Pony Tails — Ponytails on the sign, Ponytails 1 for a while when there was talk of a second — was one of the small bars that gave Santos Street its reputation as the cheap, old-school corner of Angeles: a girly beer bar on the corner of A. Santos and Vian Streets, a short stagger from the ABC Hotel, that opened in September 2009 and ran for the best part of a decade. Its trademark was the happy hour: noon to six, local beers at a price that made the strip's prices look like a typo — ₱60 a bottle back in the day — and a small crowd of ladies who'd sit and chat with the afternoon regulars.
That was the Santos Street formula, and Pony Tails did it as well as anyone. Santos Street runs off the Fields Avenue–Perimeter Road corner near Kokomo's and the ABC and has never been glamorous — it's a lane of small bars, cheap eateries and guest houses where "real Angeles" is said to live, and where the older expat crowd goes to drink away from the strip's noise and prices. There were never any big stages here. What you got was a counter, a fan, a fridge, a few ladies, cheap beer and long conversations. Some men spent their entire holiday there.
Now the past tense: an early-2021 round-up of the road's bars listed Ponytails among the closed, and I have had no report of it reopening as of August 2026. The pandemic years were hard on exactly this kind of small bar, and Santos Street lost more than its share. If you walk past the corner and find a new sign, that's the way of the town; if you find the old one lit, write to me before you finish your first beer.
Harry remembers: I've drunk more afternoon happy hours on that corner than a man of my age should admit, and I regret none of them. Pony Tails was where you went when you wanted to be nobody in particular for a few hours — cheap beer, a fan pointed at you, and a girl who'd tell you about her province while you told her about yours. Santos Street still has rooms like that. Walk it in the afternoon and look for expats already sitting outside; that's the only guide you need.
Stable tip: Santos Street is best by daylight and early evening. Late at night it's quiet and dimly lit — not dangerous, but take a trike back rather than wandering.
| Music | Whatever the radio played |
|---|---|
| Cover | None |
| Local beer from | ₱60 |
| Ladies’ drink from | ₱120 |
| Happy hour | 12:00–18:00 (historic) |
| Dress code | None |
Highlights
- + A long afternoon happy hour
- + Santos Street prices and pace
- + Steps from the ABC Hotel
Good for
- nostalgia
- understanding Santos Street
- afternoon drinkers
Drawbacks
- − Closed as of the last round-up
- − Santos Street is quiet and dim late at night
