Cover charge.Įvery Sunday, Palace hosts Brunchnic with seatings at 11:30am and 2pm with drag performance with you brunch. Discotekka is a huge venue with four rooms, two DJs and tons of energy. Packed every Saturday night in Downtown Miami with a mostly Latino crowd. No cover charge.ĭiscotekka 950 NE 2nd Avenue, Downtown Miami Gaiety Dancers take it off in the Bungalow Bar.
Cover charge.ĭJ Mika spin to a capacity crowd in the Main Room. Tiffany Fantasia performs right in the sidewalk in front of the Palace every Saturday at 4pm and 9pm. Guest DJs spin in the Main Room, dancers in the bungalow. And it demonstrates something even more important: that the queer community does have the power to fight gentrification, though it requires the diligence of staking a claim in the places we helped create.TP Lords hosts and performs starting at 6pm. Whereas the old location was a bit run-down and didn’t mirror the fabulosity of its tagline, “Every queen needs a palace,” the new location offers brighter colors and blasts louder music. From a Friday Happy Hour packed with Winter Party attendees to its iconic drag brunch on Sunday catering to tourists in town for a good time, Palace Bar seems to be making a much bolder statement on Ocean Drive than it did before. This includes a front patio with more seating and room for drag queens to death drop and somersault.Īfter visiting Palace Bar while in town for Winter Party earlier this month, I was impressed with the updates management had made to the venue. The larger location, 1052 Ocean Drive, is two blocks down from its original haunt and features more indoor and outdoor space than before. As rising rents priced out other LGBT-owned-and-operated businesses, Palace Bar persevered and eventually became the last gay bar on Ocean Drive.Īfter closing on July 4th weekend with a blowout celebration, Palace Bar owner Thomas Donall vowed to reopen the iconic LGBT hot spot in “a bigger location and make it an LGBT center.” The nightclub owner made good on his promise, opening the new Palace Bar during Thanksgiving weekend 2017, the same weekend as Miami’s White Party.
Over the years, the location changed owners, crafted a full-service food menu and became world-famous for its extravagant drag brunch, at which queens would prance right on the asphalt of Ocean Drive. The bartenders began adding booze to their fruity concoctions, and later started offering drag shows as entertainment. The bar instantly became popular with the gay community. According to the story, its original owners were inspired to put the word fruit in the name since the beach right across the street was a popular gathering for gays. Long before Palace Bar was the gay nightlife hub we’ve come to know, it was a juice bar called The Fruit Palace. The pride colored crosswalks and honorary street sign are proof of the city’s support of the LGBT community.”
They, too, were disappointed at not kiki’ing at the corner of 12th and Ocean anymore, enjoying views of eye candy strolling by or stellar drag shows from the bar’s talented roster of queens, many of whom are transgender.Ī statement read, “The Palace Bar is the foundation for what has become one of South Beach’s legendary and iconic LGBT meeting places, 1200 Ocean Drive. Not only did the closure affect locals, but it also impacted gay tourists from all over the world, who flock to Miami for its beautiful beaches and even more beautiful men. Many in the LGBT community of South Florida were saddened by this news.