It was our friend’s birthday dinner. I booked restaurant in another area. Then read some reviews and frankly changed my mind. I looked at a few other options and then decided that we will be eating at Chambers Eat + Drink in the TL.

My friend texted me to ask why? I texted back saying that the other place seems to be in an unsafe area since we are eating pretty late and probably won’t get out of there until at least past 10 (if we hurried.) I didn’t want them to have problems getting their car.

Ahh, she said, from one unsafe area to another then? Right in the middle of the TL?

Point taken. TL stands for Tenderloin, a neighborhood that’s named after a choice cut of meat yet known for being very scary. A lot of American cities have this type of neighborhoods. Very low-income struggling area that’s marred by drugs and violence bordering working neighborhoods with families or touristy areas. Sometimes, they even border really expensive areas. Enough with geography and social economic lessons though. I am here to talk about the restaurant.

Chambers Eat + Drink was booked because I wanted a really sexy vibe with good food, drinks, and a bit of old school charm. And music. And something that’s a bit like a speakeasy.

So the restaurant is part of The Phoenix Hotel. A motor lodge (read, motel) turned hotel by the genius joie de vivre hotel property people. The decor is nice, service great, food was also good. Packed for a Friday night and because of a private party, we were not allowed to go to the lounge area or use the poolside Cabanas. Bummer. We did go out to the pool later that evening where we spotted two people in the water madly going for it (read: wildly making out with tongues and all and probably more, but I won’t write about it because this is not one of those blogs and I may or may not have seen this first hand and/or exaggerated due to the yummy drinks I consumed.) We did say this place’s got that Rock n’ Roll vibe, right?

Anyhoo, back inside to civilization (read: interesting bar with good drinks) we noticed that the bathrooms are unisex. Meh. Not something we like but will tolerate once in a while.

Here are my photos. Really enjoy the brussel leaves and the crispy polenta and the drink that was super yummy? Pimm’s drink. I had no idea what everyone else ordered drink-wise. What we had. Burger, Boar chops, steak, and butter fish. We skipped dessert and went elsewhere.