This year at the same location, 21 people died in a stampede at a club called E2 Chicago above the Epitome restaurant. was a restaurant with female impersonation shows back in 1990. Listed as gay/straight, Heroes at 2347 S. I'm not even sure if Harlow's got past the opening night. New Year's Eve '76 was 'Saturnalia Celebration, Roman style! Fountains of imported, fermented bubbly, a glorious buffet feast,Īnd outrageous doings. '76, they promised 'an old-fashioned but decadent Christmas Party with hot rum toddy, featuring real pieces of toddy, andĮntertainment from 'singing sensation' Mila Inés.' The first level was an intimate lounge, the second floor featured live entertainment, and the third floor was a disco. 17, 1976, and was the former location of the Trip. The straight Fly Me to the Moon piano bar. This became the Latin bar, Normandy, and later Deeks leather bar. North Avenue.Īlso, El Palacio was located at 3400 N. Horizons presented by Jose Diaz, an Amway Distributor.Īlthough I have no information about either, there were two Latin gay bars around in the early '80s: El Infierno at 2756 S. A $1 door charge was collected at the door. It featured slide shows by local historians 19, '80, Harlequins hosted a benefit for the Gay and Lesbian History Project. In passing, it was in Company that the 1st play about AIDS in the world was performed. 13, '83 Ron Helizon opened his bar, Company, at
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Prior to being Harlequin's, it was the El Dorado, which was a Latin bar. Bar celebrities Chicago Molly and Sophie were in attendance that night. Halsted had its Grand Opening in August, '80 and the bar was owned by Harold Meyers (who also owned Which I'm guessing is a different kind of establishment altogether. Stop by and say hello to Ramon.'Īlthough I haven't checked it out myself, I'm told the location of the Good Times Tavern is now taken by Iglesia de Jesucristo Inc., Hot new Latin Disco has been really swinging lately. 18, '81 issue of GayLife, Ron Helizon (The Polish Princess) wrote in his column 'Ron's Town': 'Good Times, the Armitage opened around January '81, and was still running in '84 I'm not sure when itĬlosed. In October, Richard Wimer, aīartender at Giovanni's, relocated to Los Angeles.
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25, '78 they had a raffle where the first prize was a free trip to Acapulco.
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In January '78, Cesar Ubalde became the manager of the bar, as well as working Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Fridays atĬrystal Blinkers. On New Year's Eve '77, the bar had a free champagneīuffet. Giovanni's was a Latin-flavored bar, with Salsa on Wednesday nights. 30, 1977 (by October 1978 it was Macho/Chicago, a gay men's leather bar, and is Forgive my lack of info but some of these gay/gay-friendly bars I knowĪbsolutely nothing about, apart from the address. Maybe it was one of the bars in the following article. I often get inquiries from readers, saying, 'I went to this bar, I don't remember the name, or exactly where it These days, we are used to bars opening and staying open for years, but back in the 20th century things were different. This article shared 6509 times since Wed Jul 9, 2003