Everyone welcome at downtown’s new LGBTQ ultralounge
Looking 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.
After 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.
“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. “But I’ve been very surprised and impressed that people are coming out. People want to be out, and they come in here and they just thank me for doing this, because they’re loving it. We have regulars already, who have been here every weekend.”
The Garden occupies a space in the Arts Square complex at 1017 S. First St. that was previously home to the popular downtown hangout Mingo. The interior has gotten a major face-lift to create what Cordova is calling “an upscale gay bar and restaurant.”
“The Garden is a fresh new concept in gay nightlife here in Las Vegas,” he explains. “What sets it apart is having the outdoor/indoor (space), having specialty hand-crafted cocktails, having the kitchen, having brunch.”
Those latter two aspects are still a work in progress. The current food menu is limited to small bites, and weekend brunch won’t launch for another three or four weeks. When it does, however, the owner promises it will be something special.
“We gays love brunch,” he laughs. “So we’re going all out with brunch. It’s going to be Saturdays and Sundays, and we’re going to have a full-on brunch, inside and out.”
Cordova 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. 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. The double entendre, however, was 100 percent intentional.
“I called it Closet Sundays because I was so mad about (the fact) my night had to be in the closet.”
In the years since, Cordova has promoted LGBTQ events at the Luxor pool, The Mirage and The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, among other spots. In the meantime, he opened the downtown Mexican spot Santos Guisados Tacos & Beer (he’s no longer associated with the restaurant). 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.
“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.”
Cardova insists that The Garden is a bar for everyone. His employees include a straight man, a trans woman, a bisexual woman, a lesbian and several gay men, and they welcome all customers. But he firmly believes it’s important to identify as a gay establishment.
“Now more than ever we need the gay bar. Because young kids are coming out at a young age, thinking that the world’s ready. And when they come out, they’re getting bullied at school, or by their parents, or society. 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.”
Beyond that, he says he feels a personal sense of safety being in a bar that’s clearly established as gay.
“I’ve been to other bars (where) before I kiss my boyfriend, or hold his hand, I have to look around,” he explains. “I just don’t want to insult anybody, or get punched in the face. It’s a concept that straight people don’t understand.”
At this point, The Garden appears to be the only gay bar in the Arts District. That could change, however, if it proves successful.
“This is the perfect size for me to start small and then grow. I would like to do some more, some different concepts — maybe a sports bar and a drag bar. So if I can turn First Street into the gay street, this could be a little gay district.”
The Garden is currently open Thursdays and Sundays from 6 p.m. to 1 a.m. and Fridays and Saturdays until 2 a.m. Social distancing concerns currently require a reservations-only policy for the interior lounge (call 702-202-0900), but the large patio is open to walk-in customers.
Contact Al Mancini at amancini@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlManciniVegas on Twitter and Instagram.