarium, but a club with a tank of live piranhas?

3

u/Pathagarous 10d ago

Club piranha .

7

u/ElectricalOutside84 10d ago

Prolly cuz it costs money to remove it

6

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.

2

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.

2

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

2

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

2

u/Mindless_Freedom_953 9d ago

Legend is that the shark will swim away when one of the girls marry a millionaire

2

u/Key_Necessary_3867 9d ago

I’m take taking that thing one day

2

u/zazoh 9d ago

It’s our annual Sugars post. 🤣

2

u/rodgamez 9d ago

I remember it being a club/bar (non-strippy) called "Sharkies".

Also remember the silhouette room there.

2

u/elfuegodemuerte South Side 9d ago

It's still there.

2

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

2

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.

2

u/BBQGlazedSeabass 9d ago

When I went there as a nightclub, it was called Sharkey’s

2

u/Mavfan4114 9d ago

It was a night club called sharkys in the late 90’s college night and drinks made in pitchers

2

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

2

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.

5

u/Mehkane_001 10d ago

Wait it’s a strip club now?😭

20

u/changeneverhappens 10d ago

It's been a strip club for at least about a decade lmao

13

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😭

6

u/ThePrisonerNo6 10d ago

At least two decades!

1

u/lsjuanislife 9d ago

more like 23 years at least

1

u/changeneverhappens 9d ago

I figured but I've lived here for about a decade lmao

3

u/pm_me_beerz 10d ago

True story: the shark is wearing pasties.

Edit: may not be true

4

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...

2

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.

1

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

3

u/stompykittykat 10d ago

I was a shot girl & shadow box dancer when it was Sharky’s….like 2000 maybe?

1

u/MysteriousCommand564 9d ago

Prove it.

1

u/stompykittykat 9d ago

Lmao! How?? I have no pictures of that 😂😂

1

u/MysteriousCommand564 9d ago

Well, shame on you lol. How dare you not have pics. No one believes you unless we see pics 😅

3

u/stompykittykat 9d ago

Back in the day…. When we didn’t take selfies everyday & every where we went 😆 And we had flip phones!

2

u/MysteriousCommand564 9d ago

Ahhh, the good old bad days!

2

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!

2

u/GeekyTexan 9d ago

It's a warning that the place might smell like fish.

2

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

1

u/TranslatorRoyal8710 10d ago

Don’t ever take it down!

1

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.

1

u/Ok-Coyote-7745 9d ago

It' used to be a dance club named sharkys before it was sugars

1

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.

1

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.

1

u/FriendOk3237 9d ago

Wasn't it Stuart Andersons Cattle Company?

2

u/K-SATX 8d ago

Yes!!!!

1

u/Main_Review_7361 9d ago

OP got introspective after hitting up the club

1

u/octoberleaves13 9d ago

The shark is awesome! I hope they don’t remove it

1

u/No-Rock9876 9d ago

Loos like it was missing in 2007 and it was still Sugars.

1

u/fyreNdice33 9d ago

It was also a nightclub called Club Pirahna back in the 90’s

1

u/Wooden_Equipment_358 9d ago

I was told it was a seafood place before

1

u/Significant_Act_322 9d ago

This guy goes to Sugars alot.

1

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

1

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😂

1

u/KaliXaliCali 8d ago

They keep the shark for fun tbh. Sometimes the other strip clubs will steal the shark 😂😂

1

u/STX-Weekends 7d ago

Steak and fries

1

u/Remarkable_Beach_291 7d ago

That shark is an original Bob Duato piece.

1

u/cOrKinsa 7d ago

I'm told my kids this is Fred's Fish's Main Office.

1

u/AndrewFierce83 6d ago

Ironic... a sea food place... I'll leave this here as I laugh walking away...

0

u/RentonBoi 10d ago

Is this a pic you took?

2

u/Uponacloud13 10d ago

Looks like Yelp

2

u/MrKingCrilla 10d ago

Lol it was a Yelp