There’s a first time for everything, but the first visit to a gay bar occupies an entire place of its own. For many of us, it’s hard to describe that strange, stomach-churning combination of trepidation and expectation, a sense that here is a place where you can drop any pretense, study the go-go boys with abandon, shimmy to Cher, and blow kisses at the drag queen vamping on the stage. We talk a lot about how times have changed, but the gay bar remains a staple of gay life—a lifeline for many of us, an old friend for the rest. There’s no such thing as a definitive list of anything, but that hasn’t stopped us from scouring the world to find 50 bars with all the right qualities to make you feel at home.




THE AMERICAS:
USA
ATLANTA
MARY’S
Theme nights range from outrageous to downright unsavory: Hanky Code Party, No Pants Dance, and MondoHomo, to name a few. Attention-whore hipsters compete with rowdy lesbians and off-duty DJs for space on the miniature dance floor. On karaoke night the pocket-size emcee channels Motown divas. Go ahead—try to leave before last call.
(404) 624-4411


HOEDOWNS
There’s something about watching two Marlboro men two-stepping to “Cotton-Eye Joe” that does the soul good. Nothing is ironic about this scene. Throw on your old Wranglers and cowboy boots, order a domestic beer, and leave your pretensions at the door. Hoedowns is a Brokeback fantasy come true.
(404) 876-0001


AUSTIN, TX
OIL CAN HARRY’S
A little nip/tuck classed up Oil Can Harry’s faster than jail did Paris Hilton, but this 17-years-and-running institution hasn’t lost its edge. DJs spin quirky, creative sets (Rihanna segueing to Ultra Naté to Robyn) while pretty people swig Cosmopolitans, cowboys play pool, and University of Texas students go wild. (512) 320-8823


BOISE, ID
EMERALD CLUB
The oldest gay bar in Boise attracts a mixed-gender crowd ranging from buffed-and-shined college kids to older couples in matching Western garb. The pool tables give way to a dance floor and a stage, where weekly drag contests are held. Emerald’s Saturday night parties are packed with pretty young things kicking it to a soundtrack just a few years behind Chelsea. (208) 342-5446


CHICAGO, IL
ROSCOE’S
Gays from all over the country flock to this popular but low-key Boystown favorite, where the music is unabashedly bouncy. If you’re in town for a weekend and want a taste of Midwestern man-candy, Roscoe’s is the place to find the barrel-chested white boy you’ve always dreamed of corrupting. (773) 281-3355


CINCINNATI, OH
ADONIS
Check out the cabaret, the drag, the deep house—there’s room for everything in this sprawling club east of downtown Cincinnati. While Adonis boasts that trademark Midwestern friendliness, you’ll also find plenty of heat, especially on summer Sundays, which draw scantily clad men from throughout the region who
like lounging around the swimming pool. (513) 871-1542


COLUMBUS, OH
UNION BAR + FOOD
Union’s new classy location and increasingly mixed crowd (tourists, straights) still has some locals grumbling, but crowds flock to see the video and comedy montages (especially Showtunes Sundays) and to share crab cakes and chocolate martinis. Looks like Parker Posey was wrong—Union is your best bet to put the “Oh” in “Ohio.” (614) 421-2233


GUN BARREL, TX
FRIENDS
A rainbow-painted wooden flag hangs defiantly on the outside of small-town Texas’s friendliest bar, where more money is raised for charity than for renovations and the fish tank is filled with local well water. While the bar is small, everything else is big, especially the community pride, the fund-raiser musicals, and the drag queens’ hair. (903) 887-2061


LEXINGTON, KY
THE BAR COMPLEX
The gay crown jewel of historic downtown Lexington, this converted speakeasy radiates faded glamour and genteel manners with its three bars, huge upstairs dance floor, and plenty of dark nooks to enjoy gentleman callers or a mint julep. Bonus: When a Kentucky boy asks for your number, he always says please. (859) 255-1551


LOS ANGELES, CA
AKBAR
Perhaps the social epicenter of hard-partying Alterna-Wood, Akbar is the go-to spot in the middle of Los Angeles’s antigloss neighborhoods of Los Feliz, Silver Lake, and Echo Park. The stuck-up attitude of the Westside just isn’t tolerated here, and the haven that the place represents from all that West Hollywood phoniness gives the place its ample charge. Great indie music on the jukebox, stiff drinks, hot guys, good times. Gay guys, women, and straight dudes pack the joint nightly, and the bar has expanded into a full-fledged dance club on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. When Dirty Dirty House Club takes off on Thursdays, the crowd gets pretty diverse—the more racially mixed vibe is a welcome change in the often-segregated L.A. nightscape. (323) 655-6810


THE ABBEY
A perennial “Best of L.A.” champ, this over 16,000-square-foot party place attracts celebs aplenty (mostly queers and straight lassies, but occasionally a famous straight lad). Famous for creative cocktails (mmm, creamsicle!) and the perfect patio, this is where many a gay Angeleno brings his or her out-of-town pals to see—and experience—the heart of WeHo.
(310) 289-8410


MIAMI BEACH, FL
THE RALEIGH HOTEL*
Miami Beach hotels boast the finest in poolside partying, and nothing tops the Raleigh. Its distinctively designed art deco pool and adorable cabana bar were the setting of several Esther Williams movies and draw an incredibly attractive mix of locals and visitors. The Raleigh’s Sunday Soiree pool party (noon-10 p.m.) is an especially popular place to slurp copious amounts of hangover-battling bloodies.
(305) 534-6300)


NEW HAVEN, CT
GOTHAM CITI
Southern Connecticut’s biggest gay destination draws a widespread crowd to its three sleek floors of dancing and debauchery. From Yale and Wesleyan undergrads to Bridgeport riffraff, the crowd at Gotham Citi is looking to branch out and hook up. Find a friend early, because after hours the basement turns into a hard-core goth playground with thumping house and gloomy performance art—unless you’re into that.
(203) 498-2484


NEW YORK, NY
THERAPY
After a long week in the big city, a drink at a sexy club in the heart of the new gay village (Hell’s Kitchen) is therapeutic. The centerpiece of this chic, brick-and-wood bi-level club is the staircase, a virtual runway that leads to the lounge, which features cabaret, comedy, karaoke, and a comfort-food bar.
(212) 397-1700)


CUBBY HOLE
Notorious for decor that looks like a party supply store turned upside down and shaken out, the Cubby Hole is a closet-size West Village lesbian mainstay. The bar draws neighborhood professionals for a well-priced happy hour and a mixed crowd for nightly drink specials and a jukebox heavy on current pop favorites and lesbian standards vvfrom k.d. lang and Melissa Etheridge. The bar’s leave-a-drink-for-a-friend board offers the bashful an easy way to make a move on a regular.
(212) 243-9041


HK
While Friday night theatergoers are hitting the barricades nearby—well, after the long shows—the toned and tightly T-shirted are literally rubbing up against one another (sometimes a busy room is a good thing) to get to the bar and the gorgeous upper-level lounge under the huge retractable roof. Don’t eat too much garlic at the attached restaurant if you plan to sweet-talk a cutie at the bar.
(212) 947-4028


SPLASH
Predictable, yes. But reliable too. Manhattan’s ever-busy gay staple shows no sign of flagging, and though you really may not care for Musical Mondays, this two-floor Chelsea staple has something for everyone—especially when you’re wasted and not too fussy. Happy hour fans sing karaoke and swill cheap cocktails served by pec-heavy, underwear-clad bartenders, while young nightlife lovers revel in trancey Top 40 remixes until the wee hours.
(212) 691-0073


OAKLAND, CA
WHITE HORSE INN
Come for the party carpet—featuring stars and rainbows that glow in the black light—and stay for the karaoke (the winner of the East Bay Idol contest takes home a cool grand) at “the Ho,” an East Bay institution that’s one of the country’s oldest gay bars. The Ho’s comfy, campy aesthetic provides a welcome respite from the high-gloss bars across the bay in the Castro. (510) 652-3820



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