I was introduced to maybe the one place inside the city limits that is open till 2:30 by a certain “gentleman” on a night where I had no place to kip and perforce had to stay out the entire night.
I had forgotten its existence until last night when a dinner at 601 (yeah, I go there too much but we get a neat 20% off!) to bid farewell to a great guy who was venturing out into the big bad middle east for work. After trying a new drink suggested by some people at the table (a Malibu with pineapple juice) and deciding to stick with my own choices, I guzzled down a couple of Long Island Iced Teas and then chowed down on a few appetizers. Jokes on Arabian nights fantasies and whether Sheiks were possessive about harems were doing the rounds for quite sometime. This kept us busy till 10:30 and the guest of honour had to leave since he stayed a bit far (yeah, he was a close neighbour of mine too) and since I had a place in the city to stay, I decided to try and stretch the night a wee bit.
V and Sai were there and we were wondering if we should just go for a quiet drive (with V wanting to get back home soon since his mum was alone, that guy is such a sweetheart and he just tries to portray the bad boy image!) when another friend showed up out of the blue at the hotel. He had just broken up with his girl and to cheer him up, we went to Leather Bar and had a vodka shot after which V left.
So we ordered for a couple of whiskey shots after that and then had another vodka shot. By then I was the only sober person there (which was a disappointment, men really cannot hold their drinks sometimes I tell you) and the three of us wanted to go somewhere where we could just move around and call it dancing, so I called up a friend who suggested Checkers and we ended up there.
Loud music, neon lights and a decent crowd greeted us and we moved onto the dance floor after a Bacardi with some soda and lemon. (Made pretty well and all drinks here met our expectations, so the bartender at the Checkers isn’t too bad).
Unfortunately, the men were also too tired to dance and I had to literally drag them onto the dance floor and keep them going till 2:30 after which they refused to move an inch, so we left and got home after that.
So the Checkers has decent crowd, good drinks, some good music (atleast Friday nights) and is very very easy on the pockets and is open till 2:30.
Anyone in Chennai who wants a longish night out should check this place out, it is worth every ruppee you spend here.