Fans wept when Roosterfish, the Westside’s oldest gay bar, closed in 2016. The neighborhood felt Roosterfish’s absence until owners Mario Vollera and Patrick Brunet brought it back from the dead. The bar is no longer a dive, and owners have had to increase prices to stay competitive, but it still has the same charm.

There’s a low cover charge at this longstanding club, but the Plaza cover goes for something special, with a lineup of sequined female impersonators who dance to Mariah Carey, rancheras, Jennifer Lopez, and the queen of them all — Selena.

In 2018, Hi Tops took over Bar 10 and made the 2,700-square-foot space closely resemble the original Bay Area location. And even though it’s a sports bar, Hi Tops has an excellent menu along with a great people-watching view to Santa Monica Boulevard.

Like most LA clubs, Club Cobra was forced to close for most of the pandemic until reopening in North Hollywood one year ago. This 18-year-old North Hollywood club offers drag nights, go-go dancers, and a Thursday night for trans folks called Transfix.

Club Tempo provides a safe haven for its queer Latinx patrons who can explore their gender and sexual expression in the context of their cultural heritage. The venue is the only Latinx gay bar in LA that explicitly caters to a gay and Mexican audience every night, not just as a theme once a week. Before heading out for an evening at Club Tempo, make sure to bring out the best cowboy boots and expect to be dancing all night to Latin folk songs.

Silver Lake’s Akbar was saved by a GoFundMe in late 2020, and that’s a very good thing for this iconic Silver Lake bar. After 25 years, Akbar remains a central part of queer life in Los Angeles with rotating programming from a combination craft-making night with karaoke, live music from legendary acts, to showcasing international DJs.

For those wanting exciting, mature eye candy, the Eagle — and its centering of all things sexual-counterculture — is here for you. It’s a leather bar that attracts both the LA queer community and Silver Lake’s hipster audience to hang in the indoor-outdoor space among clothed or unclothed patrons.

This MacArthur Park bar is known for being a safe party space for members of the Latinx trans community. Silver Platter went came under new management a few years back, but still has it all with cheap glasses of champagne, an eager dance floor, and a documentary endorsement by local artist Wu Tsang.

A Silver Lake Mexican staple, Casita has been open since the sixties and gradually attracted an Eastside LGBTQ audience. As if Mexican comfort food and stellar margaritas weren’t appealing enough, Casita also houses the Cavern Club Theater, an alternative performance space with frequent LGBTQ programming.

Precinct is one of DTLA’s staple queer bars. As festive as it is, the wine selections and cocktails are excellent, while the bar bites are also quite good, including hot pretzels plus an Atlantic salmon over tri-color pasta.

Redline opened next to the noteworthy Precinct in 2014 and maintains loyal crowds who come regularly to drink truly great cocktails, dance, and nibble on light eats. A range of LGBTQ organizers also host regular events here.

Though Sweetwater isn’t officially known as a lesbian bar, the humble establishment has long been the go-to spot for queer women in the local gayborhood, which features nearly half a dozen gay bars that line Broadway in Long Beach. With two pool tables and maybe two dozen seats, the tiny dive bar swells to capacity during Long Beach Pride weekend, when festivities pour in from the streets. It’s good to always keep hard cash when visiting because they don’t accept cards.

With an cozy patio, jukebox, and pool tables, the Crest is a neighborhood bar. Nestled in north Long Beach, the Crest prides itself on being an inclusive bar with drag shows, trivia, or watching RuPaul’s Drag Race when in season.

One of Long Beach’s few, if not only, three-level gay bars, Executive Suite boasts a karaoke bar, video games, pool tables for rent, and regular drag shows. Sugar Saturdays on its upper deck is a weekly ladies’ night, where femme-presenting go-go dancers flaunt their dancing skills on poles for their captive sapphic audiences. It’s also easy to just step outside for a minute and grab a quick bite to eat from a taco vendor Executive Suite hosts on its patio.

Dubbed by KCET as Montebello’s best Latino gay bar, Chico is the sister to Club Cobra, serving as a grounding site for the queer Latinx community in the suburbs of East LA. Chico is deceptively small on the outside. While its production doesn’t boast the grandeur of West Hollywood’s establishments, Chico offers something much more accessible and welcoming with its lounge seating, open areas for dancing, a modest performance stage, and strobe lights with at least half a dozen televisions with spinning graphics. It’s the perfect place for gay men to meet on the Eastside.

One of the tiniest bars on this map, the Boulevard Bar is stationed in the eastern side of Pasadena. Complete with a pool table and stage, this LGBTQ-friendly bar turns the karaoke up to eleven with LCD projectors and video monitors for every karaoke hog.