The sweet city night yawns wide again before us, and even as we prepare to dive deep into the night's singular and indispensable and drinky pleasures, it is important to pause for a moment and reflect upon those strange roads and lonesome byways of our lives, and the strange surprises and pleasures they can also bring. What I'm trying to say is that this is what is happening at that fucking weird little hole called Chen's Village way down on dirty old Elliott Avenue that I always drive past on my way to glamorous Ballard—this is my first time here! (Photos by Lisa Raimundo, my unofficial biographer; my forehead by Act of God):

And inside, deep in the very paneled lounge area (Lisa calls this one, "That's the Face, after something utterly terrible comes out of that mouth,"—I think the guy behind me heard me, too...):

And this is what our delicious vodka tonics look like (CHEAP!):

And a JUKEBOX! A WIDE SCREEN! A REALITY SHOW!

There are crazy/brilliant (mostly crazy) people at the bar that I'm afraid to take pictures of, but the place is cleaner and homier and cheesier than I ever could have expected...in fact, i can't help but be reminded of (OFM-ing G) The Jade Pagoda (RIP). Sans, of course, the carcinogenic haze. All in all, kreepy little Chen's Village on Elliott Avenue ROCKS MY FUCKING SOCKS!

And now...into the night! (After I change this fugly shirt!)

PS—This is the first time my face has ever appeared anywhere on SLOG or glamorous LINE OUT. It makes me feel a little dirty. Oh! And Chen's is at 544 Elliott Avenue West. You really should poke your head in sometime—The old Jade Pagoda is reborn!