The Queen’s Gambit: NYC’s Best Drag Bars
Drag has gone wildly mainstream over the past decade, with drag brunches popping up in just about every city and town across the country, and well over a dozen domestic and international editions of RuPaul’s Drag Race including All-Stars, Canada, UK, Australia, Thailand, and France (the foreign and endless DR spinoffs can be seen on streaming service WOW Presents Plus).
Yet NYC has been not only ahead of the curve with its drag scene and talents—dating back to even before the 1969 Stonewall Riots, it’s served as a launching pad for the GA-raised RuPaul, Lady Bunny, and Lypsinka during the 1980s and ’90s at legendary albeit now shuttered venues including Pyramid, Webster Hall, Tunnel, Palladium, and Chelsea’s still hopping 28-year-old Barracuda—but continues to offer locals and tourists a nightly mix of past and present Drag Race stars (Peppermint, Bianca Del Rio, Bob The Drag Queen and Brooklyn’s Aquaria to name a few) and upcoming, edgy, raucous talents at bars and clubs throughout the boroughs.
“The best thing about NYC is you can walk into almost any bar and experience very talented queens from all different backgrounds giving their own takes on drag,” says the NYC-based Paige Turner, who hosts Tuesday drag BINGO at Hell’s Kitchen’s The Spot. And Nicky Doll, a Drag Race season 12 contestant turned Drag Race Francehost, adds that “NYC is the best city for drag because it has a history of misfits looking for freedom and acceptance. NYC is a safe space, and New Yorkers are suckers for culture and laughter, and drag brings joy, glamor and power.”
That said, here are eight of our favorites (and hot tip: pick up or order a copy of photographer/queen Linda Simpson’s outstanding 2022 book The Drag Explosion, a priceless selection of vintage shots during the 80s and 90s downtown drag scene including the legendary, annual Wigstock festival!)
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Pieces
Celebrating its thirtieth anniversary, Christopher Street’s colorful Pieces lets drag rule on a daily basis, sometimes slotting two distinct shows/parties on the same night. Jennifer Laurence and Adele are among the boldface names that stopped by (and took part in a drinking game), while hosts and cast members include NYC drag icon Shequida, a Juilliard-trained opera singer who hosts Monday nights’ “Drag Wars” competition, and Drag Race’s Yuhua Hamasaki for Friday nights’ “Trading Spaces.”
8 Christopher Street, open 2pm-4am daily
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Hardware
Pieces owners Eric Einstein and Justin Buchanan brought their glittery, dragged-up magic touch uptown to a former Hell’s Kitchen electrical supply shop in 2012, helping cement the West Side neighborhood as a post-Chelsea gay mecca. A favorite of Bob the Drag Queen that has seen its share of Drag Race contestants perform, the weekly line-up includes Thursdays’ “Shequida Show,” and Sundays’ “Skinny Brunch” with Jasmine Rice Labeija and Brita Filter.
697 10th Avenue, open 2pm-4am daily
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3 Dollar Bill
Located in East Williamsburg, Brooklyn’s largest LGBTQ+ venue hosts a robust, fun array of drag-centric events. That includes open stages for envelope-pushing up-and-comers, Drag Race watch parties and post-show live lip sync battles (who will sashay away?), and performances by visiting Drag Race royalty including Thailand host Pangina Heals (April 25th), movie spoofs (“Fagtasia: The Little Mermaid” on May 18th), and diva-centric tributes to the likes of Selena and Xtina. Well worth crossing the bridge, this is a vibe!
260 Mesarole Street, Brooklyn, open 2pm-4am daily
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Metropolitan
Dubbed “a gay oasis” by the NY Times, with an outdoor patio/garden, Williamsburg’s 21-year-old Metropolitan is where some of the borough’s most beloved queens have been “born.” Merrie Cherry created the competition “DragNet” here back in 2012, inspiring a new wave of local queens to take part including Bed-Stuy-born, Drag Race fave Aja (“DragNet” continues to this day on third Thursdays). Also expect beard and mustache-bearing Brooklyn hipster queens like Rify Royalty, who hosts Drag Race viewing parties and first Thursdays’ gender-fluid “Straight Acting” party.
559 Lorimer Street, Brooklyn, open 3pm-4am daily
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The Spot
Hell’s Kitchen remains a buzzing hive of queer nightlife thanks to new additions like this summer 2021 opening. The Spot’s weekly events calendar is almost entirely drag-centric with drag bingo, Drag Race viewing parties, a Thursday night drag competition hosted by Marti Gould Cummings, and weekend drag brunches (two seatings each day!) with talents including Kizha Carr, Lexington Banks, Zeta Jones, and Jasmine Rice.
599 10th Avenue, open 4pm-2am daily
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Industry
Drag Race season 8 winner Bob The Drag Queen, also of HBO’s heartwarming reality series We’re Here, used to work the stage at this sizable bar and dance club. Today, enjoy shows and parties by bearded queen Kizha Carr (Sunday), Hibiscus and Inita D (Mondays), Egypt and Yasmin Delano (Wednesday), Pixie Aventura (Wednesday) and Holly Dae (Thursday) plus many others. And don’t forget to dance!
355 W. 52nd Street, open 6pm-4am daily
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Playhouse
Every time seems to be a charm for Pieces’ owners, who opened their third establishment, a Greenwich Village bar/club, circa December 2019. Its name a nod to former occupant the Actors Playhouse, which opened back in 1956, reportedly counted Al Pacino and John Lennon amongst its fans, and saw runs of iconic gay plays “Torch Song Trilogy” and “Naked Boys Singing,” drag entertainment also rules nightly. The diverse cast of queens you’ll see onstage include some of the city’s busiest, including Pixie Aventura, Holly Box-Springs, Ruby Roo, and “Venezuelan Goddess” Chicky Gorgina.
100A 7th Ave S, open 2pm-2am Wed-Sun, 5pm-2am Mon/Tues
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Red Eye/The Cockpit
A coffee shop and podcast studio by day, and downstairs dance club by night, the latest addition to NYC’s queer social landscape is the brainchild of prolific NYC/Fire Island nightlife promoter Daniel Nardicio. Having worked with some of the best entertainers in the business – including Liza Minnelli, Alan Cumming, and Bianca Del Rio—Nardicio books top-shelf queens including Drag Race queens Jan Sport, Alexis Michelle, and Drag Race Francehost Nicky Doll, who hosts her own monthly event, “Louche.” “I’m actually performing a lot outside of the country,” Doll says, “so when back home in NYC it’s a way to bring my European flair and passion for music and nightlife to the city that inspires me so much.”
355 W. 41st Street, open 7am-4am
Also worth checking out: the East Village’s Phoenix; and Astoria, Queens’ ICON, Albatross, and Kween.
WORDS Lawrence Ferber
FEATURED IMAGERY Courtesty 3dollarbillbk.com
