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Basically, this place RULES when it's NOT overflowing with Capitol Hill's finest. Pitchers of Rainier are five dollars (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) during happy hour, which goes on all night on Mondays. After gathering a band of friends and losing track of how many pitchers you've drank, take advantage of their photo booth and take a million pictures of yer ugly mugs. Yes!
Also, the food (which is made by Bimbo's upstairs) is reaaallllly good. The few things that I've had--two different kinds of nachos and the chicken quesadilla, are all delicious, and come at a reasonable price. Beware though, the mountains of jalapenos they put on the nachos are bound to bite back the next morning... if you know what I mean.
I tried to see what my friends love so much about the Cha Cha, but... sadly... I still don't get it.
I've been there when it was slow and on a night where it was standing room only. I like how red it is and all the craziness that's in there. Beyond that.... it really must be the people.... and being drunk.... and dancing?
Sadly there was not much going on there last time I went. The music was some kind of metal-ish rock and when my friend asked them to change to faster/dance-friendly music, they just switched to faster metal-ish rock. We were amused head-banging in our booth for a moment and then decided it was time to take off.
Experience w/ the Bar:
The bartender had cool super-long dreadlocks.... and was working REAL slowly. A couple of my friends ordered red bull & vodkas and learned that they had to tell him "no ice" if they didn't want a tall glass full of ice (and a bit more ice) with a splash of red bull & vodka. Thankfully he was working slowly enough that they got a chance to do that. I can't believe that guy was trying to do that and still charge them about $6 for each drink!
I might be back again with my friends, but I'd never suggest it and I'd rather go elsewhere.
Maybe seriously pre-funking elsewhere would help me like this place much more? I don't know. Maybe I'll try it next time.
Down the old rickety steps we went... to the Cha Cha lounge!
The music they played? Some wonderfully…
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I had been to once Cha Cha when it was on Pike (or was it Pine? I can never remember). Anyway, it was further west than it is currently. It was a great bar, very chill, unpretentious, and just really fucking cool looking. Red light, velvet paintings, lucha libre decorations around, and there was a circular ship window. I liked it there and I still kick myself for not visiting often.
Cut to two years later and the Cha Cha is now in a basement. My friends and I walked in and I felt comfort in the red light and exact same interior decorating as before. The major difference was the people. Have you heard of this website? http://www.latfh.com/ Its called "Look At This Fucking Hipster". People submit photos of hipsters and their picture is subjected to sarcastic remarks. Take a look around at the site. The people in those pictures were the only people inhabiting the Cha Cha. I started to get nervous. There are varying degrees of hipster. I will admit I am on the low end of the spectrum because of my attire, hell I even have a thing for slightly (and I stress slightly) hipsterish dudes but the hipsters there that night were off the fucking scale. My group drank our beers as fast as humanly possible and hightailed it out of there. I hadn't been back since.
My friend, knowing I have a thing for Flannels (her term for hipsters), suggested we go Cha Cha while out on a semi bar hop. I had flashbacks of my last night there and almost protested but I refrained and agreed to go. Sometimes I like to put myself in stressful situations for shits and giggles. Call me a masochist, if you will.
We get there and I see the red light glowing as we make our way down the stairs. I hold my breath in anticipation and...where the fuck are all the hipsters? Rather than hipsters the Cha Cha was filled with Belltown yuppie overflow. The crowd was replaced with one unpleasant group for another unpleasant group. What is going on here?
I did see the photobooth and was eager to take pictures until I saw the $3 price tag. My friend and I were highly entertained watching lots of people get confused by which bathroom was for men and which one was for women. I didn't know having "Chicas" on one door could be so misleading. We didn't stay very long because there was no where to sit and too many girls in short spandex dressing were blocking the bar.
I don't even know what the hell to say about Cha Cha anymore. The next time I go in the crowd may be monkeys.
Black metal, black metal, black metal, photo booth.
Cheers!
The Cha Cha is ok and little too loud on weeknights. It's not overly crowded or empty- it's just a red bar with strong drinks and a decent amount of seating. On a weekday, I like it.
On weekends it turns into a poseur house of horrors. There's often a line out front (at a place with minimal seating, no dance floor, no live music). After twenty minutes standing out front, you can walk (or stumble) down the stairs to the bar. The atmosphere seems awesome until you've stood in the barline for about a half hour (seriously) to get your drinks. Once you are able to order, you can spend another ten minutes trying to find enough room to STAND (not sit.... all the seats are always taken). If you're a smoker, the only plus is being able to take your drink outside to their patio (the only reason I have ever been to this place on a Saturday).
All this could be tolerable and at the right drunk level, even kindof fun. Unfortunately, what makes me hate the Cha Cha is the writhing mass of disgusting egos that patronize it. Everybody is dressed 'to the nines' in the most hip/unique/revealing/totallyrad clothes they can find. It's like a Red Light fashion show. Everyone here is way too cool for everyone else, but they'll gladly hit on the person they think is closest to their awesome level.
Two stars for a patio to smoke on, a photo booth and to everyone who is smart enough to just sit upstairs at Bimbos (faster service, and you can still take your drink down the stairs if you want to look pretty for everybody).
The Cha Cha lounge is located below Bimbo's Buritos on Pine and they offer a stable bar selection that aims to please at affordable prices. It is your local bar that won't disappoint and at the same time will never wow you.
The bartenders pour their drinks well and now good drinks. They also offer a stable offering of food that is sure to fill your alcohol filled stomach at reasonable prices. The happy hour menu is cheap for Capitol Hill standards and is a great place to stop by for a drink with some friends.
The atmosphere is definitely dark, but comfortable. You can get lost there with your friends or be seen if you want. It really just depends on your mood. Don't let the dark and red lights turn you off, it just adds to the allure.
Wide array of people frequent the bar and you definitely will not have a boring time there!
this bar is as awful as everyone in this city says it is.
What can I say, This place was nothing I thought it was going to be. I thought it was supposed to be super swanky, it was far from it. It's like a hot sweaty trip under ground and over the border and it rocked. The bartenders do come off a little full of themselves and rude, but I do believe its a part of the atmosphere, and they're probably told to do it. I mean there are only so many designer sticks up peoples asses to go around. It's a show, that's my opinion. The food was pretty good and the drinks are fairly stiff and for a good price. I loved the music and I never had a hard time getting seating, but I do suggest getting there a little early just in case.
I still have love for the Cha; I live in Chicago now, and have been able to visit the "new" location a few times...
The stairs are scary, but I've still had plenty o' fun there... It probably helped that I was with great people every time, and definitely helps that I can smoke outside WITH my drink, but since I had made it my second home for so many years, I have a pretty strong affinity for it.
I remember the main complaints being about the bratty hipsters working and frequenting the place; now I can't tell if people have gotten nicer, or I've just gotten less bogged down with worrying about talking randomly to strangers in bars (thanks Chicago over-friendliness!), but I have not gotten an odd look even once when I make some lame joke to someone while waiting in line for a drink.
And the staff has always been awesome to me. Well, except that one time when the girl from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs stole our booth with her friends and wouldn't give it back... we got in a drink throwing fight, (kind of) and rather than getting in a REAL fight (cuz I'm a huge wuss) I tried to tattle to the door guy... He was apparently too star-struck to do anything but say "they're in the Yeah Yeah Yeahs..."
That was a long time ago though, and I don't hold it against the Cha. The guy was cool before and after that...
Can't wait for my next visit, whenever the crap that might be...
I still go occasionally because inexplicably great nights are possible, but try to avoid at the weekends... I love the lighting, the decor, the unpredictability of the crowd - but it's not perfect. I could do without the too loud metal and getting there late and not being able to sit or get to the bar is no fun.
The drinks have always been fine. Impress the lady bartender by asking for potato vodka.
3 stars because if I'm pub crawling down Pike/Pine I pretty much always at least stop in - but usually I'll stay for 1 drink only.
I really wanted to give this a 4-star rating but I think I just came on a busy night. aka: Saturday.
Lets sum this babychild up: Red lighted hipster music venue with a dash of a transvestite or two.
Downstairs this place rocks, decor, music, amy whinehouse wannabes. The spot to go if your undergrounding it!!!
What I didn't care for; I got stuck outside in the smoker's arena because it was so jam packed inside, plus you will run into skeevy sorts here. Its just a given in that part of CH.
Go back, hit this spot up again, but go on a different night if in the slums of seattle.
Super crowded ALL the time. You have to push and squeeze your way to the bar only to stand and get constantly bumped into with your drinks. The seating is limited and always full. This is probably the most popular bar in capitol hill and I don't exactly see why. It's downstairs and has very 70's hollywood-cocaine style decor. The B&W photo booth is cool, and it's a fun place to check out once and a while, but for a regular joint, I prefer elsewhere.
Ive ended up here a few times on crazy nights. I always see at least two people I know here when I go.
The beer is good priced, though mixed drinks are defiantly hit or miss depending on the night and the person mixing them. If you are scared of hipsters you shouldnt come in. Theres tons of them here.
If you like dark crowded bars where the people watching can be amusing and the beer flows like water, then come in.
My experience at the Cha varies greatly depending on the people I'm with. The bar itself rates from blah to mehh to yuck.
It's safe to just order beer, but cocktails -- don't even think about it. Especially when it's super busy and packed.
+ The red light helps make most people look better, which is definitely an advantage sometimes.
+ The foosball table helps in situation when you just have nothing to talk about or it's too loud to really have a conversation.
+ The back smoking 'cage' area is a nice plus for smokers like me. __But it's small, cramped, and ghetto looking. Linda's is much better.
__Minus points for not knowing how to make Old Fashioned.
__Bathroom is just downright gross. It looks like the a place where you might find some syringes on the floor.
__Used to come here a lot when Christina was working. Haven't seen her in a while. She was sweet. Hooked me and my friend up big time on our birthdays.
I pretty much never 'choose' to come here -- only to meet friends, who see this place as a default go-to. I think they need to find a new place.
Pros: you will see a few people you know.
Cons: they're always the exes you ended things badly with, the person who's call you never returned or the one you threw up on.
I've had plenty of nights end up at the Cha Cha. It's a love-hate relationship. The drinks are almost background - it's all about atmosphere and the crowd. If that's your mood, it's great. If it's not - it's irrelevant. If you come to Seattle, are in your twenties and drink - you will spend more time than you realize at the Cha Cha.
i guess they were trying to bring sexy back with the red, red lights...but the efforts wasted when the theme of your restaurant is this weird fusion of hawaii and baja california.
imagine if the bar in "mean streets" had palm trees and tiki sculptures. yeah, i don't get it either.
I lived on Capitol Hill for a little more than a year and anytime I went out, this is where I inevitably ended up (and it seemed like everyone else did, too). OK, sure, the bar's a little dingy (don't be surprised to find condensation from the overhead pipes dripping into your beer occasionally), but deal with it--you're on Capitol Hill.
It's loud, it's packed and it's fun. Awesome Mexican food upstairs.
i love the contrast of upstairs and downstairs, both packed
but too different feels
Ignore all reviews, read this one. I mean how can you not rate The Cha Cha 5 stars?
It's the fucking Cha Cha, what more can you expect? It's loud, it gets crowded as hell, it's dirt cheap, the bartenders can be assholes, and there is always someone awesome to randomly talk to.
"Ohh it's too crowded, I can't find a seat!" You know how many people you can jam into those huge comfy black lounge booths? Shit loads. Hop on the bench, make a new friend and start sharing some $6 pitchers of Rainier!
Want to meet some new people, have a great time and wake up forgetting half of it? Fuckin' go to the Cha Cha. It rules all around.
The one bad thing about the Cha Cha: The dude who screams "Last Call!". Fuck that dude's loud ass voice.
Also, see my profile pic? Fuckin' Cha Cha.
Who can't find at least something they like about this place? With the red lighting, Mexican wrestler-esque decorations, sweet vending machine, and photo booth there is much to love.
Okay so the place is filled with hipsters but it definitely makes this place what it is. I will agree that this isn't the place to go if you hope to have a long heart to heart conversation with friends, but if you want to grab a beer and be entertained by your surroundings, Cha Cha's is fantástico!!
From what I remember there where multiple jager shots involved, and a bunch of photos taken in the old school photo booth. It has a very festive Tijuana feel. There are some amazing black velvet paintings. By amazing I mean funny. I would not really consider it a destination spot, but it's a great little bar.
Used to be one of the best spots, now the belltown crowd has invaded.. as usual. Things I've never seen before happening there happen now - irritatingly drunk sluts or creepy sleezebags, fights, and a totally gross bathroom (it was always gross, but people totally trash it now). I used to love it here, now I hate it.. especially friday and saturday nights. Really cheap drinks are the only plus.
I'm almost unsure of how to rate this place. While I had a good time, I can't say it was exceptional in any way.
But I somehow ended up bumping into two people I had just met. And I was just visiting. So must be the go-to place.
Methinks it's the atmosphere. I was very amused though, by the lighting, the pseudo-pop-Mexican decor and the crowd. Such a fun mish-mash-- maybe that's just what the Seattle young adult scene is like? Hipster alert, for sure, but a friendly group. The bartenders are polite, prompt and handle the lines pretty well. They even take orders from the line if it's really packed. One of them even helped my friend find her missing wallet.
That photo booth was trouble. As though the proliferation of point-and-shoot handy cams aren't enough to assure shame in the presence of your unborn children... I'm pretty impressed at the amount of people I see squeezed in there. How the photos turn out, I'm not sure.
One big gripe-- this place, along with another Capitol Hill place closed at 1:30 AM. Barely! I mean, I get that you need to clear the place at 2, but c'mon. Also, don't hang out in the outside patio lest your clothes smell like very concentrated cigarette smoke.
UPDATE! Over a year ago, they knocked down the original Cha Cha and replaced it with a makeshift parking lot. I hear that there is a new Cha Cha out there, but since I'm, like, this old man now and spend all my time going to places that will let my infant daughter in, I haven't been there. So, I left my Rating the same, though its now irrelevant.
What *is* relevant is that -geographically speaking- I now apparently got drunk in a pay parking lot immediately before meeting my wife at the Baltic Room. History is retroactively turning me into a hobo.
So, one Monday evening, I was hanging out with friends here, drinking cheap beer. And I ended up… Read more »
I'm a card holding member of The Cha Cha's people watching peanut gallery.
I've neglected reviewing Cha Cha for the longest time, even though it's at the very top of my list, just because for some reason it has always seemed so UNCOOL to do so. Don't ask me why.
I go here a lot. I bring all of my visiting friends here. A lot. Why? Maybe I'm a closet alcoholic because this place has never failed to disappoint.
Drinks are hella strong. Definitely worth the money. Especially on Sundays and Mondays... $4.25 strong doubles, YES.
Another I think is the outside area. Unlike many other bars I've been to (Oh Lawd, I've been to a lot), everyone talks to each other! I'm 99% sure it's the liquid courage, but I don't give a rat's boo-tay. I like it. I like making "friends" for the couple of hours I'm there and then never seeing them again.
Chacha4eva.
I miss the old Cha Cha on Pine Street! We used to eat at Bimbo's ALL the time and went to the Cha Cha a couple of times......I sorta think of them as the same place.
But something about the atmosphere and people has totally changed since they moved to Pike St.....one block over and suddenly everyone's bitchy, they ignore you for no reason, and not at all interested in customer service, and the customer-base has degraded to a demographic I'm not interested in being around.
I had high hopes for the Cha Cha's new location because it's so much bigger and has the feel of some cheesy, dimly-lit dive bar. Okay it is a cheesy, dimly-lit dive bar. My husband and I went down there previously on a Sunday and were served food. Yet this past Sunday when we brought friends (after telling them "oh you HAVE to eat at Bimbo's/the Cha Cha, it's SO COOL"), we walked down the stairs to find no other customers there. This was around 6:30. I specifically walked up to the bartender who was super busy talking to his friends and asked him "hey, is it alright if we order food down here?", to which he replied "yes".
So we all proceeded to a big booth and sat down, our friends absorbing the atmosphere and all of the doo-dads on the walls. At least 5 minutes go by and still no service, when suddenly the bartender YELLS over to us - he couldn't be bothered to come over to our table - "hey, if you guys want table service, you have to go upstairs".
Um, what???
We didn't bother arguing with him as he had already pissed us off, so we just went upstairs to see if there was a seat at Bimbo's. Holy crap, I felt like we had entered some kind of special-needs romper room for emotionally stunted teenage hipsters who don't bathe!!! Seriously, they were jumping all over chairs and hopping from table to table! Was this some private party? There didn't appear to be any available tables, but I declined to push through the mayhem to see if there was a table further back.
My friends and I escaped intact and made our way down to Quinn's where we had a delicious, respectable, customer-service-filled experience at dinner! (see my review of Quinn's)
I love the old location, now at the location my experiences there have not been good. The drinks suck and are over priced. Sometimes you gotta be way cooler than you really want to be, when all you wanted was a burrito and a drink.
They have a Photobooth!!!!!!!! AWESOME!!!
Hmmm..... what else do I like about this place?? Nothing.
I'm pretty sure the employees here do everything they can to make you feel unwelcome. From the bored looking bouncer who treats customers like an inconvenience to the bartenders who will happily ignore customers to chat with their friends or read a book it's obvious that customers aren't a particularly important aspect of their business.
We ordered a round of Tokyo Teas which some bartenders don't know how to make, but I explained what's in them and for some reason the bartender decided to add some extra ingredients. Hmmm. They came out tasting like cough syrup with a splash of cheap vodka. Gross. I feel like the drink should have been made correctly since it was explained what's in them.
When we asked for a different drink since they really messed them up the bartender was less than happy. The other drinks he made us were equally bad, but we just drank them as quickly as possible and left. I don't think we'll come back.... even though the photobooth was awesome...
Once again, I realize I have been failing in my Yelp Review duties. How is it I have spent countless hours in here and not written a review about it? What kind of narcissist am I?
My initial impression of this place was no bueno. I'm a little more metro than hipster, and I generally bathe more than once a week. I was like a worm in a mother bird's gullet: down the stairs I went, had a look around, and was regurgitated right back up.
And then I met Elvis and the Turks (wow that could be a band name). And they love this place. LOVE this place. Being foosball champions may have something to do with it, but those guys drag me here weekly. And like the moss on my northern facing stairs, this place is growing on me.
Yeah, it's dark, it's red, it's hot, and slightly oderous. Yeah, the bartenders couldn't smile unless they were hung upside down, and yeah I've stood in the midst of at least two bar fights here and lost my drink in each one. But I've met some cool folks, lost at foosball a bunch of times, and generally have a good time. That usually depends on the company you keep, but the company I've been keeping likes to come here.
Besides, there's a photo booth to make out in (purely speculation, of course), a vending machine to buy cigs, gum or profilactics in, and a really dirty bathroom. Not to mention an outside area for smokers to crowd into and burn each other with carelessly held cigarette butts.
It's dark as fuck, it's packed as fuck, it's great as fuck. I give it 4 stars instead of 5 stars as revenge for all the hangovers I've gotten due to that place.
The people are more friendly than meets the eye as well. Yeah the staff are dicks, but that's how they roll, and if you really don't like it, don't tip them. As previously stated: $6 pitchers of Rainier beer. That's not on happy hour either, they're always that price (actually for about a week they were $5, don't know what was up with that). Always a great mix of people, always a great amount of people, if that's your thing then the Cha Cha is Cha-Ching.
Although it might get too crowded with kids, and they might play rap/hip-hop sometimes on a saturday night, in general they play very cool indie music.
The decoration is awesome, making you want to do lucha libre, with mask and everything. Have a good amount of tables, so especially during the week is a nice place to sit down and talk. In the weekends again, it might be too crowded.
They have fusball (positive point). And it's not expensive, and never cover (points doubled)
They have a small, kind of shitty, open space in the back, that it's nice if you want to have smoke a cigarette.
(and by the way, oh my god, what have I become...? Saying that it might be full of kids... I am now one of those old, definetely boring guys... :-(
Be sure to make your way to the photo booth at some point, it's one of the funnest parts of being there. That and the Mexican wrestling decor.... Oh, and the unbelievably cheap drinks....
If you are in a band that will eventually fail or dating someone in a band that will eventually fail this is the place for you.
What to say about the Cha Cha. Go on a Wednesday or Thursday around 6pm when no one is there and they play Frank Sinatra. It may just be you and your friend but at least it wont be a bunch of amature hour 22 year olds playing "hey look were cool"
As for me. I go out of morbid curiosity about once a month. The venue itself is pretty damn cool. The drinks are crappy the vibe is unfriendly. It is nothing like the old cha cha.
The best part of Cha Cha is looking at the confused bored cats from Belltown. I think they are wondering what the big deal is.
Enjoy playing big city kids, as for me I just stopped in for a quick drink to see who might be out.
Do you want to know a secret?
Go to the vending machine between the photo booth and the bathrooms. Put your hand in the "exit" part of the machine where your goody usually drops. Snatch up handfuls of Cha Cha matches and stickers.
Then pick up your $6 pitcher of Rainier and B-Line to the smoking porch.
i really liked it here bc this place was HUGE and there was plenty of seating. the only downside is that there is only 1 bartender upstairs. took us 30 mins to get our drinks. boooo
-Minus one for being too effing hot on a Friday night. I was practically "glistening."
-Minus one for the creepy, weird, stalker guy that kept following Emily around like a psycho.
-Minus one for the verbal abuse my roommate received on the walk over "I'm going to punch you in the face!" What? We're just WALKING! Wait, this isn't ChaCha's fault, I revoke this minus one.
-Minus one for chick doing coke in the bathroom. And not the cola. And the fact that the bathrooms are lit with red lights, how am I supposed to know if I have that melted make-up, drunk girl look or not in this lighting?!
Photobooths are fun. The place is decorated in a fun way, drinks are good, I didn't have any, but our group did and their sampling seemed good. Can't attest to the staff or it's service but despite the busy-ness they seemed to bus the drinkers through the line in a relatively efficient manner. Would go back simply on the premise that we're in the area, but definitely would not make a special trip just to come here, or start the evening here. I go wherever the drunken wind takes me.
Oh, shit. I just love bartenders who refuse to look me in the eye! It's even better when I leave a dollar tip on the bar for a $2 drink and they snap "There's a tip jar!" BITCHES I'M FROM OAKLAND! DON'T SNAP AT ME! I will rip out your fucking weave - or in this one guy's case, his ironic shaggy dog hair. Pew pew pew! That is the sound of me shooting this guy with my MIND. Ugh.
The Cha Cha reminds me of most bars in San Francisco, actually...Groups of twentysomethings throwing away all their cash in a dimly lit bar. I felt pretty comfortable here. Even El Capitan Douchebag at the bar didn't upset me all that much. As a fan of mega kitsch, the decor was incredibly pleasing to my eyes. Cheesy to the max!
In an effort to avoid the douche manning the bar we armed ourselves with a pitcher of Mt Ranier, which is PBR but with a fancier name, methinks. Delish.
Thumbs up for the bathrooms and to the photo-booth, too!
You know you've been to the Cha Cha too much when....
You have 5 million photo booth photo booth pictures of you making out with lovers, friends, strangers and yourself. Half of which you cannot remember.
You accept the fact that yes a long island iced tea's alcohol content varies from day to day, just like the price. "dude my long island has twice as much alcohol today as it did yesterday annnd it is 3 dollars less"
You grab a drink and head immediately outside on the smoking patio.
You have at least doodled over the smoking patio wall three times with a sharpie, and at least once on that drawing of the naked super hero type woman
You adjust your makeup to look flattering in the red hell looking lighting.
You avoid the cha cha at all possible on crowded weekend nights when there is a more "eclectic" group of people.
I love the lucha libre (mexican wrestler) theme. When visited, I caught a glimpse of multiple local musicians each performing and the bar area was perfect in diameter to host such an event. The dual bar between Cha Cha and Bimbo's is brilliant - you can bounce back and forth depending on how claustrophobic you get. Unlike the LA Cha cha, you don't have to "wait in line" to get into this bar. Jerkfaces.
Sunday Happy Hour is where it's at.
Sunday FUNday Happy Hour…
Neighborhood: Ballard
TWO Happy Hours!
Seattle, WA
Seattle, WA
Category: Bars
Neighborhood: Capitol Hill
Category: Dive Bars
Neighborhood: First Hill
Category: Lounges
Neighborhood: Capitol Hill
Category: Lounges
Neighborhood: First Hill
Category: Bars
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