Ladies! Drink! Free!

Ladies, if you're short on cash and looking to to party, tonight is your night.

Bar and club promoters realized a long time ago that the easiest way to draw large numbers of men to a club was to make sure there were women there, and the easiest way to draw large numbers of women was to offer cheap (or free) drinks.

Thursdays at Chloe used to be Hush, a rare gay night in Adams Morgan. Now, Thursdays have become Crush on Chloe, run by EastEnd Promotions, whose track record includes the outdoor parties Air and Breeze. DJ Eyce spins hip-hop and international music in the large main room, which gets crowded later in the night. For more incentive to show up early, women get free drinks from 9 to 11, and everyone receives free admission when they RSVP to EastEndInfo.com and arrive by 11.

Competing for your attention tonight is the new Summer Nights party at Steve's Bar Room, hosted by Lindy Promotions. They're the folks who run those popular bar crawls around Midtown and Capitol Hill. The hook: Ladies drink free from 9 to midnight.

So far, I haven't been blown away by Steve's, a small lounge that occupies the old Pegasus Lounge space above Heritage India. It's going for the usual "modern lounge" look -- eggcup-shaped barstools, blocky leather ottoman seats and lava lamps -- but the layout is awkward and there's nothing there that's setting it apart from the competition further down Connecticut Avenue. Okay, you do have to take a private elevator to get enter. I suppose some people will dig that.

The best reason to go is this happy hour. Guys, we get $3 Budweiser and Bud Light all night. It's not quite as good as free, but those are the breaks.

Oh, and because it fits in with the theme of this post: As part of its Tropical Thursdays happy hour, McFadden's offers free Coronas to women wearing bikini tops. That's only from 8 to 10, but Coronas and Red Stripes are $2 all night. Other specials: $5 margaritas and $4 Jose Cuervo shots. The college-age crowd eats it up.

-- Fritz