Danielle H.
Yelp
I'm updating this review based on a recent visit that's leaving me feeling weird.
Good: still amazing performers, still great tech and costumes, lots of talent in general. Service was honestly super fast! Love that the menu includes unlimited mimosas now.
Cons: I'm a little embarrassed bringing my friends here today because we all feel a little conned. I was confused when the general admission tickets alone added a 22% service charge, but I reserved the tickets because I've had great experiences in the past. I go to a lot of drag brunches and think of $20/person as a standard tip, but their stacks started at $40. I got two stacks and the service charge for the two stacks added a $6.40. Somehow, when my friend was reviewing his payment, $36 mimosas + $20 entree/person became $80/person not including tip?
So for 3 people to come to brunch, between tickets, food, tips, it was close to $500... and how much of it goes to the artists? I've heard rumors that the venue isn't always transparent to performers, and based on how I'm feeling as a patron, it's starting to make sense.
Part of what's upsetting is there were plenty of empty seats and performers were complaining about it being a quiet crowd, it kind of felt like there's a disingenuous relationship between performers and audience. Maybe if there was more transparent and accessible pricing, the audience would be fuller, and you would be able to have a less "quiet crowd". It felt kind of gross and draining to have people constantly tell me I wasn't giving them enough to perform when there were also lots of underused seats.
How am I feeling post-brunch? Sad. I really like julias. But this felt almost like a Disney-fication of drag brunch. Pay to jump to the front of the line, read the fine print, etc. There are so many competing venues and idk if I'll be prioritizing Julia's in a sea of options when it feels like other venues are better priced and more performer-driven.