Contents:
- NO MONKEYG AROUND – THIS 'FROTHY' RTRANT IS OPEN ON GAY STREET WH FFEE AND BOOZE
- "FOR THE MORNG GAYS": THE IMPORTANCE OF LGBTQ-OWNED F AS SOBER, QUEER SPAC
- A COFFEE SHOP TALK WH ROSS GAY
NO MONKEYG AROUND – THIS 'FROTHY' RTRANT IS OPEN ON GAY STREET WH FFEE AND BOOZE
Gay St., is as "othy" as gets, wh a newly renovated space plete wh an add door mezzane and a 40-seat street-si pat for ctomers to enjoy ffee, cktails and a full day's worth of food om the Nashville-based bs.
:Get the ee weekly Urban Knoxville newsletterDowntown mailbag:Massive riversi project nixed; Gay Street buildg gets new lifeA taste of Frothy Monkey's menu Don't expect a standard ffee shop menu wh drip drks and pastri. " New Knoxville rtrants:Our gui helps you pick somethg fancy, h or fieryShaq attack:Shaquille O'Neal's Big Chicken rtrant g to KnoxvilleGrowg Knoxville's cultural hubThe experience starts before walkg the doors, as a partially vered pat ontg Gay Street acmodat one-quarter of Frothy Monkey's roughly 160 seats.
Near the bar area, a large wdow provis a view of the graffied Strong Alley between Gay Street and Market Square. More:We taste tted Fat Tuday daiquiris, now open on Gay StreetFrothy Monkey's downtown Nashville lotn cintally is loted wh a Krs buildg, as well.
"FOR THE MORNG GAYS": THE IMPORTANCE OF LGBTQ-OWNED F AS SOBER, QUEER SPAC
We're jt for the morng gays. "When people thk of gay spac or queer spac, they immediately thk of a nightclub or bar — maybe a ltle hole the wall, " he said.
Gay bars hold a eply important place the history of LGBTQ rights and visibily the Uned Stat. For s and s, jt visg a gay bar was a high-risk activy.
For young members of the LGBTQ muny, gog out to a gay or lbian bar was almost like a re of passage. Growg up as a queer, Black women Louisville, Kentucky, Arielle Clark said that she felt like there were certa "ton" she wanted to meet to feel at home the muny: She wanted to attend Kentucky Pri and meet other LGBTQ people, and then she wanted to get to some kd of gay bar or nightclub bee that's where everyone spent time on the weekends. And yet queer culture here is more vibrant than Dolly Parton’s Coat of Many Colors, wh a patchwork of gay bars, clubs, and f around town and a history datg back nearly a century.
A COFFEE SHOP TALK WH ROSS GAY
The cy’s first two rerd gay bars — the Jungle and Juana’s — opened Downtown Nashville the 1950s, where they served as havens for LGBTQ+ Nashvillians until the early 1980s. If Nashville’s gay bars were Zodiac signs, Play would be a Gemi: the buildg nnects two spac rooms that feel like pletely different bars.
Tribe is a gulp-and-gab gay bar where groups gather to chat on the three-tiered outdoor ck, shoot rounds of pool, or pregame before htg Play’s dance floor, nveniently loted next door. Trax don’t look like anythg special: ’s hoed a dgy brick buildg on Bian Paige Way (named for the late lol drag in and HIV/AIDS activist) and far removed om the cy’s other gay bars. This is also the gay go-to for last-ll libatns.
If you’re lookg for a morng pick-me-up near Broadway’s neon lights, head to this gay-owned bakery and ffee shop n by Nashville native David Andrews. Most of Nashville’s gay bars don’t pick up steam until the weekend, but there are plenty of queer-iendly tablishments worth checkg out while wag for the fun to beg.