Saturday, July 24th, 2010—Bar 195

Day 195—Friday, July 23rd, 2010
Las Chicas Locas (In the Chelsea Sheraton Hotel) (Originally headed for the Lobby Bar in the Ace Hotel)

Okay, to start things off with, I feel like a bit of an asshole tonight. And of course you’re thinking, “Don’t you feel like that every night?” Well, in a way I do, but today I found out that for some reason I hadn’t been getting email notices when someone sends a donation to the 365 PayPal button (handily located to the right.) Luckily a friend of mine asked if I’ve received his donation and I checked and sure as shit there it was, but I didn’t get an email. And I noticed two others as well. So in the order they came in I want to thank David Brooks who generously sent in 25 dollars. David’s message on the PayPal receipt was, “A few more beers for my American friend.” David is one of my many mates I’ve become friends with in the friendly land down under, Australia. Thanks David, I appreciate it. Thanks go out to another down under mate, Tim Clack who sent in a generous twenty dollars to buy “some suds and a cheeseburger.” Thanks Tim, mate, I will do just that with your gracious donation. And lastly and certainly not leastly, my old pal, Rick Halberg sent in a generous donation of ten dollars and I spoke with Rick on the phone and he told me that all he wants in return is for a pretty girl to wave to him. I will have that for you within the week, Rick! Stay tuned and NEVER stop rocking my friend! Mucho thanks to all three of you, these donations really help me to keep this crawl on the road and everything I get goes right into the bar crawl. If you sent in a donation and I missed it, please let me know, I’ve got a support ticket in with PayPal, but I’ll start checking online daily so I don’t miss anyone.

Okay, speaking of the bar crawl, tonight is Friday night and we all know what that means, it’s my night to whine and cry about how burned out I am from the week and how hard it is to do ths on Friday’s because bars are so packed, so here goes. It’s Friday night and I’m really fucking tired and don’t feel like dealing with a crowd. Tonight I’m staying close by where I work and there’s a nearby hotel lobby bar that hopefully won’t be too packed. I’m hoping it’s a happy hour place and it will have cleared out by now and I can have a few peaceful drinks and then go home and collapse. It’s the lobby bar in the Ace hotel and it’s just a couple blocks away from here, we’ll be there in minutes flat.

And boom, here we are. Sadly the doorman told me there was a wait to get in the bar. Fuck that, time to move on.

And so we begin another lonely walk in search of tonight's tavern. (raginrr suggested other lonely tunes, but I forgot them, so you have to endure this again. Send me the tunes if you see this rr.)

Jesus Christ, everything's shuttered up around here, even the ATM, sorry Joey D. Hey, I remember a Mexican place nearby in a Sheraton Hotel. I've been promising Tiki Bar Susie I would get a Michelada cocktail on the crawl and that place would be perfect.

It's in the Sheraton Hotel in Chelsea and here we are.

The Las Chicos Locas, it's hotter than shit out here, so this is the bar of the night.

It's a nice little bar and there's room at the end of it. This looks promising for a Friday night.

The beautiful and friendly bartender on duty, Priscilla serves up a freshly made Michelada.

And here's the drink in all it's Mexican glory.

It was delicious! Cheers to Tiki Bar Susie for suggesting this great Mexican cocktail.

There's a pebbled wall off to the side with a glass and metal cabinet that houses many styles of tequila.

Joleen was getting a drink at the bar and told me she was in town from Santa Monica. Cheers, Joleen!

A sea of beer bottles, woo hoo!

The back room is a lounge area with comfortable chairs and couches.

Priscilla was the lone bartender on duty and she was busy.

But she found time to mix me a second Michelada.

Here's Arkien at the bar, he was here for a birthday party that was going on in the back room.

The masks on the wall gave the room a bit of a Mexican Mardi Gras flavor.

And here I squeeze a lime in the final Michelada.

And the night ends with... fire! Goodnight, everybody!

Review
Las Chicas Locas is an unlikely surprise in the Chelsea Sheraton Hotel. From the outside looking in, you’d expect a generic hotel bar, with maybe a sombrero on the wall to go along with the title. But when you enter you’ll find a comfortable and cozy bar with a friendly bartender and pleasant surroundings. New York magazine calls it more of a bar in a hotel rather than a hotel bar and I agree. There’s comfortable lounge chairs and leather couches in the back and the music is hip hop but it’s played at a conversational level.

For a small bar, they have an extensive tequila selection, there are over thirty brands available. Some of the south of the border cocktails include margaritas, mojitos, sangria and the signature drink is the blushing chica. And of course the Michelada, which I think Tiki Bar Susie would approve of. I highly recommend it. Some of the bottled beers include: Negra Modelo,  Tecate, Pacifico and Pilsner Urquell. Happy hour runs daily from 4pm to 7pm with three dollar Dos Equis and 10 buck pitchers of Sangria. They also have a kitchen with offerings such as: guacamole for the table, chicken taquitos, achiote rub braised pork and chicken enchiladas.

Mexican Chocolate Chili Cake is a dessert item that sounds like a perfect ending to a night in here. Along with a tequila shot of course. ¡Aclamaciones!

Las Chicas Locas (In the Chelsea Sheraton Hotel)
160 W. 25th St. (Between 7th and 8th Ave.)
212-337-8301