Hipsters, I call ye forth to come patronize this hipster mecca. Are you a hipster? You like ratty,…read morecut-off jean shorts? You like ironic tattoos, empty glasses frames and bikes a little too much? Got a girlfriend in a t-shirt with its sleeves cut off and half her head shaved? Pitchfork not fresh enough so you turned to the Hype Machine? Your people have commandeered Casa Camacho.
Went in there on a Saturday night, was shown this place by a friend, and it was wall-to-wall hipsters. Amazing, like they were exhibited in all their glory in their natural habitat. Casa Camacho is indeed a dive I'd fondly refer to as a "s**thole", at least on Saturday night past midnight. It's got a long, narrow foyer where all the patrons stand, lean and drink. A long, dingy bar bisects the area and the candy-striped bartenders race back and forth on a platform, pulling Mahou into little glasses.
The specialty of the house is the Yayo, which I had to explain to my Spanish friends is a Cuban slang for "cocaine". The drink is half vermuth and half gin, and goes for like 1.50. My instinct is to be snarky about it, but it's actually kind of tasty.
Hipsters, I liked this place. I'll go back. You, however, will LOVE this place. It will jibe with your aesthetic and social sensibilities. Oh, and a tidbit of history while you're thinking of further gentrifying Madrid's old red-light district: there's a certificate on the wall in this place, tar-stained as the cornices, that says Casa Camacho was recognized as "classic Madrileño"...in 1974. Like you and your friends, it doesn't get much more original than this.
