Manship’s art deco sculptures adorned the walls of the bar. The interior of Charmers was long and narrow, and had an old school record music box which usually blared obscure music from the 1970s. Photo courtesy of Rogers Park/West Ridge Historical Society The two women in charge of the place named it Charmers, the name being “a nod” to Chalmers, Sullivan said.Ĭhalmers, Peppers and Charmers have all had identities as gay bars, according to Sullivan.Ī famous sculptor named Paul Manship - who’s known for his sculpture of Prometheus which sits in a fountain at the Rockefeller Center in New York City - created art deco figurines of mythical Greek characters for the original Chalmers, which sat in the space until Charmers closed more than 70 years later. “I was a little kid then, and I remember it.”
“He put a huge, eight-foot high, neon colored champagne glass hanging off the building, and that was Peppers for years, all through the 70s,” Sullivan said. Sullivan said when Pete Chalmers died, his wife managed it for a while, but after she died, they sold it to a man who opened up a bar called Peppers in the space. “It became really kind of, underground famous because it was one of the only gay bars in the city of Chicago,” Sullivan said. In the space, Pete Chalmers opened the bar and named it Chalmers. Sullivan said in the 1930s, his great grandfather rented the unit - which was just part of the building owned by Sullivan’s family - to a Greek family with the last name Chalmers. 15 years later, the bar’s legacy is still strong.ĭan Sullivan, the owner of the building Charmers once sat in, said the property has been in his family since his great grandparents built it in 1915. The place closed in the early 2000s after the death of the bar’s last owner in 2004. The establishment, which was sandwiched between a bodega and a liquor store, was known as a gay bar, but it was also considered a neighborhood spot for people of all identities. and was the neighborhood haunt for many who lived in Rogers Park.
Located in an unassuming city block, Los Diablos welcomes any and all that frequent their space with delicious cocktails and an outdoor patio.Behind uninviting blacked out windows and a barred entrance, once upon a time, existed a tiny bar in Rogers Park which fostered relationships and memories to last a lifetime.Ĭharmers used to sit at 1502 W. Trivia nights, Friday happy hours, karaoke contest, and hip-hop nights are all to be expected at Los Diablos, Phoenix’s lively gay dive bar. With karaoke running five days a week, Kobalt keeps things goofy and exciting until 2 am, even featuring a drag show on Friday nights. Labeled primarily a karaoke bar, Kobalt just happens to cater to a wide gay clientele. Fridays and Saturdays bring men decked in leather, while the rest of the week offers drink specials to keep you coming back.
Anvilįirst Saturday of the month is a leather rummage sale, so if that doesn’t tell you something about Anvil, we don’t know what will. This bar also includes go-go dancers on Thursdays and bear-e-oke on Wednesdays, along with traditional bar entertainment like darts and pool. This gay bar near you in Phoenix features weekly cocktail specials and events that make this spot a party every single day. If penis straws are your thing, make Pat O’s Bunkhouse your next leather-friendly hangout. Photo Credit: Yelp Pat O’s Bunkhouse Saloon This place offers drink specials every single day of the week, including weekends, so there’s never a bad night to end up at Stacy’s. Unlike any gay bar in Phoenix we’ve ever seen, Stacy’s resembles an old-world cathedral, offering a charming ambiance and a killer dance floor.
This gay bar near you gets rowdy every night of the week, offering rotating drink specials, go-go dancers, drag karaoke, and Undie Mondays. It seems that every big city in the nation has a gay bar named Charlie’s, but the one in Phoenix tops the list. Photo Credit: Charlie’s Charlie’s Phoenix Since the list was so long, we had to narrow it down to our favorites, so here are only the best gay bars in Phoenix.
Let’s start there.Ī rapidly expanding queer community grows a fresh crop of social scenes where LGBTQ+ persons feel welcome and celebrated, which wholly explains the massive number of gay bars in Phoenix alone.