Pool Hall – The Rack Lounge, Scottsdale, AZ

This is not a pool hall. It’s not even a pool bar, despite the fact it has over a half-dozen seven and eight foot pool tables and a well-stocked bar. It’s a pool club, really. Like a dance club, but instead of a dance floor there are pool tables. It’s a club for people who either don’t want to dance, are preparing to go dancing, have just come back from dancing, or otherwise want to see and be seen.

It took me a couple of passes to figure out where to enter. It’s located on the west side of Scottsdale Road just south East 2nd Street and Old Town Scottsdale. If you turn in to the north of the building itself there’s a parking lot.

That being said, this is probably if not definitely the closest thing Scottsdale has to a pool hall. But it’s a lot different than your typical pool hall! There was another place called Stardust 30-some years ago located just a short ways south of here but that’s been closed and gone for a long time. Tables are all right. The felt on mine was decent but well-worn. Spacing between tables is good overall but at times you need to wait for the person on the other table to finish their shot. Drinks were good – the bartender knows how to do more than squirt Coca Cola into a glass with rum. I had a La Paloma and the bartender did a very admirable job with it.

The place is very noisy with the thumping music you’d associate with a club. The clientele is somewhat varied but at least when I arrived was heavy on the overly-made up, skin tight outfits for women and the well-muscled, good-looking club boys. The vibe overall seemed customized for people looking to meet up, and pool was secondary. The double-entendre of a place called The Rack is not lost here. Like a club drinks are pricey but you have a better selection than you do in many bars.

I won’t go back to this place. I knew that’s how I would feel about it and I wasn’t wrong. Located in the trendy Old Town Scottsdale area, right off Scottsdale Road, I can’t imagine how much they’re paying in rent! They’ve been around since at least 2017 though, which is impressive for that area of town.