Gay Place

MANY MORE TO YA! Whoa, 20 years? 25 years? Those are achievements for any kind of bar. But for a gay bar? That's totally queeeeer! For two gay bars? Mutually assured fabulousity. This weekend, sibling clubs Charlie's Austin and 'Bout Time celebrate a couple of very significant birthdays and invite you and you and you to come and whoop it up with food, drink, cash, and prize giveaways (and we're gonna guess a hot queen or two and some well-oiled lads in baby-Ts). Aside from friendly staff; stiff, cheap drinks; and volleyball at one and food at the other, our favorite and most lingering impression of the Charlie's/'Bout Time matrix is its welcoming and unabashed embrace of all spectral representatives of the GLBT rainbow ... and beyond. Out of all the queer hangouts in Central Texas, the rainbow is most like a rainbow in these most integrated and accepting of Austin establishments. And while two-plus decades is quite an accomplishment in and of itself, that rainbow of fruit flavas quality is what sets Charlie's and 'Bout Time apart deep in the heart. Oh, and Charlie's honcho David Green is offering a $50 reward and free steak dinner to the finder of the bar's missing Jack Daniels statue: 474-6481. Help find Jack! (See the Gay Place Blog.)

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