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. read more

Quintessential Capitol Hill watering hole. Now that isn't a bad thing, if that's what you're into, but personally, trying to maneuver between a sea of humanity while elbowing my way to the bar doesn't really appeal to me at this stage of my life. Lisa N said it "I can guarantee that something like 75% of the patrons you encounter hate it here. And yet they still come back." Spend one night here, and you'll understand exactly what she's talking about. read more

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! read more

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. read more

It's not really surprising how divided the opinion is on the Cha Cha Lounge. All the negative things that've been said? Pretty much true. It's loud, gaudy, packed to uncomfortable levels during prime drinking hours, and populated by the cynical and self-consciously hip. But they have strong drinks, a great happy hour, and if you're willing to view the other patrons as free entertainment, it becomes not only tolerable, but actually pretty damn fun. Recommended: dress to match the clientle and cop a too-hip-for-this attitude for a fun night out. read more

Good strong drinks....lots ot tats....lots of attitude...lots of fun.... one star off for the price of my stoli..... thanks cha cha for the hangover hell yes i will be back..... read more

I swear I am stuck in the past. I loved the old Cha Cha. Something about the sweat soaked atmosphere and grungy filth really appealed to me. I loved going there and getting a drink, then turning around and begin talking to any random person that I saw. I can't say the new Cha Cha lounge has the same atmosphere or ambiance, but it isn't bad. Somehow the move to a bigger and cleaner location has brought the college kids out in droves. One day I saw a group of kids dressed in dresses, dress shirts and slacks. I scoffed a bit, which quickly turned to worry as one of the girls went crashing into her friend, clearly drunk. Bring new people here. The decor is one of a kind and people tend to be drawn to it. But somehow for me, I keep on comparing it to the old and it just doesn't hit the spot like it used to. But for the memories, I give you 5 stars. read more

I have to sit right smack dab on the fence for this place in fear of being beat up by super-hipsters and/or the incredibly large percentage of my friends who love the Cha (as they affectionately call it). My take on the new location: It's bigger - yay! (I have personal space "issues") It's slightly less tacky, but still "cool". It's FREAKIN' HOT! Jeez. Now it's sweaty scenesters. The servers and bartenders may be surly, but they're good at what they do. It's definitely fun when you're already drunk. Meh. read more

The first thing I noticed as I decend the stairs into red glow of the bar was DANZIG playing overhead. Hell yes. It's got a nice combo of grit, grime, kitsch, and Lucha Libre! read more

Photobooth is epic... This would be known as "one of those bars thats so uncool, it's cool" I never feel strongly enough about a bar to really review... All I could think about was how creepy the place must be when the lights are on and you're sober. Sensory overload read more

I read through the other reviews about how rude and checked out the bartenders are. I ignored them and went anyway. It turns out the bartenders are rude and checked out. Who knew Yelp could be so accurate. It's a cool space though, which is too bad. read more

Oh look, a place called the Cha Cha, that's new. I really liked this bar, but that's a personal preference because it reminds me a lot of The Shortstop in Echo Park back home. Oh, the Shortstop! There are definitely a lot of hipsters here in skinny jeans and girls with artistically-placed raggedy scarves and angled bangs, but to me it's all familiar and kitschy, like the decor. I see the scruffy young boys with their hoodies out the back of the thrift store blazers and I go "Awww." The music is good and there's enough space to shake it a bit if you like, although there is no dedicated dance floor. The ceilings sport tissue paper garlands and lucha libre masks, and near the bathrooms there's the requisite photo booth plus a vending machine that sells Harry and the Henderson's trading cards. The drinks are cheap and the barkeep is friendly. The scene is full of regulars who come in groups to drink and chat in a red glow, so the most trouble a gal will encounter will come from confused Swiss tourists and freshly-minted art school students who want to call you a Cougar because they just learned the word this week and want to use it in a sentence. read more

I live near the Cha Cha. I eat at Bimbo's. The smoking area is cool. The staff is mooosttly friendly....but on the other hand going to the Cha Cha and ordering is like pulling teeth. Who wants to order beer from someone who clearly hates giving it to you? Blah blah - all part of the charm, eh? I can deal without it. A definite plus is that Bimbo's (affiliated with the Cha Cha) has a great lunch special: for $5.50 you can get a quesadilla OR two tacos OR a basic burrito and a bottle of PBR or a soda. Not bad! (12p - 3p M-F, don't know about the weekends). Good but limited Happy Hour specials. All that said - you can find me at the Cha Cha most happy hours and in Bimbo's a couple of times a week! :) read more

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!! read more

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. read more

I really enjoyed myself, the pitchers were cheap, and the company was great! The decor was a mix between day of the dead/cinco de mayo/ nacho libre? Hung out in the booths w/a rowdy bunch of coworkers had a blast! read more

I was just at the Honey Hole yesterday, and this Cha Cha seemed very similar. Which is a great thing because the Honey Hole was a great bar. + interesting interior decoration / atmosphere. + not a dive bar but not a pretentious 'look at me' bar either. + red, everything is red. It makes for a distinct atmosphere. A red one? + upstairs: traditional neighborhood bar layout, downstairs: full bar and more tables & space to mingle. + pro and friendly bartending staff + excellent location on Pike St., near so many other places you might want to barhop to before or after la Cha Cha. I definitely suggest Cha Cha as a place to meet up with friends or do color theory experiements. read more

I'm not enough of a hipster for this place. But that's alright, it's fun pretending. And "stoner nachos" made with doritos? The complaints about service are pretty accurate, but if you observe long enough it becomes clear the staff aren't just assholes, they're judgmental. If they don't think you're a tool, they won't treat you like one. Or maybe you should just stay away. The place seems to have only "too empty" and "too crowded" modes. It's really a 3-star bar that I'm giving 4 because I just like the way it feels. Can't explain why. read more

Update 2.0: The Cha Cha is no longer a parking lot. It's moved a couple blocks East. I've been there a couple time to marvel at how they managed to basically recreate the original's ambiance, but magically managed to make the bathrooms worse. Seriously, I think I'd rather just go pee in the parking lot that marks the original Cha Cha's location. Except, I think that parking lot is now being turned into condos. Or something. I can't keep up. Still happily married though, if anyone's curious. read more

I showed up to the bar drunk enough to not necessarily remember being at the bar (there is a photo booth and I used the men's restroom, that much I am sure of) and then, with great haste, I inexplicably removed myself two hours later. Cha Cha gets three stars for finding my clutch, closing my tab, putting my credit card in my clutch, and locking it up until my drunk ass could come pick it up the next day. read more

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. read more

Ah Cha Cha, your like the sweet hooker that lives a couple doors down from someone in an apartment building. During the day you pose as a nice little burrito kitchen and at night you venture to the red light basement to pawn your dirty services onto the masses. In no way am I insinuating that this place is dirt, but more like it leads a double life. I recommend visiting this place twice: 1. Bimbos Bitchin Burrito Kitchen during the day has awesome PBR - Mexi Specials 2. Cha Chas at night has cheap beer, red lights, and a vending machine that spits out smokes and t-shirts. How can you go wrong? Both places sport a Tiajuana Taxi Luchador Theme, which is flippin awesome compared to all the random hipster b.s. your used to seeing in the Cap Hill area. read more

I recommend coming here sober so that you can see all of the crazy, awesome decor. I then recommend leaving at least a bit drunk so you can get freaked out by all the crazy, awesome decor. It's also a bit easier to walk UP the stairs tipsy more so than down them anyway. Good drinks, GREAT NACHOS (nom nom nom gimme!), and quite a variety of seating. You can be comfortable in a booth or at a table or just up at the bar. It gets insanely crowded by 10pm, though, so plan your bar crawl accordingly if you're headed here. read more

One of my favorite hangouts on Capitol Hill, thanks to a dive vibe, hanging lights, foosball table, and most importantly a picture booth to capture all your drunken moments. Avoid this place on weekends unless you feel like drinking other people's sweat in lieu of a classier drink (aka PBR). read more

I've only been to the new one once and it was right after it opened, and I was only there for a few minutes, but I tried to buy a mini-mexican hat out of the vending machine (the last one) but when it tried to vend the chin strap string got caught. The bar back gave me my $5 bucks back, but you know, I _really_ wanted that hat. read more

After just moving back from Florida, I was looking to get myself situated with some cool bars in the area that I was moving to, so I went along with some friends over to Cha Cha. I was immediately a big fan of the red lighting and the luchador theme they seemed to have going on. The prices aren't bad and there are a ton of people hanging out, but not so much that I had trouble getting drinks. The soundtrack for the evening seemed to be crust punk and grimey rock, not that I minded one bit. The music seemed to compliment the atmosphere as a den of vice. I am to understand that there is a lot of different music that plays here, which I'm really looking forward to listening to before I stagger home. I definitely look forward to coming back, and not just because I am going to be living within walking distance. . read more

Oh Cha Cha. The water has a strange after taste of semen. The bathroom was broken. The pitcher of Rainer was $6.50. Our side margarita was light on the booze, but that's ok, because it was hella cheap (happy hour all day Sundays anyone?) I'll be back, probably more than I'd like to admit. But next time, I sure hope the toilet works. read more

Mexican masked luchadors with sombreros for a bar theme? Yes please! This place was exactly what I was hoping to find in Seattle and I'm so glad we found it thanks to an awesome Seattleite girl who recommended it. Drinks were cheap and the music wasn't too loud, so it's ideal for people who like to converse inside a bar. When in doubt, go to Cha Cha! One of the best hangouts in capitol hill :) read more

Strong drinks, quick bartenders. Large basement is a complete house party, no dancing but good for mixing. Crowd is generally having a good time. A good standby while you're figuring out where to go on the Hill. read more

Came here on a Friday night and it was so crowded! Luckily found a table and had fun. A pretty young crowd. Asked bartender to be creative and make me a light and fruity drink. He declined and made me a Sex on the Beach. It was ok. read more

I can't tell exactly what it is about the Cha Cha that keeps me coming back. Mostly I think it's that it has that Cheers-everybody-knows-your-name effect. It's an easy place to sneak up on friends. It feels like home. There's a photobooth, and God knows I'm a sucker for a photobooth. Oh, and I can get pretty much obliterated (if for some reason I forget that I don't like to be obliterated) for under $20. And now the new Cha Cha offers some bangin' shows on Sunday nights. Sometimes very secret, lovely shows, like the unadvertised Cave Singers performance a couple of weeks ago. Not that I'm suggesting that you go there... Unless you wear the right outfit and can assert yourself as a regular, the staff will make it seem like you work for them, and that they are doing you the favor by taking your money and returning very little but attitude. Just pretend it's home, and everything falls into place. read more

The Cha Cha and I go way back, but not really. About a year ago I tried to go with some friends, but unfortunately there was some alcohol-induced confusion and we didn't realize the Cha Cha is DOWNSTAIRS. Last summer, I grab a burrito from Bimbo's and we ended up sitting downstairs, but it was only about 6 pm, so the Cha Cha wasn't in full swing. Last night was my first true Cha Cha experience. I was with three Capitol Hillians, a friend from Mill Creek, and new friend who just moved to the Hill from Paris. As the night began, my fellow Hill-dweller explained to our friend from Mill Creek, "It's this bar and it's really RED... so you feel like you're in an oven!" I think furnace is the right word, because ovens aren't red, but she has a point. It was also a shining opportunity to teach our French friend the meaning of "hipster." Seems like the Cha Cha is a good place for those. It was way too packed for my taste, with ten people crowding around each table and a twenty-minute wait to buy a drink. I had to wait in line for over ten minutes just to use the bathroom, because one of the stalls in the women's restroom was out of order, and that line didn't seem to disappear all night. My friends and I picked a REALLY unfortunate place to stand (right near the hallway leading to the bathrooms and photobooth) and I was getting hit and bumped into the entire night as people jostled their way to pee or stand in line for the photobooth. There was also, allegedly, someone doing coke in the bathroom. I will admit I freaked out a little when the cops showed up, thinking someone had a gun and was about to go on a shooting rampage, but my friend overheard someone say "My cousin is doing coke in the bathroom," so I guess that was that. It's fine. It's too crowded for me to want to go often, especially with the long wait times for everything, but they have PBR for $2.50, and the experience of making a classy French guy drink PBR is pretty damn priceless. read more

My stay here was very brief. Came on a Tuesday night. Not much was going on. Drink prices are reasonable, it has a cool downstairs area and there's some arcade machines. The place didn't "wow" me though. Pretty much it's a quick stop when bar hoppin'. read more

I like Cha Cha Lounge. To a person with rational expectations it's a great place to hang. Let me be clear, I wouldn't recommend this place for a first date. Or to grab a bite. It's not that kind of fun place. Although I've seen some brave souls eat there and more power to them. This place is more of a Tom Waits or Nick Cave meets Jimmy Buffet kind of a hybrid vibe. They got good music and OK drinks. Great spot for a hangout with bunch of friends you know well. It gets crowded later. Bartenders are hit or miss. I actually think they all rank up there with brain surgeons and Superman because I personally couldn't do it. I really liked the place. read more

Once star for the sexy red lights....and that's about it. You see, we were tourists looking for some good local color, but, it seemed like we stuck out like a sore thumb. The place was not accommodating or friendly. There were a few open tables but we felt like if we didn't know everyone by name, we weren't cool enough to sit there, so, we plopped down on some stools on the way to the bathroom and every drunk idiot heading to puke gave us the up and down. The bartenders we rude and hard to get ahold of and the music was just way to loud. We left after one drink. read more

Cha cha cha La la la Divey bar Up to par. Had a drink No time to think Vodka, beer Not top tier Met some friends Had the bends Cha cha cha cha cha read more

The only reason that this isn't a one-star review, is that I caught up with a college classmate here, and that made it fun. Also, cheap happy hour pitchers. Service was lame, but that's Seattle's M.O. Didn't eat. Didn't want to. It is "trendy" and "hipster", but that's a complaint usually proffered by trendy hipsters, so take it with a grain of salt. read more

Ok - let's start with the fact that the bartender talked to his buddy for 10 minutes before even looking at the 4 customers staring him in the face and practically begging for a drink. Yes, I'm talking to you, Mr. Dreadlocks. This place is oozing vibe. Very chill & a great place to grab some eats & drinks with friends. It's a little dark, but again, it adds to the vibe - embrace it. The Stoner Nachos are a trip. Who would have thought nachos made with could be so delicious. Definitely worth a try...the nachos that is, not the bartender. read more

I come here with a group of friends on Tuesday for the Trivia Tuesdays. It's a fun bar with friendly staff. Tuesday = $2 Tall Boys (Tecate). Trivia is at 8pm, but you need to come a bit earlier to get a table. There's no entry fee - but there are plenty of prizes!!! Uusally maybe 10ish teams compete (?). 1st place = $50 gift card to Cha Chas, 2nd = $25 gift card to Cha Chas, 3rd = choose a category for the next week, 2nd to last = $5 gift card to Cha Chas. There are also funny little prizes for last place and the funniest team name. The format of trivia here is a bit different than most - the categories have almost nothing to do with the questions, and there's also a flash round to win a drink token based on today's news. We never miss trivia here, and it's a fun venue. Cha Cha's is always appropriately decorated for whatever season it is. Definitely a chill/casual bar to just hang out at. It's not too loud, which is also nice. read more

Was introduced to this place by a friend. It's interesting, that's for sure. On a Friday and Saturday night, this place is packed and with no A/C it's a little uncomfortable. If you are lucky enough to get a table or booth, that makes all the difference. Another con is that the bathrooms are incredibly dimly lit (finding the lock on the stall door was tough) plus the lack of toilet paper early on in the night, made for some unpleasantness. (I'm reminded again why I always carry Kleenex :P) It does have a photo booth, though which was pretty awesome and at some point in time during the evening, a server came around offering free shots of jager. The decor is also pretty neat, lots of stuff going on. Plus the drinks are inexpensive. :) The types of liquor available vary between here and Bimbos upstairs. I recommend heading upstairs for drinks (less of a wait too). read more