My favorite bar right now is the Starlight Bar and Lounge, a bar I call “post-gay.” It’s gay, very much so, but dispenses with most of what makes most gay bars not so fun after a while: attitude, desperation, pretension. I think what really helps is that the crowd is about 20% women, who don’t feel like extras but genuinely welcome patrons (I’m sure the fact that at all times least one bartender is a woman helps). The place just doesn’t take itself too seriously - a nice space, yes, but not one of these hyperdesigned, antiseptic blond-wood-and-brushed-steel Architectural Digest refugees. Plus, it’s the only gay space I know that has non-drag, non-cabaret live music: on Friday nights, there’s a brilliant young guy who plays saxophone and flute improvisations to accompany latin-inflected dance music. It’s fantastically creative, jazzy and interesting without any self-conscious fabulousness. Right now, it’s pretty much the only gay space where I’d feel totally comfortable taking a straight friend.
My favorite place is a little bar called AC’s. It is dark, dirty, and fun. It’s kind of like Cheers, though, because I know everyone who works there. I can walk in and know that Jim or Lenny will have my drink at the bar by the time I walk up.
It has two pool tables, a video bowling game, a Ms. Pac-Man, (damn that game rocks!) and some silly Deerhunter game. The bar and all the booths were rescued when the original AC’s burned down last May. They got everything out and moved it to its new location, on uppper King St. It has a crazy mix of people, and there’s always someone you can talk to. The music ranges from Abba to Motley Crue to Helmet to Red Hot Chili Peppers, depending on which bouncer and bartender are working. (Lenny is partial to cheesy pop music. Abba? yuck!) They don’t have a lot of beers on tap, (Bass, Guinness, Newcastle, Bud, Bud Light) but they do have a lot of can/bottle beer, and the bartenders know just about every shot in the book. They also make the best mixed drinks in Charleston, considering we still have the stupid mini-bottle law. (We don’t use big bottles like every other state. We have to use the airplane-drink sized bottles… It SUCKS!)
Oh, by the way, idiotboy, Dick’s is a chain restaurant. There is one in Myrtle Beach, and a couple of friends of mine go up there every year. It always has at least a 45 minute wait to get in.
If any of you ever come to Charleston, definitely make the pilgrimage to AC’s. In fact, email me beforehand, and I’ll meet you there and buy you a beer!
Best bar in San Francisco is Sadie’s Flying Elephant on Portrero Hill.
Not only do they have PBR on tap for $1.50 (use to be $1.00), but they also have lesbian spoken word night on Sunday.
Sample poem actually heard at Sadie’s:
Your pussy is like a rubberband
Dirty and elastic
And when I lick it
TWANG!
Mmmm, Carrabbas…I haven’t been there in a while…maybe I’ll see you there some evening. [sub]Gosh, just the thought of their food has my tummy rumbling![/sub]
Chicago, IL: Twin Anchors. Ribs. Make sure Sinatra’s not in town when you want to go.
Friday Harbor, WA: San Juan Brewing Company. Comfy, good microbrews; everybody on the island finds their way in eventually.
Mukilteo, WA: on the Puget Sound at the ferry dock – bar at Ivar’s. Stunning view of ferries; passing U.S. Navy ships; and new Boeing jets being tested on the ILS into Paine Field. If that’s boring, there’s also Mt. Baker.
Key Largo, FL: Coconuts, near the dive shops and covered only by grass roof. Hopping until 2 a.m. Short clothing.
Racine, WI: The Yardarm, down by the river. Great bar food; fries. Love the sunken bar. What if I’d returned the barmaid’s charms?
Seattle, WA: Jillian’s, a yuppie pool hall near Lake Union. Good atmosphere – nice for larger groups. Service always first class.
I’m not a bar person, but I like The Cat’s Eye Pub in Fells Point - only because my sister tends bar there (the infamous Tattoo Terri) and she makes it a fun place. Of course, living in Florida, I don’t get there on a regular basis…
Bar right across the street from me, in a shopping center. Patrick’s. Neo-Irish thingamajig. Neighborhood place with a reputation for serving older (55 and up) folks. One of the only places I’ve ever been that I can sit comfortably by myself, right up at the bar (as opposed to a table) and just chat with people. It’s cute and harmless and really nice because nobody’s trying too hard. It’s like having a bunch of cool grandparents to drink with!
They have great food there, too.
The Hunt Club in Crystal Lake,Il.
Big place with separate bar,karaoke,pool/darts and place to see great local alternative bands.
Plus since we hold Girls Night Out there pretty much every Friday,they don’t charge us the cover and the bartenders know our drink orders.
Also the HobNob if we’re in a “shake your ass” mood.
The tap is what gets the beer out of the firkin (a type of keg used for certain styles of english beer), and the spile keeps the pressure in when it is aging. No charge for this useless info.