Looking for a cool place in Panama City to hang out with your co-workers after a long day at work? Or a fun place to go with your friends? If you want to relax and have lots of fun at the same time, you should try the SKY bar at Extreme Planet on Avenida Balboa. It is one of the places to be in Panama. From the SKY bar you get an incomparable view of the Balboa Bay, Paitilla, Casco Viejo and the Amador Causeway. As you ride up the glass elevators from the parking garage to the 10th floor of Extreme Planet to the SKY bar, you get to take in the beautiful sight. While at the SKY Bar you can either sit at the very modern bar or lounge at one of their many tables that offer gorgeous views and comfortable chairs.

There are always specials going on at the SKY Bar in Panama. On Tuesdays, Ladies Night, they offer 2 x 1 Champagne from 5 – 10pm. On Wednesdays, SKY Bar has the “Tequila Flavor Festival” from 5:30 – 9pm. If you are looking for an enjoyable and professional environment to take your business meetings, SKY Bar suggests their “Business Afternoons”, where you can get food and drinks from 12 – 5pm.
I have been to SKY bar many times. I always have a great time when I go. The drinks are good, but the food is not that great. It is ok. Their food menu is actually the Bennigan`s Menu. So if you are really hungry the food will satisfy your hunger, but it is nothing to talk about. My favorite part of the SKY bar is the ambiance! The ambiance is great! I recommend that to everyone!

Continuing with the Panama Carnavales spirit, I’m bringing you some information about the way I spent Carnavales.

Friday night I got all my things ready to go to the Central Provinces. This year I decided to go to a place not very famous for its Carnivals, but known for the warmth of its people – Ocu. Turned out, Ocu’s carnivals have been getting bigger and better each year. I would have never thought it would be such wild party.

Full of drinks, tons of wild parties and many, many hot Panama girls, the Carnavales in Ocu are one to remember forever. During the day people would gather around Calle Centro (Central Street), jump, scream and party while they were getting wet with the water from the trucks. At night, some people would stay in Central Street while others would go to the wild party in any of the “mobile” night clubs and local night clubs such as El Viva Panama or El Parking (Panama City trendy night club – PEOPLE).

In summary, Ocu is the location for a tremendous wild party that I totally recommend for your next year Carnival’s celebrations. There’s no need to cry, though carnivals are over, this is just the beginning of this year’s Panama festivities so sit tight and wait to find out more about Panama holidays and wild parties. For more info about Ocu’s Carnivals, visit the town’s webpage: http://paelpueblo.com/.

Miraflores Locks Restaurant is an extraordinary gastronomic experience that you cannot miss if you are visiting the Panama Canal. Last night I went with my family to celebrate my brother’s graduation party; he got his Master Degree, yeah!  We made reservations to dine at 8pm and we arrive just in time to enjoy an outdoor culinary experience that really rocked the boat.  Our table was located right outside on the deck with an impressive view of the Locks at night.  The restaurant offered a grand display of mix cuisines from North and South American dishes, Caribbean flavor and even some Italian and Japanese influences.  All this amazing flavors combined under the magnificent buffet party that was our dinner.

The main course included beef, fish and chicken in exotic flavorful sauces, pasta dishes, delicious rice, and desserts.  As an entry, I have ceviche that was delightful, and for my main course I was ecstatic with my selection of Corvina with mushrooms and huacaina sauce and a side of pasta.  We were very lucky to enjoy the passing of 8 ships while we were enjoying of our graduation party. Chef Stephane Dias is a great acquisition for the Miraflores Restaurant and our whole dining experience was even better from the magnificent view of the Miraflores Locks.

So, if you are wondering what to do for Christmas celebration and New Year’s Eve party, I’ll recommend you to check out this restaurant.  You need to make reservations if you want to dine here.  The price for the buffet runs at $21, the drinks are not included but they are very affordable.

Well, El Pavo Real has turned out to be my favorite spot in Panama City, Panama. Its ambiance, the music, the food, the drinks, but most of all the staff really makes me love this trendy English bar. (Find more about El Pavo Real on my last week’s article).

I went back for the second time with some friends and few of my co-workers. We loved it that night! All the staff: Marli, Alex and Fernando remembered me right away! Marli and Alex were smiling and taking care of us the whole night. We started off pretty wild by drinking vodka. We sat there to talk and everyone was just so friendly, we couldn’t help but to talk about it. Later on another friend arrived and she wanted to play pool. The pool tables were busy but the people playing were so nice to let her play. OMG! I drank until I felt a little tipsy; luckily my friends and the staff took care of meJ. My friend wasn’t really good at playing pool but we sure had a blast! I met another waiter that night. His name is Ricky. He’s very nice and talks to everyone. Every time I go back Ricky, Marli and Alex are very pleasant and friendly. Every single person that works there is extremely nice, unfortunately because I’m really bad with names and don’t really remember everyone’s name but I can guarantee that anyone that helps you will truly take care of you.

Anyways, writing about it I realized that this is not much of a wild party itself. You’ll have to go to El Pavo Real in order for you to understand what I mean when I say that this is the best place to hang out with your friends and have a great time! If you love rock music, this is the place to go! If you want the best customer service in a bar in Panama City, Panama, this is the place to go! If you want the best food and drinks in Panama City, Panama, this is the best place to go! If you want to be surrounded by beautiful, sexy young Panamanian and latin girls, this is the place to go! El Pavo Real is definitely the best bar to have the best fiesta in Panama City, Panama. It really has nothing to envy from the wild party in strip clubs. The only thing you will NOT find there is a striptease show or lap dance; Nevertheless, it’s a party you will not want to miss. I never do! It truly gives you the best value for your buck in their drinks and food. It gives you free live music every Wednesday, Friday and Saturday and, once again, the best service ever! I keep going back almost every week because I know that Stefan, Fernando, Ricky, Marli, Alex and everyone else there will always greet me as their friend and help me relax. It’s always nice to have someone to talk to when you are having a stressful day and to enjoy a cold beer on tap to relax. You can find all of these and more in El Pavo Real. Come and enjoy the best Panamanian-English party only at El Pavo Real. If you’re bold enough you might even meet a lot of wild girls or guys right there! Keep your hopes up! And, I’ll see you at El Pavo Real!

The “Peacock” or El Pavo Real for its name in Spanish is an English pub that plays mostly rock music, which just recently moved to Via Argentina in Panama City, Panama. It was first located in Calle 50 since it first opened in the 80s. El Pavo Real has a lot of story and even though is not really a dance club, you can have a lot of fun playing pool, watching TV or just by delighting your sight with the sexy panamanian wild girls that go there.

I went there the other day and had the pleasure to meet Stefan who’s a manager in El Pavo Real. He told me few anecdotes from the place and why it had to move from its original location, which is because of some leasing problems. He was very nice and polite as is the rest of the staff from El Pavo Real. He started telling me the story of the success of El Pavo Real. Stefan explained to me that yes, it was true that John Le Carré, the English writer who wrote “The Tailor of Panama”, did used to go there to write his novels and eat their signature dishes accompanied by his favorite drinks. Nevertheless, El Pavo Real did not become famous because of him; El Pavo Real was famous way before John Le Carré first stepped into that place. It was very well known since it starts because of its strategic location in Area Bancaria (Banking Area) in Panama City, Panama, it’s excellent customer service, delicious food specially its fish n’ chips and their delicious onion soup (truly, still THE BEST onion soup in Panama City) and great variety of imported and local beers. All the business people used to go there to close very important business deals and have business meetings. One very interesting anecdote was that their famous “fish n’ chips” was not served on a plate like is done now a days, no, it was served on the financial section of the New York Times. Yes, you read it right! It was served on a newspaper. Truly, truly amazing! Unfortunately, this can’t be done anymore because of health department requirements.  The other dish, the onion soup is the best of its kind. No other onion soup can be compare to theirs, guarantee!

Anyways, too much story already so let me tell you how I found out about this quite but crazy and wild place where I go to party a lot.

My best friend and I were driving around one day and wanted to stop by for a drink. We found El Pavo Real right on a corner in Via Argentina where the club Korcho’s used to be located at. We hadn’t even walked in when the administrator and the owners greeted us very politely and courteously. I still remember what Fernando (that’s the name of the administrator) told me: “welcome, this is your home” Whoa!!! I couldn’t believe I was receiving such a nice service in a bar in Panama City, Panama. We sat down outside because we wanted to smoke and chat. Yes, they have a patio area where you can drink, eat and smoke if you want to. We ordered some drinks and we stayed there for a while. The bartenders/waiters were very polite and Fernando treated us like we were old friends.

We had to leave but I knew I was going to go back.

I went back a couple of weeks later with some friends from work. And now is when the real party really started.  Find out what did my friends and I did that night at El Pavo Real on my next week’s article… meanwhile, remember to Party a lot in any of the spots I’ve talked about…
Oh! Just a tip, if you want to have an extreme wild party, The Crazy Horse Panama is having new strippers this weekend, go and watch them perform amazing striptease and lap dance! Or if you want something lighter, El Pavo Real has live music Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays… Trust me; you are going to want to know more about my Latin fiesta in this wild English Club…

I went there with my little brother on a Friday night.  It was still early, around 8pm, but they already had a good wild crowed. Everyone was very nice and polite, and always with a smile on their faces.  This is very rare this day, and we stand for a very short time in line to get some machines coins to play.  We walked around watching the tourists and local equally having fun weather they were at the tables or at the slot machines.  The waitress where asking us if we need it anything without been on your face.  We try a couple of drinks and my brother and I specially enjoy their tropical drinks. Don’t ask me what I had, they where so many that I can’t remember! The night we went there was a private party at their VP section.  It looked really good!  The people where eating and drinking, salsa dancing, you could see they were having the best time. Also, the music at the casino was very good, it has the best on tropical music and reggaeton, and I was dancing while at the slot machines!

I asked to our waitress what kind of parties they held there and she said anything is welcome.  You can have your wedding reception, birthday party, bridal shower, anniversary party, Christmas party; just any private parties can be done.  We got a bit hungry, so we order some nacho, and they were soooo good!  They were hot, crunchy, a bit spicy, and very inexpensive. They also have specials and promotion through the night for those who are interested on more for their money.

If you are looking for great service and 24 hours gambling, Fiesta Casino at the Hotel El Panama while be the place to go.  With 20,000 square feet for gambling it holds 561 slot machines, 3 baccarat tables, 12 Blackjack tables, 5 Poker tables, 4 Roulette tables, and Race Book.  Fiesta Casino is one of the most successful casinos in Panama City, Panama.  Salsa Bar and Grill at Fiesta Casino has a very complete menu and a lunch menu specials.  It also offers nightly entertainment with live music and performances by national and international artists to help you relax and enjoy a real Latin night.

We have to call an end to our party night for two at the Fiesta Casino.  I surprise, surprise, I actually won some money!  It wasn’t like it made me rich, but I had a lot of fun.  I can’t wait to go to Fiesta again.  I am gathering some people from work to go wild after a long week of hard work at the office.  And if you haven’t been there yet, don’t wait any longer! Fiesta Casino, the best casino in Panama City, Panama!

Here’s a great party celebration. Why? It was my office friend’s birthday! And it’s another excuse to party in panama or like we say in Panama “arrancarnos” (start up).  She wanted to try something new, something fresh. A very close friend suggested we try a new place at Via Argentina in Panama City, Panama that had just opened up. We went there and the place was packed inside and outside.

How not? Mrs. Mendoza (that’s the restaurant name) is a tex-mex, Mexican restaurant with a very Panamanian and Latin soul. It has a patio and two tables just outside the restaurant where you can also smoke. The staff greeted us very fast and cordially. Their politeness and efficiency was amazing! We didn’t have to wait more than ten minutes for our table.

We sat down and ordered margaritas and beers. I also ordered some nachos because I knew we were going to get a little hungry after we started drinking. (By the way, we’d already had dinner). The margaritas arrived and they were huge! The glass were they are served them are really big, fancy margarita glasses, not just regular martini glasses like some other places use. I had a sip and it was amazingly good. They use Jose Cuervo tequila for this drink and the ratio of ingredients was perfect! (This is a lot to say considering I’m not a big fan of margaritas).

At the same time, the nachos arrived. They were really, really good. They were crispy and fresh. What they served us were not store bought tortillas, they were homemade tortillas chips and the pico-de-gallo that we ordered with it was also fresh and well seasoned. If just the nachos were that good, imagine the rest of their menu!

Anyways, they also had live mariachi who were nice enough to sing “las mañanitas” (Mexican b-day song) to my friend. And when there’s no mariachi, they play a great selection of Latin music.

It was a nice twist, something different… Most importantly, my friend loved it! And so did us. I had a blast! Mrs. Mendoza is a really nice place to hang out, eat some very good tex-mex or Mexican food and a great place to bring your love one for a unique serenade.

Mrs. Mendoza has nothing to envy from any night club or bar or even those show clubs and strip clubs. You can set your own ambiance. From sexy and wild party to just a true Latin fiesta; their music, their drinks and their food are the key ingredients to have a great Latin night, Mexican night. Most importantly, their service has been the best service I’ve received in a restaurant/bar in Panama so far.

My friends and I went to Gorilla and had an amazing experience from the first moment we walked in.
Read my article last week to know what happened after we walked into Gorilla.

After the danced contested finished we were already in our third round of drinks. The DJ started playing different kinds of music: Reggaeton, salsa, típico (panama`s cultural music), merengue, pop, etc. We started dancing like crazy. There were many panama women dancing and enjoying the music just like us. A while later they started the karaoke contest again. All the contestants had to go to the DJ cabin and tell him their names and what song they were going to sing.

I pushed my friend to go up and sing, but she didn´t want to. Then the host announced that the winner will win a bottle of rum and the audience got to pick the winner. So she finally decided to go sing and one of my other friends wanted to try it too so she went with her. I didn’t go because I can’t sing (only on the shower), but they both sang really well. Many people did too. I was surprised by all the talent showed in that contest, of course, there were some of them singing off-key, but most of them did an amazing job.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Rockin’ Gorilla (just simply called Gorilla by the people) is centrally located at Via Argentina in Panama City. Gorilla is a restaurant, a bar, night club, and a dance club so it’s ideal for any occasion.

They have a huge variety of food that you can enjoy with their broad selection of imported and national beers, mixed drinks (cocktails), wine and hard liquors in a very friendly atmosphere.

One night, I called my girlfriends and asked them to go out with me. I wanted to go out to relieve all the stress from the week. So, I went to pick them up and as we were driving around we saw Gorilla. I have never heard of this place before, but one of my friends did so the rest of us decided to give it a shot.

As we were approaching to the place, I saw a lot of guys and girls just hanging outside. They have a patio were you can sit and enjoy the fresh air, have a cigarette if you want to, and of course  drink, eat, and listen to the music that is playing from inside.

We finally walked in; the place was pretty crowded but not over-crowded. We didn’t have a problem to find a table. We sat down and a waiter immediately came to take our orders. It was already 11:00pm so we were not going to eat, but we were going to drink! We didn’t know what to order so the waiter explained to us their drink special. They had “cubetazos” (buckets of beers) of national beers. My friends ordered one, but I’m not a fan of beers so I ordered myself a Mai-tai.

While we were waiting for our drinks, they started a karaoke contest. Only a couple of people went up and sang, so they decided to stop it for a while. Then they started a dance contest. The host asked for four guys to volunteer to the contest. They all went up, danced and followed all the directions from the host. As always, there was one guy that stole the show. Everyone was applauding him. Then the host asked for the contestants to find a partner. Once again they started dancing and followed the host’s directions.

The one guy that stole the show dancing alone did it one more time. He started doing crazy things so his partner followed. She started to dance in a very sexy way and everyone was enjoying the show. The show finally ended and of course the crazy, provocative, sexual coupled won. It was an amazing Latin night, a crazy and wild party, a real Panamanian party.

But many other things happened that night, amazing things.

Stay put until next week to read the end of this party.