Gay bar with food

Home / places venues / Gay bar with food

Louis: Bastille

In the city’s historical Soulard neighborhood, amid the Irish pubs and the sports bars, just a hop, skip and jump from Busch Stadium, stands this place. (They worked at A League of Their Own, a stalwart of DC’s lesbian bar scene, for a combined 20 years before opening As You Are.) You see, As You Are isn’t just a bar; it’s an event space and a cafe too.

We have to know where we’ve been. Both are in excellent supply inside, which features a long, varnished wood bar that wouldn’t have looked out of place on the Titanic, exquisitely crafted but un-fussy classic cocktails, and savory bar food. “But I’m free, and I should celebrate that, and experience the happy endings, and not live in fear.” And then, again, a few short words that speak a library: “Fear kills happiness, doesn’t it?”

So, Alfonso, you’re goddamn right.

Regular drag events and the obligatory RuPaul’s Drag Race viewing parties draw a diverse crowd.—Diana Hubbell

The Abbey Weho
World-Famous
Gay Bar In Los Angeles

THE ABBEY

Lip Service Mondays Drag Show Hosted by Allusia – Showtime at 10 PM

All That Tuesday’s 70s, 80’s, and 90s music Hosted by Mayhem Miller – Showtime at 11:30PM

Wednesdays – Nightly DJs starting at 9PM

Sweat Thursdays starting at 9PM

Sinful Fridays starting at 9PM

Saturday Brunch Service – Drag Brunch -- Showtime at 1PM

Confession Saturdays starting at 9PM

Sunday Service Drag Brunch – Showtime at 1PM

Sunday Funday starting at 3PM

Soul Sundays starting at 9PM

THE CHAPEL

Musical Mondays starting at 8PM

PRIME Fridays starting at 10PM

Salvation Saturdays starting at 9PM

Sunday School starting at 3PM

The Abbey Food & Bar in West Hollywood is a renowned destination, celebrated for its lively atmosphere and inviting space.

Talk about Pride.—Dave Holmes

Chicago: Big Chicks

Sometimes you just want to throw decorum out the window and dance. Blub people like bars and clubs, but what they really love is a bar with a hint of a club or a club with the hint of a bar (these are two different aesthetics; try and keep up).

Regulars appreciate theme nights such as Musical Mondays, which offer strong drinks and a variety of performances, ensuring an enjoyable experience. The word “gay” calls to mind our special knack for finding the light in the darkness, for building the dance floor off to the side of the cruel world. With its eccentric array of seasonal paper lanterns, plush bears, and wooden toys coating the ceiling, the décor is as eclectic as its crowd and more colorful than any rainbow.—A.F.N.

NYC: Marie’s Crisis

You will never not feel better after a visit to Marie’s Crisis, a place that could only exist exactly where it does, just off 7th Avenue in Greenwich Village.

Bring a friend, bring a Feeld date, or fly solo and make out with the cute girl sitting at the corner of the bar.—Diana Hubbell

Brooklyn: Metropolitan

For two decades, this inclusive Williamsburg spot has served as the neighborhood’s de facto LGBTQ+ meeting point . It features a tropical, vine-covered bar/lounge hosting specialty cocktails, an array of food and especially biscuits from famed local purveyor Betty and Earl’s Biscuit Kitchen.

The outside deck area is perfect to catch fresh air and scan the mixed crowd. But perhaps most significantly, it gave the gay community of Boston something it desperately needed: visibility. In December, Dave’s hosted a queer holiday market with “live gay bands” and “cute queer vendors” at nearby Bohemian Beer Garden. At 10:30 pm, it was still broad daylight, and the outdoor patio was jammed.

The crowd here dances well into the AM and is eager to work up a sweat.

Yes, like many other queer bars, it has cheap weeknight drink specials, crowds, and drag shows. They just have major gay vibes and lots of queer couples making out in the bathroom. They offer dance classes too.—A.F.N.

Dallas: The Grapevine