There was a gay bar in my college town called Bullwinkle’s. I have no idea why it was called that. It played loud music, and had a DJ on the weekends (a loop on weekdays), except Tuesdays. Tuesdays were “special” nights that rotated through the month. One night was amateur band night for a while, one night was drag night, one night was amateur DJ night.
Anyway, it had a really good dance floor that dated to the disco era, when it was a general disco bar, which is why it has a superior sound system. It also had pool tables an a pinball machine, and a few sit-down tables, but dancing was the “thing” there. It was so popular for dancing, and the DJ’s apparently so good (I’m not big on dancing), that on Friday and Saturday night a lot of straight couples would go there for the dance floor.
Bullwinkle’s had no food service. It had strong, expensive drinks, a huge variety of beers, and lots of events. EVERYONE in town knew where and what Bullwinkle’s was. Average age of someone in Bullwinkle’s was about 26.
So, about four blocks away, a sedate gay bar opened. No music, unless someone played the vintage jukebox filled with 45s. It served some food. Not meals, but a few appetizers, fries, popcorn, and had nuts on the bars. Served coffees too. Lots of tables and comfortable chairs, booths. No freaky lighting, like the disco ball at Bullwinkle’s. It also had a pool table and a pinball machine, and it also had a shelf with some classic board games (chess, backgammon, decks of cards, etc.) I don’t remember if there was a fee to play them, but the place stayed in business, so the people who hung out obviously didn’t nurse their drinks, or else, ordered lots of food. Average age on someone there was about 35, and the spread was wider.
Name of the second place? “The Other Bar.”
I thought that was the best name of a bar I knew of.
There was also a place in town that hadn’t been open very long when I left, which was aspiring to be a family place for breakfast and for lunch, family in front, bar in back, and after 4, grown-ups only, with alcohol served throughout, and meal service stopped at some point, going to a very limited list of appetizers an sides around 10pm, but serving that until close, which was like, 1am weekdays, 3am Friday & Saturday.
It was gay-owned, and meant to be a very gay-friendly place, but not a strictly gay place, per se. It was called Uncle Elizabeth’s. I heard that Elizabeth was the girlfriend of the owner, but I never confirmed this. Many people who worked there were gay, and it hosted some gay-community events, but it also hosted a lot of general leftist activism-type events. It had a couple of private rooms, and apparently during off-hours, let groups like AA have meetings. It was very determined to establish itself as indispensable to the community.
If I opened a gay bar, I’d be tempted to call it “Last Ten Dollars,” in reference to the song by the lesbian group The 2 Nice Girls, “I Spent My Last $10 on Birth Control and Beer.” I’m not sure if that’s a good name for a bar, though. I would probably suck at owning a bar or a restaurant.
