I love a good jukebox. The music changes, the prices get higher, records are replaced by CDs are replaced by digital music, but my love remains. This feature is designed to shed some light on Wichita’s best jukeboxes.

Jukebox #3 – Chalet, 3030 N. Penstemon

Picture it: a man approaches a jukebox, dollar in hand. His hand shakes nervously as he feeds the bill into the machine. He is about to reveal his dirty little secret to the whole bar. He punches in the number and slowly backs away from the jukebox. As the song begins to play, he tries to keep his excitement limited to a discreet foot tap, but the music overwhelms him and he can’t help but dance. The jukebox location: Chalet. The song: See You Again by Miley Cyrus. The man: Well, I’ll keep his identity secret to protect his reputation.

The music played on Chalet’s ‘box is similar to the atmosphere of the bar itself: you never know what you’re gonna get. Some nights, all the patrons can play nice together, enjoying their $1 cans and listening to the soothing musical stylings of The Eagles and R.E.M. or the quirky lyrics of Hank Williams, Jr. and David Allen Coe.

Other nights, the bar feels like a meat market. R. Kelly and Usher blare from the speakers as guys and girls exchange numbers and pick-up lines.

My favorite nights are the ones where the bar is almost empty and my friends and I can monopolize the playlist with New Kids on the Block and all our other guilty pleasures.

Then of course there are my least favorite nights – the Metallica nights. (I’m going to get in big trouble with my boyfriend for this one.) These are the nights when you can get beat up on your way to the bathroom.

Overall though, Chalet is one of my favorite hangouts and their digital jukebox is a winner. My only complaint is that the patrons at this bar are some of the biggest song skippers ever, meaning they pay extra money to have their songs played first. I have to admit though: I’m guilty of this myself, so I can’t fault them too much.

My favorite offerings on this ‘box are everything but the heavy metal songs. An added bonus at Chalet is that if you want to pay a little bit extra, you can search for and play pretty much any song you want. Prices vary depending on if you want to skip or search for songs.

Related posts:

1. [listen] One Good Jukebox – Lucky’s Bar
2. [listen] One Good Jukebox – Jimmie’s Diner
3. [listen] One Good Jukebox – Savute’s Italian Ristorante
4. [listen] Vehicles
5. [listen] Erik Mallory