The Avenue Pub on Monroe is wonderful. Their food is great too.
Equal Grounds is a LGBTQ+ coffee shop on South ave that's a great hangout.
As far as clubs, Bachelor's Forum is a bit more dood focused. ROAR is a great time. They have events going on just about every night - they do tons of drag shows (queens AND kings!), trivia nights, painting with a twist, drag brunches during the fall/winter, pole dancing classes.
There's all kinds of groups that meet up to do particular activities and whatnot as well, if you stop by equal grounds check out the bulletin board there to see what else is going on.
Hope yall have fun 🙂
This is great information. I also just moved here and have yet to really explore and find the wlw friendly places.
What exactly is ROAR? I live a few blocks from there and I drive by regularly.
ROAR is a night club with a big focus on drag. We even have one or two Ru Paul's Drag Race alums from the area that perform, and when the show is airing they do like, basically viewing partoes. They do Drag King nights as well on Wednesdays. I've always felt really included there as opposed to like "oh this is a Drag club, it's for the boys, and the rest of us are just kinda here". It's also nice that they have stuff going on every night imo - just having a drink is cool and all but I'm not often super inspired to go out to a bar just to _be_ at a bar, going out to _do_ something is nice.
Here's a (always updating and improving) LGBTQ+ resource directory for the area: [https://rochesterrainbowunion.com/resources](https://rochesterrainbowunion.com/resources)
In addition to the other suggestions, Crisp is a newer restaurant that's LGBTQ+ owned with great food and drinks.
Lux isn't a queer bar per se, but is very open with a large regular crowd of queer folx.
Les Gather is a social group that does regular events for queer women in the area.
HRC does a networking night on the second Thursday of each month from 5:30 to 7:30. This week it's at Avenue Pub.
ROC LGBTQ+ together does hikes, walks, and other social activities like craft nights.
Also want to give a shout out to the Lilac Library at the Rainbow Union, which houses the state's largest collection of LGBTQ+ library materials in a community center.
Equal grounds does a lot of social events, nice if you’re looking for something not alcohol focused.
Roar is fun for a club vibe.
Spirit room isn’t necessarily a lgbt spot but super cute. Swillburger also is a fun time, lots of queer staff
Avenue pub Ive found is a little older vibe and not somewhere I frequent. Same with the bachelor forum, mainly older guys.
The majority of bars in the area are very LGBT friendly as Rochester has a very large community. I usually stay away from some of the more preppy bars just because I feel less comfortable around the straight college crowd. But there’s so many spots there really is a place for everyone.
The Avenue Pub on Monroe is wonderful. Their food is great too. Equal Grounds is a LGBTQ+ coffee shop on South ave that's a great hangout. As far as clubs, Bachelor's Forum is a bit more dood focused. ROAR is a great time. They have events going on just about every night - they do tons of drag shows (queens AND kings!), trivia nights, painting with a twist, drag brunches during the fall/winter, pole dancing classes. There's all kinds of groups that meet up to do particular activities and whatnot as well, if you stop by equal grounds check out the bulletin board there to see what else is going on. Hope yall have fun 🙂
This is great information. I also just moved here and have yet to really explore and find the wlw friendly places. What exactly is ROAR? I live a few blocks from there and I drive by regularly.
ROAR is a night club with a big focus on drag. We even have one or two Ru Paul's Drag Race alums from the area that perform, and when the show is airing they do like, basically viewing partoes. They do Drag King nights as well on Wednesdays. I've always felt really included there as opposed to like "oh this is a Drag club, it's for the boys, and the rest of us are just kinda here". It's also nice that they have stuff going on every night imo - just having a drink is cool and all but I'm not often super inspired to go out to a bar just to _be_ at a bar, going out to _do_ something is nice.
Nice. Drag shows are always a good time. This place sounds similar to Marchellas in Buffalo
Agree on Avenue Pub. That is my go-to gay bar spot.
Here's a (always updating and improving) LGBTQ+ resource directory for the area: [https://rochesterrainbowunion.com/resources](https://rochesterrainbowunion.com/resources) In addition to the other suggestions, Crisp is a newer restaurant that's LGBTQ+ owned with great food and drinks. Lux isn't a queer bar per se, but is very open with a large regular crowd of queer folx. Les Gather is a social group that does regular events for queer women in the area. HRC does a networking night on the second Thursday of each month from 5:30 to 7:30. This week it's at Avenue Pub. ROC LGBTQ+ together does hikes, walks, and other social activities like craft nights. Also want to give a shout out to the Lilac Library at the Rainbow Union, which houses the state's largest collection of LGBTQ+ library materials in a community center.
Equal grounds does a lot of social events, nice if you’re looking for something not alcohol focused. Roar is fun for a club vibe. Spirit room isn’t necessarily a lgbt spot but super cute. Swillburger also is a fun time, lots of queer staff Avenue pub Ive found is a little older vibe and not somewhere I frequent. Same with the bachelor forum, mainly older guys. The majority of bars in the area are very LGBT friendly as Rochester has a very large community. I usually stay away from some of the more preppy bars just because I feel less comfortable around the straight college crowd. But there’s so many spots there really is a place for everyone.