As the sun sets in the high desert, the rainbow of bright colors fade from the horizon and a transformation occurs.  The temperature usually begins to plunge about 30 to 40 degrees from the daytime high and the night creatures come out to play.

This is when one of the biggest differences between Ciudad Juarez and El Paso becomes apparent.  After dark the streets of El Paso begin to resemble those in a ghost town, whereas in Juarez the lights come on and the streets come alive.

Generally the night life can be broken down into 4 categories. (1) The bars and clubs mostly frequented by the younger (often underage) crowd, (2) Couples bars where they often have live music and dance floors, (3) The men's clubs with adult entertainment, (4) The red light district where the entertainment will be happy to escort you to rooms usually located next door to the club. 

The Teen Crowd
The bars located directly along Benito Juarez Avenue within the first few blocks of the bridge cater mostly to young Mexican and US teenagers or young adults.  The legal drinking age in Mexico is 18 and many young El Pasoans take advantage of this fact.

Generally referred to as "Discos" locally, they carry such handles as Planet Rock, Spanky's, Tequila Derby, Crazytown, Noa Noa, The Chess Club, and others.  The business here is so oriented to the weekend crowd that some of the bars only open on Fridays and Saturdays.  The weekend action is so busy that it spills out into the street and the area is heavily patrolled by local police. 

These bars always have live entertainment on the weekends with the volume level several decibels above deafening.  In addition many will have a "drink 'til you drown" special where you can pay one price and drink all you want.  The result of all this is that many young El Paso residents stagger to the other side of the bridge at closing time where they are often met by the local men in blue.

While it seems unlikely to occur, there is a move on right now between the Mayor of El Paso and the Governor of Chihuahua to raise the drinking age for US residents to 21.  The Governor also changed the closing hours of Chihuahua bars to 12 midnight or 2 am (depending on the bar's license) during the past year.

Couple's Bars
These are the Salon de Baile or dance bars. Here couples, or singles looking to become couples, come to dance and socialize. The atmosphere here is usually much more restrained and calm than at the teen bars.

Very few tourist frequent these bars but if you mind your manners and act civilized, you will be readily accepted here.  If fact it is not unusual to have a local couple invite you to their table.  On the other hand, this may not be the place for the single male looking to score.  Should you happen to hit on a lady only to find out see is not alone, you could easily find yourself in a confrontational situation.  Mexican men (and women) tend to be very jealous and machisimo is still alive and well.

Typical of this type of bar are the Hawaiian, Charlies, Alcapulco, and Tuna Country all just off of Benito Juarez Avenue.  Numerous others are located east of the downtown area in somewhat classier areas.  These are places like Vertigo near the Plaza de las Americas and Valentino's on Waterfill.


Be sure to check out THOSE SEXY LATIN LADIES!