Planeta Bar Rio

Not too bad, came down to see Bun B’s II Trill album release party. Nice venue pretty big and a nice bar with decent drinks. Upstairs is cracking easily the best spot in the venue. Luckily I stayed in a hotel down the street and was able to walk to and from the place. I’m from Seattle so seeing DJ OG Ron C, Weezy, Slim Thugga, and all the Houston cats was a treat seems how they never come to the northwest (besides Paul Wall and who wants to see him live?). All in all the parking lot was crackin when it was over, hung out there for at least a couple hours after the show. The real and only reason I went was for Bun’s album, if he had it somewhere else, I’d go there, but really I wouldn’t go out of my way to go back. Luckily they had correctional officer Ricky Ross show up the next day so I’m sure they get some big acts.

From start to end:
Parking costs $$.
Venue is pretty cool and plenty of space, inside and out.
What is up with the pricy drinks?! Beers are stupid expensive (even Lonestar beer was five bucks a can).
Closes at 2a.m.
You realize your wallet feels light after parking and way overpriced drinks.

A cavernous dance club. The lights and sound system were amazing. I visited this place to see Paul Van Dyke. They had DJs spinning outside on the patio, as well as on the main stage. My only complaint… Needs a much larger air conditioning system. We had the «VIP» tickets which were only $ 5 more than the standard BTW which allowed access to the upstairs bar. I don’t know how VIP it was, but there was also a backroom which was the only place in the club that was below 90 degrees. I would definitely go back for another guest DJ but couldn’t see myself here just to go out. If I wanted the giant warehouse techno club scene, I would probably just hit Riches in mid town because it’s closer to my apartment and is always cold inside!

I saw Paul Van Dyk at this venue last night and it was great. I liked the dance floor being so open and large. When there is a large crowd like there was last night, it tends to get too hot to quickly. There is a 2^nd floor, but I didn’t get to make it up there. I think it was for VIPs only or something. I would give a better rating but there were 3 things that stood out that I did not like. First service was horrible. We waited 30 minutes for the bartender to even look our way and when he did make it our way he was very rude. I just thought it was just that bartender inside but was also the same in the outiside bar. Second, the disadvantage of having a large dance floor is people tend to drop their glass bottles on the floor. It was almost every other step I was stepping on broken beer bottle glass. There were not trash cans to dispose of them, so it is natural that people don’t care and just drop them on the floor. Finally, the restrooms.!! I know I am not 6 feet tall, but it would be nice to have stalls large enough to when you try to use the restroom your knees don’t hit the door. It was hot, dirty, and smelly. I think a gas station restroom would compare to be cleaner. I would not have put this on my favorite place to hit every weekend. It would only be worth going if it’s a DJ I really wanted to see.

This review would be better if not for the $ 10 rip-​off parking. Sorry. I’m halfway tempted to give this a 1-​star rating because of that, but I’ll be fair.
The club on the inside is really, really nice. I went VIP-​style to the Deadmau5 /​Pete Tong show in mid-​March and I must say that I was really, really impressed with the interior.
I was a bit confused with the table reservation system they had set up there. I wasn’t sure if I was allowed to sit at the tables or not but after a while I just stopped caring. The staff didn’t speak well enough English for me to understand them any way.
As I understand it, to rent out one of those overhanging party booths you need to buy a $ 200 bottle of liquor. ALL bottles of liquor are $ 200 so I would recommend just getting the high price crap any way. $ 200 for a bottle of Jack Daniels is a rip off, but $ 200 for a bottle of Grey Goose is still a rip-​off but a forgivable one.
All beer is $ 5. All mixed drinks are $ 8. No variations. I guess it makes it easier to keep track of the books at the end of the night but that really limited my bar tab. I figured I’d just drink later after the show, and for much cheaper, elsewhere.
The sound system is really, really good. Deep bass, sharp highs and a giant dance floor in the middle. You can’t get much better than that.
But seriously — get rid of that $ 10 parking. I’m not going back.

Man, I always have a good time whenever salsa is involved, as was the case last night. Grupo Niche (Colombia!) put on a great show, though, as is the latin custom, they didn’t come on until late… they started a little after midnight… yep, you heard right, AFTER MIDNIGHT! I got there at 10:30. Thankfully, the DJ played tons of salsa so the crowd was just dancing away. Strange thing, when the band came on, people stopped dancing. Say what? Whatever.
The venue is okay. Very easy to get to, although I think they could do something a little better for traffic trying to enter the parking lot from the opposite side. I felt like I was going to get t-​boned, but obviously that didn’t happen since I’m here tapping away at the keys. There was a long line to get in but it moved quickly (good thing, cuz it was cold!). One person was checking ID’s and putting wrist bands on. Another person was doing a wand/​body check on the guys. When I got inside, another person took my ticket plus there was a counter where you could either purchase a ticket (or maybe pick up a ticket?).
It’s a nice enough venue once you get inside. I didn’t wander around much but there seemed to be about three levels: 1) main dance floor with the VIP area up front by the stage 2) two mezzanine type levels on either side and then 3) a second U-​shaped balcony style floor so you can get your groove on and watch the band and people below. One of the guys told me that it was a hassle getting to the bathrooms (I decided to be strong and not break the seal), taking about 10 minutes just to get through the crowd. Bar wise, plenty of spots to get your drink without delay, though the drinks are overpriced. Gentlemen, please remember that if a lady was there first, let her order before you. Oh and the move where you «accidentally bump into a girl so you can talk to her»? Find another — not only do we know what you’re doing but the bump is usually too rough to the point where it hurts… and it’s not a good hurt.
It got pretty hot and muggy and I couldn’t really feel any AC, not a good thing if you’re trying to get your dance on. I had to stop dancing towards the end since I was starting to feel lightheaded from the heat. Maybe the AC was on the fritz? Of course, lots of places have this problem so it’s no biggie. I can forgive just about anything when good salsa is involved. Just about anything except…
The Parking. This is my only real gripe: $ 10 to park. Why? I can understand if I used valet service (which I don’t know if they had) but to self-​park in their parking lot? You’ve got to be kidding me. What a rip-​off. Is this the norm at Bar Rio? I’m tempted to give 2 stars because of this. I would have been okay with $ 5, but $ 10? Pfffftttt!!!
Still, the show was excellent and I had a ton of fun so I’ll probably be back… I’ll overlook some things for good times.

I dont know what it is about these Rio bars. I have been to the San Antonio one and the Houston one. I met about 18 of my freinds from Austin to see Mark Schultz. The show was great! the crowd was great. It was real hard to get a drink at this place and the staff is rude. From the time you walk in the door to the cashier to the bartender to the idiot jack booted stomp monkey that threatens violence if the patrons dont leave. What the hell is wrong with these places. We can fly to any city to see a show… why would we settle for this kind of behavior.

I had a great time here last weekend seeing Armin Van Buuren spin. Armin, being a world-​class DJ, guaranteed the show was gonna be nothing short of high expectations all around, but I thought the venue itself was also very important and made the show a very nice experience. As we entered, the lines for getting will-​call tickets and going inside the club were organized. The club had hired some extra security to make sure no funny business was going on, which made me feel better (these things are usually pretty chaotic, as you can imagine).
Once inside, I noticed there was definitely plenty of room to dance. The whole show was nicely put together: the laser and light show was one of the better ones I’ve seen and somewhat akin (but not at the same level) as the clubs I’ve visited in Europe. Accompanying the light show were 4 huge screens, which added to the show. Hot chicks dancing on the stage provided eye candy that paired well with the awesome music surrounding us. At one point, there was an artist doing a painting while Armin was spinning, which I thought was really neat! I didn’t get a chance to visit the upstairs or outside on the patio where another DJ was spinning, but I was told they were spacious and relaxing. I took off a star because my boyfriend said he was having a really hard time getting drinks from a certain bartender, which I hope is not the norm. The crowd was friendly, and everyone was having fun. I definitely wouldn’t mind returning to see more DJs at this venue!

This massive dual level, multi bar, with a chill room is one of the hotest venues in south texas. Amazing lights, awesome sound system, PLENTY of room to dance and some one is always there giving away free something. Tired of just having a good nightlife, Planeta Bar Rio is for nothing less than a mind blowing night that will leaving wondering why you bothered to go out anywhere else. The crowd is always frendly and into having a good time and the bartenders work hard on ensuring a good time is exactly what you get. If all of that is not good enough they manag to bring in some of the HOTTEST Global DJ’s from every corner of the Planet spinning up you favorite House, Trance, Techno, Latin, and Internation tracks. *shivers*
Armin Van Buuren :
Junkie XL :
Mark Farina :
Sandra Collins: