Chelsea's Corner Cafe & Bar

We went to Chelsea's for drinks our first night in town; they had a great beer selection and live music. Plus it was just down the street from where we were staying! The next day we went back for lunch and had delicious garlic knots and pizza loaded with veggies! Just make sure you have cash! There is an atm downstairs, just in case. ;-)

I would give 5 stars to the restaurant and 2 stars to the bar. I've eaten the pizza here many times, and its by far the best pizza I've ever had. The crust in thin and flaky and crispy, the sauce is perfect, and they dont skimp on cheese and ingredients. I can't find the words to describe how good they are. everything is wonderfully balanced and cooked to perfection. I really like the margherita pizza and anything made with an olive oil base. The pizzas are giant! You will not go home hungry.

The bar is another story. I've had good and bad experiences here. Often there is live music (both really good and really bad.) Most of the time it is so loud I can't talk to the person sitting next to me (I guess thats just a bar thing though, but its still annoying.) They dont take credit cards, so you have to use an atm. They don't have any wine glasses, and the bartender didn't know how to open a wine bottle. He didn't take off the foil and destroyed the cork so there were pieces of cork floating in the wine. Then they ran out of wine (I guess I'm the only wine drinking patron they have.) Its still worth coming depending on what kind of night it is. The atmosphere can vary wildly.

What in the world did Mr. C and I step into??? Everybody said this place was supposed to be good so we decided to go. However, it was anything but!

1st: The doorman did not tell us that in order to eat pizza there was a different entrance even though we said we were there to have the world class pie everyone was gaga about. So, they charged us $10 just to walk through the bar area.

2nd: The pizza was meh, way too cheesy. And they charged extra for tomato sauce. i think they purposefully don't put on enough sauce so that you buy it. I was not falling for those shenanigans.

3rd: TURN DOWN THE SPEAKERS! There was a live band playing that night and it was horrendously loud. We were in the restaurant part and any time the door opened, our ear drums were shattered. I don't know how to explain the atrocity of the volume other than it was throw up worthy. How do the locals frequent this place without going deaf.

So. Where does that leave me? Anything nice to say? I think the only cool thing about the establishment is that it is super cool in design. You can tell that this place has probably always been a bar. It resembles an old western saloon, where you see the ladies of the night hanging over the railings out on the upper levels. I may need to do a little research as I am pretty certain the place used to indeed be a saloon.

When we first walked in, we were eyed up and down by the local who hung out in the front entryway bar area. These was hillbilly folk all the way! The inner "saloon" area was full of picnic style wooden tables. I kid you not when I say that people were slamming their beer mugs on them and making a raucous! If these people had not been in modern clothing, I seriously would have thought I'd stepped onto the set of an Old Western Film.

However, the campiness of this place does not make it a worthwhile place to go to. Sorry Chelsea's. One, you are not a Cafe! Two,  you are a bar that has a pizza joint. Three, people like to be able to talk a little bit when at a bar, even those that have live bands.

Food: Meh
Service: Our server in the pizza place was nice, however, she did nothing to get us our $10 back that we wasted at the front door.
Would I go back? Nope, and you shouldn't even try it!