by Tracy Parks, Go There
Tons of new stuff popping up on the Southside, especially in the gay market.
Two nights ago, Picnic restaurant owner Luis held a fiesta to celebrate Revolucion Day and their anniversary. Great crowd for 2 for 1 margaritas and a special menu of delicious Mexican food. Huge hit!
Last night, I went (albeit late but had stopped by earlier in the day to take pics) to the opening of Casanovas, a new show bar and discoteque on Constitucion and Cardenas. Nice crowd at 2am, creative shows, costumes. Drag, gogos, etc. Excellent sound and light system made the crowd really want to dance. They got this place together FAST. A few weeks ago, they hadn’t done much…the result is great! Check it out in my blog .
Chuy, who owns the taco stand (and has or 20 years!) in front of Los Amigos, on the street…. where the new Industry was slated to open Nov. 28 says it won’t happen…. maybe not at all.
There is a ton of competition right now and more bars/clubs opening daily. Bars with simple, clear concepts and good prices are busy. Same for restaurants. High end stuff, not doing as well. Maryanne, from Apaches, summed it up well, “When new biz owners come to town and ask my advice I say, “keep it small, keep it simple”. Seems to work well for her and partner Endra and biz partner Andre. They are jammed, not just for happy hour, but nearly every hour until 2am. Great spot. Classic Vallarta. Same goes for Fridas…. the most consistently busy bar in town right now, often to capacity on the slowest of nights due to their fair prices, friendly staff, and great jukebox.
A downtown gay bar will open this Friday, Sin Fronteras (No Borders). It will be a cowboy bar. I’ll give you the exact location soon. It’s in the new construction at the south end of Centro. I like the concept and sexy owner, Miguel, used to be a waiter at Green Chairs and has tons of energy. I met him last night and turns out, he’s my neighbor too.
Divas recently held a slave auction to help with the ongoing fund raising for Gib’s treatments. Top bid went to handsome David, waiter at Fridas. The community continues to pour out our support for Gib. You’ll see donation jars at many of the bars.
The line ups have already started for Cafe Bohemia. Owner Sol and Chris are up 20% already over last season for November. GREAT JOB!! A great example of the small, simple concept.
Speaking of Sol, look for him to join forces with the newly re-opened Palm (hey, check out their nearly nightly line up of 8 strippers!) to launch a new cabaret show. This should be exciting for those fans who miss seeing Sol’s performances (outside of the nightly ones he does at his cafe …hehe). Recently he was spotted trying to send a shot to actress Helen Miram, dining at his restaurant. She declined. Ask Sol to do his imitation of her asking for her “privacy.” He also danced with “Ellen Degeneres” who turned out to be my friend from Chicago, Julie. They do resemble each other and Julie played along well, doing her best job to fool the crowd. Must have worked, it hit the PV Mirror the next week.
Rumor is Kim Kuzma is doing impromptu appearances at Garbos, wowing the crowds with Bob on piano. You never know when she’s in town. Too bad she isn’t here permanently. I think she should do early evenings at the Palm. 8 to 10…? Or have her as a regular at Garbos… I’d sure pay a 50 peso cover to see her!
The recent private anniversary party at Anthropology was a huge hit. NICE JOB Jose and Roger! Thanks for a fun night! Several hot strippers from all over were brought in for this event.
The amazing traditional, folkloric dancers are in the southside Park Lazaro Cardenas on Fridays at 7:30 pm (except this Friday, they are traveling). If you haven’t seen them, it’s one of the best things I’ve ever seen in Mexico, let alone Vallarta. Don’t miss it. FREE! Costumes will blow you away. Super talented, this troupe finished its version of “Bolero” on Friday night to a standing ovation, packed crowd in the new amphitheater.
The crowds are rolling in for the Fever Parties. Latin Fever and Vallarta Fever are both happening over the US Thanksgiving Weekend but many of them are already here. Should be fun!
Chuy, waiter at Apaches bar and the most entertaining character on Olas Altas (and one of the sweetest), will celebrate his birthday with a big party this Monday, Nov 24, at the Palm. Don’t miss it.
