The Boom Boom Room (Leisure), St. Louis

When your night out on the town includes a visit to The Boom Boom Room, you know you're in for some light debauchery, and a whole lot of fun. Once you pass through the red velvet curtains, you enter a modern speakeasy with vintage-styled chandeliers and contemporary exposed brick. Up on the stage, burlesque dancers, circus performers, and sassy comedians regale audiences with bawdy routines.

Many of these burlesque and variety shows start with dinner, featuring upscale French-influenced dishes such as fried duck wings, flat-iron steak with beurre rouge, wild-mushroom risotto, and deep-fried chocolate-chip cookies with ice cream. After dinner, guests sit back with a house cocktail named after one of the performers and enjoy the show. Folks sip on the Vera Valentina martini, for instance, with its blend of Absolut Mandarin and elderflower liqueur while taking in the flashy dancing, ribald jokes, and risqué teasing.