{"id":18598,"date":"2011-10-31T07:00:43","date_gmt":"2011-10-31T12:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/?p=18598"},"modified":"2018-03-12T11:10:28","modified_gmt":"2018-03-12T16:10:28","slug":"its-raining-femme-north-americas-top-lesbian-bars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2011\/10\/its-raining-femme-north-americas-top-lesbian-bars\/","title":{"rendered":"It’s raining femme: North America’s top lesbian bars"},"content":{"rendered":"
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We rank top 10 lesbian bars in North America, including SF’s Lexington Club. Credit: Hannah Cairns.<\/p><\/div>\n

By Matthew Link<\/em><\/p>\n

Any traveling woman knows that finding a decent lesbian bar — or any lesbian bar at all — can be like finding a needle in a haystack. Many major cities have merely a token once-weekly \u201cgirl\u2019s night\u201d at a gay men\u2019s bar. So after combing the map of the U.S. and Canada, we came up with the indispensable list below — the best of the best, at least in our subjective opinion! (And don\u2019t worry guys, these party-hearty venues are all boy-friendly.) <\/p>\n

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1. Montreal – Le Drugstore<\/strong>
\nNear the epicenter of Montreal\u2019s LGBT stretch of Rue Sainte-Catherine Est, this mammoth six-floor drinking establishment on multiple levels will prove to you that the Quebecois know how to throw a party of both class and epic scale. The complex houses several bars (and pool tables, a hair salon and food counters), and echoes New York City with street signs and exposed brick walls. The crowds migrates to whichever level the music is thumping the loudest on any given night.<\/p>\n

2. Atlanta \u2013 My Sister\u2019s Room<\/strong>
\nIn East Atlanta Village you\u2019ll find this, one of the best lesbian venues in the entire South. There\u2019s always something provocative going on here, from \u201cIced Out Femme\u201d shows to \u201cPimps and Hoes\u201d disco nights. With great DJs, a roomy dance floor and plenty of comfy lounge space, it\u2019s no wonder a number of gay boys gravitate to My Sister\u2019s Room, too.<\/p>\n

3. San Francisco \u2013 The Lexington Club<\/strong>
\nWomen-popular San Francisco has a quite a good selection of lesbian venues, but this \u201cfriendly neighborhood dyke bar\u201d in The Mission district is a longtime local favorite. Small and intimate during the week with great drink deals, it explodes and pumps to the gills on the weekends with sexy bartenders and scantily-clad dancers. Head straight from the airport to Lexington, and you\u2019ll feel like you directly entered urban lesbian nirvana.<\/p>\n

4. Toronto – Tango<\/strong>
\nSharing a patio space with its adjoining gay bar brother Crews, Tango is the women\u2019s mainstay in Toronto. Located in the heart of the city\u2019s LGBT village on Church Street, it’s housed in a Victorian building, where all kinds of tunes reverberate between its walls — from disco to house to R&B. Crowds often migrate from Tango to Crews and back depending on what fabulous stage performance happens to be going on.<\/p>\n

5. Los Angeles – The Palms<\/strong>
\nOnce a basic neighborhood women\u2019s bar in the heart of West Hollywood, The Palms has spruced itself up over the years and is now a shiny, sexy bar and club, but retains its casual roots. Its been pouring the fun for over four decades, and past patrons include famous names like Ellen DeGeneres and Melissa Etheridge. Any day of the week there\u2019s something interesting here, from open mic comedy nights to great live music to hot go-go girls.<\/p>\n

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6. Brooklyn, N.Y. \u2013 Ginger\u2019s<\/strong>
\nFinding an economical happy hour in New York City is no small feat, but Ginger\u2019s has an awesome one nearly every night of the week. Located in Brooklyn\u2019s Park Slope (NYC\u2019s lesbian central), Ginger\u2019s is a non-nonsense bar with a pool table in the backroom and a long wooden bar in front, and space to let your hair down and go wild. It\u2019s so much fun that even Manhattan girls make the schlep out to the boroughs to partake in the Sapphic festivities. Even gay boys and straights slide their way in to seewhat all the ho-ha is about.<\/p>\n

7. San Diego – Gossip Grill<\/strong>
\nCome for the food, stay for the eye candy. This lesbian-filled bar and grill in San Diego\u2019s gayborhood of Hillcrest offers up \u201corgasmic flat bread\u201d sandwiches and \u201csexy steamy paninis\u201d as well as a mac-n-cheese comfort foods. Enjoy a stiff drink under the \u201cfeminine-inspired post-Dada art\u201d on the walls and watch the tanned beach girls of Southern California get their groove on.<\/p>\n

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8. Seattle – The Wildrose Bar and Restaurant<\/strong>
\nDid someone say $2.50 microbrews and $1 tacos? Beyond the mind-boggling specials, it\u2019s hard to have a bad time at Seattle\u2019s best lesbian hangout, what with the pizza eating contests, beer pong tournaments, \u201cbutch contests,\u201d live bands and spinning DJs galore. Proudly inhabiting the bottom floor of an historic building, you can\u2019t say you\u2019ve seen the Seattle girls without a visit to Wildrose.<\/p>\n

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9. Northampton, Mass. – Divas<\/strong>
\nThe college town of Northampton, Massachusetts, proudly wears its moniker of \u201cLesbianville, USA,\u201d and Diva\u2019s is the happening hot spot. With red walls, a sea of bar stools and an open back patio, it\u2019s the favorite spot for LGBT fundraisers and events, as well as young girls grinding to hip hop on the large dance floor.<\/p>\n

10. St. Louis City \u2013 Novak\u2019s<\/strong>
\nDrag king shows, Jello shots, karaoke and the occasional \u201cPretty in Pink Dress Up Night\u201d \u2013 this wood-floor brick-wall lesbian hangout is as gosh-darn friendly as the Midwest itself. Ranked high by Curve Magazine<\/em>, there\u2019s always some event going on every night of the week, and lots of yummy \u201coh God, I drank too much\u201d menu items like fried cheddar cauliflower mini corn dogs.<\/p>\n

Related resources<\/strong><\/p>\n