First Street Bars – Go for the ceilings!

Reds Bar Ceiling

There’s a couple bars on First Street near Soto that have so far survived the construction of the Gold Line. So next fall they might actually benefit from the underground light rail station on the corner. Or God forbid that they become victims of of gentrification. Two bars I want to talk about now are Chuparosa (formerly called Redz) and Villa Ranchera. They are must sees for their ceilings. Above is a picture of Chuparosa bars album covered ceiling. Put up by the former owner, the entire ceiling is covered by records. Well not literally, there are gaps between them but you get the point. The new owner decided to keep them since the records generate a lot of attention.

Be prepared to speak spanish and it wouldn’t hurt to put on some lipstick and a dress since this is mostly a lesbian bar. A certain staff member is not the friendliest but you can at least go in for one drink and admire the ceiling. The bar is located across from the micro park where theres one of those 25 cent bathrooms.

A few doors down from the corner of Soto is Villa Ranchera. It’s easy to miss because it doesnt really look like a bar nor a restaurant from the outside. The door looks more like something you would see at a dentist office. Pictured above is the ceiling from that bar. Brightly colored ceiling boards are the best feature of this otherwise plain room. It’s usually not very full and the beers are priced cheap that you can buy a round of drinks for everyone for under 20 bucks and have some left over to pick some songs from the jukebox.

Be prepared to speak spanish. I dont think they speak anything else in there. They are open early everyday at 7AM because they do serve food although there are no menus. I guess it’s just tacos that they make. But I haven’t found out for sure.