Balinese Room
The Balinese Room was a famous nightclub in Galveston, Texas, United States built on a pier stretching 600 feet (183 m) from the Galveston Seawall over the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. For decades a dance hall and illegal casino, the Balinese Room was remodeled and reopened in 2001 without a casino. During the early morning hours of September 13, 2008, the structure was destroyed by Hurricane Ike. Operated by Sicilian barbers-turned-bootleggers Sam and Rosario Maceo, the Balinese Room (also known as Maceo's Grotto) was an elite spot in the 1930s and 1940s (Galveston's open era), featuring entertainment by Frank Sinatra, Bob Hope, George Burns, The Marx Brothers and other top acts of the day. Patrons of the private club included Howard Hughes, Sophie Tucker and wealthy oil barons from nearby Houston. In 1997, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Balinese is featured in pop culture; Rock group ZZ Top wrote and performed a song about the club called, "Balinese." History The Maceos took over "Chop Suey," a small restaurant at the intersection of 21st Street and Seawall Boulevard, and in 1929 they opened "Maceo's Grotto" at that location. It was one of many entertainment venues that popped up along the Galveston Seawall around that time (along with bathhouses and dance clubs, some of which were illegal casinos). In 1932, the "Grotto" was remodeled into a Chinese restaurant called "Sui Jen" (pronounced Swee Rin), and a 200-foot pier stretching out over the Gulf was added to the building. The pier location, across 21st Street from the Galvez, made the restaurant/club an easy walk for those Galveston visitors who preferred to stay in one of the city's most exclusive hotels. The Oriental-sounding name was changed to the more exotic sounding Balinese Room in 1942, after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and the decor was modified accordingly. The pier was also expanded to 600 feet. The Balinese Room's private back room was equipped with the most modern gaming (gambling) equipment, and the Maceos' advertisements invited high rollers to "Come Down and Play on Galveston Island." During this period it also became Balinese Room lore that head bartender Santos Cruz “invented” the Margarita for singer Peggy Lee in 1948. He supposedly named it after the Spanish version of her name, Margarita, and it's been a hit ever since. However, there is an account from 1936 of Iowa newspaper editor James Graham finding such a cocktail in Tijuana, years before any of the other margarita "creation myths". The club's illegal gambling made it a hub of mob activity. It was well known that the casino, at the far end of the pier, was operating in violation of the law. But the Maceos had many allies in the local government and on the police force, so charges were never filed. The sheriff of Galveston County at the time, when called before the Texas Legislature to testify about why the club remained open, replied that