UPDATE: I visited again last night, and nothing much has changed from my earlier review. Well, I guess one big difference is now they have a shwarma kitchen on the patio out front. I’ve been meaning to try it but haven’t gotten around to it yet. To my surprise, the cook is an old friend of mine, Rica. Haven’t seen her since the early days of the scamdemic. She is locally known for her cooking expertise, so I’m sure the food out front will be excellent. I’ll be trying it soon.

Another difference was I was here at 9:00 p.m. on a Friday night, so it had more of a party vibe going on. Still lots of gals to choose from, many of them scantily clad. Actually, you don’t have to choose them; they’ll come looking for you. I don’t much care for “buy me a drink” aggression, but they backed off once I made it clear I wasn’t looking for company. As a said in the first review, if you like the girly bar scene, Thumbstar will fulfill your needs nicely.

Thumbstar is one of the most popular girly bars in town, at least judging by the chatter on some of the local forums I read. I’ve only been inside three or four times total, and yesterday’s visit was my first in well over a year. I can’t really say for sure why that is. Well, the last time I went with some Hashers and I guess we weren’t appreciated, but that’s a little fuzzy. The manager has been alleged to be a bit of a dick, but I have no first-hand knowledge of that either. He did wind up marrying the girl I was crushing on a couple of years ago.

Coincidentally, it was Heidi who greeted me when I arrived. Honestly, I barely recognized her. I took a seat in the corner as far from the bar as possible.

It is one of the larger bars in town, very well appointed, clean and comfortable. In fact, I’d have to say it is the nicest appearing bar I’ve reviewed thus far. I was there before 4:00 p.m. and there were only a couple of customers near the bar playing pool.

Speaking of bargirls, as I was sitting by my lonesome, three young ladies, well, two young ladies and a forty-year-old, came and joined me. That’s the way it works in a lot of bars, although I prefer to do the picking and inviting, but whatever. I was only staying for a couple of beers anyway. We chatted some and then the waitress came by and asked me if I wanted to buy the girls drinks. Again, pretty standard procedure, although I’m usually only going to buy one girl a drink. I made an exception and bought them all a single lady drink (160 pesos each). You need to be careful and specify single, otherwise, they will bring a bottled beer for 300 pesos.

My beers were 90 pesos, but they have a promo where you get your second beer free, so that reduces the price some. They also have a nice pool table in the back for those who are inclined to play.

Bottom line, I enjoyed my visit. Girly bars are not really my thing so it is doubtful I’ll be a regular customer any time soon. That said, this bar appears to be well-run and has a good selection of ladies to choose from. I didn’t ask if “take-out” is available, but I assume it is.

I think when I finish reviewing all the bars, I may do rankings based on bar type. Of course, my ratings are all subjective and based on my personal preferences. Thumbstar won’t rank high on my overall list because it is not my kind of place. I’m sure for others it’s the best bar in town.

UPDATED RANKINGS:

1. It Doesn’t Matter
2. Hideaway
3. Snackbar
4. Cheap Charlies
5. Wet Spot
6. The Green Room
7. Alley Cats
8. Mango’s Beach Bar
9. Bar Barretto
10. Lux
11. Blue Butterfly
12. Dynamite Dick’s
13. Mugshots
14. Alaska Club
15. Hot Zone
16. Queen Victoria
17. Whiskey Girl
18. Adam’s
19. Thumbstar
20. Voodoo
21. Rock Lobster
22. Outback
23. Rosie’s
24. Annex
25. Bottoms Up
26. Palm Tree
27. BarCelona
28. MacArthur’s
29. Redz Pub
30. Chill

Here is where things stand:

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. Alaska Club
11. Thumbstar
12. Bottoms Up
13. Rosies
14. Rock Lobster
15. Queen Victoria
16. Voodoo
17. Annex
18. MacArthur’s
19. Redz Pub
20. Whiskey Girl
21. Finger Monkey