To its credit though, the Abbey famously announced in 2012 that it would ban bachelorette parties until marriage equality was achieved, which helped to shore up its gay street cred among some of the faithful who felt it had overextended itself in its efforts to be hetero-friendly. If there’s a downside to the Abbey it’s actually the bar’s success: Not so very long ago, it was the nucleus of gay life in West Hollywood, but as its popularity has grown, increasingly the crowd-particularly at night-seems to be made up of tourists. The drinks at this West Hollywood stalwart are notoriously strong (albeit pricey) and the upscale, Gothic-meets-the-Mediterranean indoor/outdoor spaces, plentiful cabanas and hunky bartenders are all aesthetically satisfying. When Micky’s was forced to close in mid-March 2019, they were in the process of celebrating.
Micky’s is also getting ready to open by June 1, owner Michael Niemeyer confirmed. The word on the street is that Motherlode will also re-open as early as May 14th.
The Abbey is annually voted one of the world’s best gay bars, which explains the long lines on the weekends to get into this once-humble coffee house-which now boasts four full bars and five times the amount of real estate it originally occupied. Construction has begun on an outzone for WeHo gay bar Trunks on Santa Monica Blvd.
