THE BEST Washgton DC Gay Clubs & Bars (Updated 2023)

Contents:

• D.C.'S BT GAY BARS AND HANGOUTS
• THE BT GAY BARS WASHGTON, D.C.
• LICHT CAFé, D.C.’S NEWT GAY BAR, IS A COZY, ART-FILLED U STREET HIAWAY
• THE BEST WASHGTON DC GAY CLUBS & BARSSEE ALL THGS TO DOGAY CLUBS & BARS WASHGTON DC
• RH, “AN ALL NEW GAY BAR” G TO SHAW, POSTS LIQUOR LICENSE PLARD
• WASHGTON GAY MAP
• IN D.C., GAY BARS AND DIV LEAD A WAVE OF BS REQUIRG PROOF OF VACCATNS
• A GAY UPLE RAN A RAL RTRANT PEACE. THEN NEW NEIGHBORS ARRIVED.

D.C.'S BT GAY BARS AND HANGOUTS

The natn's pal is home to a lively LGBTQ+ nightlife scene wh plenty of gay and lbian bars jt wag for you to jo on the fun. Larry’s Lounge is a gay neighborhood pub, wh always-affordable drks, solid happy hour specials, mouth-waterg pub fare (see: sweet potato tots) and one of the cy’s iendlit pats (you n brg your dog, too! Number Ne to the btlg Logan Circle urty of -founr Ed Bailey, who helped DC’s gay nightlife scene to grow durg his days as a DJ.

Suated right the heart of Adams Man’s btlg 18th Street is Pchers, a gay sports bar, and A League of Her Own, the adjacent bar for lbian and queer women. In Febary 2016, the Washgton Bla noted an "unual flurry of activy" wh the openg of four new gay bars, the majory of which land the U Street/Shaw/Logan Circle area. Those spots and more sports bars, dance clubs, and cktail havens are all clud Eater's round up of the District's gay-iendlit bars and hangouts.

New gay dive bar Tra opened last year, urty of the team behd Town Danceboutique and Number Ne.

THE BT GAY BARS WASHGTON, D.C.

—our natn’s pal, if you’ve managed to fet—has been scribed as “the gayt place Ameri. ” As an epicenter, gay drkers n fd no shortage of optns, om sports bars to cktail bars to dance clubs, many of which are ncentrated near Dupont Circle and 17th Street, where gay bar-hoppg is prime. Perhaps the most unr-the-radar gay bar to outsirs, as well as the most polil of Washgton's gay bars, the Der is home to high-profile Democratic and Republin operativ who regularly put asi polics when they arrive for the party.

LICHT CAFé, D.C.’S NEWT GAY BAR, IS A COZY, ART-FILLED U STREET HIAWAY

Grab a Lemon Squeeze (the bar's mastay cktail), a pile of tater tots and ntle to a booth to see and be INFO →KNOWN FORfull menucheap datebar foodCobaltCobalt has long been a mastay on the District's gay-centric 17th Street Corridor. INFO →KNOWN FORdancgcheap datefull menuDacha Beer GarnDacha isn't an official gay bar, but you wouldn’t know by the crowd.

In keepg, beware: It n get INFO →KNOWN FORcraft beeroutdoor / patbar foodDo's Bar at FlorianaIn the basement of an Italian rtrant off the very-gay 17th Street, Dupont Circle, is Do’s Bar. He's been servg drks and hostg at the ty hiaway for a now, and is beloved by the gay and straight crowds INFO →KNOWN FORcheap datefull menuJR's Bar & Grill The “grill” part of JR's Bar & Grill is mostly absent.

THE BEST WASHGTON DC GAY CLUBS & BARSSEE ALL THGS TO DOGAY CLUBS & BARS WASHGTON DC

For years, the bar banned dancg but fally relented after a of prsure by patrons—not that there's much room to dance; between trivia nights and happy hour, n be packed cheek-to-cheek most of the INFO →KNOWN FORcheap datedancglive micLarry's LoungeYou won’t fd Larry’s Lounge listed on any gay bar map of Washgton, D. Not officially a gay bar, not officially a straight bar, Larry’s is jt Larry’s.

RH, “AN ALL NEW GAY BAR” G TO SHAW, POSTS LIQUOR LICENSE PLARD

They’ll merely check on you om time-to-time to make sure you’re still alive and to brg you ee INFO →KNOWN FORcheap datebar foodoutdoor / patNellie's Sports BarWhen Nellie's first opened 2007 at the rner of 9th & U Street, NW, some wonred if a gay bar uld thrive a lotn so far removed om the center of Washgton’s gay nightlife scene.

But, as the cy’s gay muny has moved east, Nellie's (named for the owner's grandmothers—y, multiple grandmothers) now the most popular gay bar all of D. Though 's billed as a sports bar—and ser sports fans fely e here to tch a game—the TVs rarely factor on DJ nights when crowds pack Nellie's rooftop INFO →KNOWN FORsportscheap datelive micdancgfull menuNumber 9When the owners of the wildly popular gay nightclub Town Danceboutiqe set out to open a cktail bar, they named honor of their nth venture together.

The space—prevly a rather unspirg gay bar—was rernated as a dim, morn lounge wh a foc on ser cktails. Gay women are always hard up for great bars, and recent years have seen the closg of long-tablished lbian jots many ci.

WASHGTON GAY MAP

While that le is gone ( creasgly wel gay men, as long as they rpect the bar as a space for women) you will still fd a..

INFO →Town DanceBoutiqueThe District's largt gay dance club, Town Danceboutique (known as “Town” to lols) is the place meet someone new.

IN D.C., GAY BARS AND DIV LEAD A WAVE OF BS REQUIRG PROOF OF VACCATNS

Like a gay-Amerin Moul Rouge, Town is a glterg maze of baret, gogo boys and edy shows that create a sort of what-uld-happen-next circ atmosphere. Tour historic LGBTQ+ s, grab a drk at the bt gay and lbian bars the cy, rock out at Capal Pri and so much more. His dream: lnchg a cktail bar moled after his favore gay fé Mannheim, Germany.

A GAY UPLE RAN A RAL RTRANT PEACE. THEN NEW NEIGHBORS ARRIVED.

“The goal is to foc on the classic cktails, rather than jt vodka-sodas and rose Kennedys, as you may get at other gay bars, ” he says.