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The dance floor at Precinct was huge but completely packed. Themes rotate on Saturday nights and include bear and Latin nights, the latter being the theme on the night we went. Every Friday, the Boulet Brothers host Queen Kong, a drag night that features some of the most popular talent around. The influx of customers could be due to its popular themed nights and performers. “People assume a cop-themed bar, but it basically means a neighborhood section of town with a community,” Stephens says.Īs the largest gay establishment downtown, Precinct can get crowded, sometimes with a line around the corner. Co-owner Thor Stephens describes it as a “rock & roll gay bar, everyone’s welcome.” Before Precinct opened as a bustling gay club in May 2015, the building that houses it was a parole office. Our dancing shoes now warmed up, we headed next to Precinct, about a 10-minute walk. The Boulet Brothers host Queen Kong every Friday at Precinct. By the time the drag show featuring RuPaul’s Drag Race season-three winner Raja Gemini began close to midnight, the dance floor was packed and the Redline had indeed transitioned to a full-on club. The Orange Bloom, a vodka drink featuring fresh OJ, was especially tasty.īy 10 p.m., the tables had been cleared and the music turned up. While Redline's drink menu is a bit more limited than Bar Mattachine's, the cocktails are still not your average gay bar well drinks. Highlights of head chef (and CIA graduate) Justin Schwartz's menu include handmade empanadas with rib-eye, shredded chicken or mushroom, the roasted chicken and artichoke flatbread, and a poutine made with garlic cheese curds, duck confit and duck gravy. I highly recommend getting to the bar before the kitchen closes at 9 p.m., as we did, because the food is incredible. Redline doubles as both a low-key bar/restaurant and crowded nightclub. “We named it Redline after the transit systems because that’s what brings people together and is a big part of building a community,” co-owner Oliver Alpuche explains.
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Redline is named not only for the Metro line that runs through downtown but also for the Red Car, the original light rail in L.A. The seasonal menu also had many home runs, including the Japanese whiskey–based Geisha, created by one of the bartenders, and the egg white–infused Purple Rain.Īs we left Bar Mattachine happy and slightly buzzed, we headed to Redline, only a five-minute walk away. Highlights among the signature drinks are the Pershing Square Fix, a vodka cocktail with crushed raspberries the Reconditioner, a drink with three types of rum of which the menu says, “If you’re straight, will definitely turn you gay,” and the bar’s two frozen drinks, the strawberry-infused Pisco Punch and the vodka-based Strawberry Fields. The bar has a semi-seasonal menu there are some permanent staples but new drinks are rotated in on a quarterly basis. Most important, the drinks definitely live up to their reputation. A smaller bar upstairs offers more seating, the DJ booth and a small stage. The larger downstairs bar has plenty of seats, and the numerous communal and smaller tables provide many options to sit and chat. gay history?”īar Mattachine is not a big establishment but it's definitely conducive to conversation. Once McKechnie realized the innovative nature of the bar, the name quickly followed: The Mattachine Society was a 1950s Los Angeles–based gay rights organization. that is teaching their bartenders the difference between bourbon and rye and the history of distillation,” says co-owner and operator Garrett McKechnie. “There really is not another gay bar in L.A. Open since October 2015, the bar's focus on craft cocktails is what makes it stand out and why I chose it as our first stop of the evening. My friends and I began our night out at Bar Mattachine. Bar Mattachine's Garrett McKechnie Credit: Jeremiah Hansen