Bottoms Up is an old-school girly bar. Not that there is anything wrong with that, it is just not my thing. Yesterday was only the second time I’d been in this bar–the first was my New Year’s Eve bar crawl. The fact that I never went back until now gives you an idea of my underwhelming first impression. But things change I suppose, or maybe I have. I actually enjoyed this visit.

I arrived very early (even for me) at around 3:30. I was the only customer in the place, which is not surprising for that early hour. I was immediately welcomed by a waitress who asked if I remembered her from the days when she worked at Treasure Island. I didn’t. I guess seeing my naked butt on the ice at a Hash event made a big impression on her. Of course, I bought her a lady drink which was surprisingly reasonably priced at 120 pesos.

The ambiance of the bar was also a bit nicer than I had remembered.

I asked my waitress what purpose the room served and she said it was for large groups of customers. I asked about getting blowjobs or boom-boom, and she laughed and said “no, only outside”. She did confirm that girls are free to negotiate “takeout” with the customer though. I’d wager if you were spending enough in the bar you might see some hanky panky in that room, but that’s just supposition.

One other thing that makes Bottoms Up somewhat unique is that they employ a couple of baklas (transgender or ladyboy). I only saw one during my visit, and no, I didn’t find her attractive at all. I am personally not bothered by having baklas in the bar, as long as they leave me alone. I don’t want to be pestered by the “real” girls either. There are some folks in my little town who will not patronize any bar when baklas are present, so it’s a pretty gutsy management decision to hire them. As my waitress said, transgender folk need to make a living too.

What I liked about the place was it was cozy and friendly. My happy hour beer price was only 60 pesos (regular price is a reasonable 80 pesos). Best of all, they have a “buy 2, get 1 free” promotion going on. I’ve never seen a deal like that anywhere else. Of course, I wasn’t going to leave without finishing my free beer, and my longer-than-normal stay resulted in my buying a total of three lady drinks for Shantelle. I guess that’s a win-win. Or maybe just an expensive free beer. One of those.

Bottom line on Bottoms Up–I enjoyed my visit. That’s what it is all about in the bar biz.

To the ratings then. As I’ve mentioned before, I will reevaluate the rankings based on additional experiences I may have after my bar review visit. Finger Monkeys is a bar I am now boycotting because I learned the owner there is exploiting her workers. My two favorites have left the bar because of the unfair treatment they received. I won’t be back.

1. It Doesn’t Matter
2. Mango’s Beach Bar
3. Alley Cats
4. Adam’s
5. Blue Butterfly
6. Out Back Billabong
7. Dynamite Dick’s
8. Palm Tree
9. Hideaway
10. Bottoms Up
11. Rosies
12. Rock Lobster
13. Queen Victoria
14. Voodoo
15. Annex
16. MacArthur’s
17. Redz Pub
18. Whiskey Girl
19. Finger Monkey