There are some sexy performers here and refreshingly one of the only gay venues in Vegas you won't get gum on your pants if you sit down. Social distancing concerns currently require a reservations-only policy for the interior lounge (call 70), but the large patio is open to walk-in customers.Ĭontact Al Mancini at Follow on Twitter and Instagram.This former strip club has resurfaced as a gay bar/cabaret in its seemingly last hurrah to stay open. The Garden is currently open Thursdays and Sundays from 6 p.m. So if I can turn First Street into the gay street, this could be a little gay district.” I would like to do some more, some different concepts - maybe a sports bar and a drag bar. “This is the perfect size for me to start small and then grow. That could change, however, if it proves successful. It’s a concept that straight people don’t understand.”Īt this point, The Garden appears to be the only gay bar in the Arts District. “I just don’t want to insult anybody, or get punched in the face. “I’ve been to other bars (where) before I kiss my boyfriend, or hold his hand, I have to look around,” he explains. The gay bars and gay centers have always been a safe place for the LBGT community to be themselves and just have a safe place to express themselves and not be judged.”īeyond that, he says he feels a personal sense of safety being in a bar that’s clearly established as gay. And when they come out, they’re getting bullied at school, or by their parents, or society. Because young kids are coming out at a young age, thinking that the world’s ready. But he firmly believes it’s important to identify as a gay establishment. His employees include a straight man, a trans woman, a bisexual woman, a lesbian and several gay men, and they welcome all customers.
“They kept saying, ‘Well, couldn’t you just make it a bar for everybody? Why does it have to be gay?’ They just didn’t understand.”Ĭardova insists that The Garden is a bar for everyone. Yet his dream of opening his own gay bar in downtown Las Vegas was repeatedly met with the same objections from potential partners and investors. In the meantime, he opened the downtown Mexican spot Santos Guisados Tacos & Beer (he’s no longer associated with the restaurant). In the years since, Cordova has promoted LGBTQ events at the Luxor pool, The Mirage and The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, among other spots. “I called it Closet Sundays because I was so mad about (the fact) my night had to be in the closet.” The double entendre, however, was 100 percent intentional. At the time, he says, he wasn’t allowed to publicize it as gay because he was told “MGM will freak out.” He responded by creating a night called Closet Sundays, with flyers that highlighted its fashion theme. It’s going to be Saturdays and Sundays, and we’re going to have a full-on brunch, inside and out.”Ĭordova has been promoting to the local LGBTQ community since 2008, when he persuaded owners of the now-closed Cathouse in Luxor to turn Sunday nights over to him. When it does, however, the owner promises it will be something special. The current food menu is limited to small bites, and weekend brunch won’t launch for another three or four weeks. Those latter two aspects are still a work in progress.
“What sets it apart is having the outdoor/indoor (space), having specialty hand-crafted cocktails, having the kitchen, having brunch.” “The Garden is a fresh new concept in gay nightlife here in Las Vegas,” he explains. The interior has gotten a major face-lift to create what Cordova is calling “an upscale gay bar and restaurant.” that was previously home to the popular downtown hangout Mingo. The Garden occupies a space in the Arts Square complex at 1017 S. We have regulars already, who have been here every weekend.” People want to be out, and they come in here and they just thank me for doing this, because they’re loving it. “But I’ve been very surprised and impressed that people are coming out. “I was very skeptical if anybody was going to show up, if people were going to be ready to come out,” Cordova says of the decision to open in the midst of the pandemic. (Benjamin Hager/Las Vegas Review-Journal) for a place to celebrate Monday’s Supreme Court ruling protecting LGBTQ rights in the workplace? You may want to check out the Arts District’s new gay bar, The Garden.Īfter a dozen years promoting LGBTQ parties on and off the Strip, Eduardo Cordova finally opened the new ultralounge/restaurant on May 23, months after the COVID-19 outbreak forced him to put the project on hold. margarita is made with Del Maguey mezcal, pineapple, lemon, bitter orange, Italian amaro, pepper tincture spice and a half Tajin rim at The Garden in the Arts District.