Sacramento’s Lavender Heights, centering around 20th and K Streets in midtown, owes its name to the high number of gay owned residences and businesses located in the neighborhood. And right at the heart of the neighborhood stands perhaps one of the greatest congregators of like-minded people outside of houses of worship and sporting arenas: the bar. In this case, gay-owned and operated bars.

The Depot

2001 K Street

Sacramento

The Depot is a great corner bar located right at ground zero of the gay district. It’s got a friendly neighborhood vibe and offers reasonably priced, strong drinks and a pretty decent happy hour. There’s a front bar and a back bar, and a couple pool tables and a high rise DJ booth in between. It’s touted as a video bar and there are quite a few television screens throughout the bar showing anything from music videos to funny YouTube videos. The back bar is usually a mecca for the cigarette-smoking crowd because of its open-air patio design. It’s the place to be on a hot summer evening when the ceiling fans are turned up to full speed and the patio misters are turned on. Expect some great people watching as it’s located directly across the street from both the trendy, other-side-of-the-tracks hangout, LowBrau, and the original gay nightclub, Faces.

Badlands

2003 K Street

Sacramento

After predrinking at The Depot, pop next door to Badlands to do some dancing. This club achieves a San Francisco feel by maximizing its relatively small space without feeling cramped. There are four bars, so ordering a drink isn’t a problem even on the busy nights. The dance floor can get overcrowded on the busier nights but the 30-foot ceiling above it prevents it from feeling claustrophobic. Don’t forget to look up and gaze into the gigantic, mirrored disco ball hanging from the ceiling high above. Drink rails surround the dance floor, providing a convenient place to set your drink, or to stand and take a breather between songs. Upstairs from the dance floor, there is a mezzanine level that looks down onto the dance floor and offers a great place to people-watch and rest your tired-from-dancing legs. There is a good chance you will see shirtless men in their underwear and a drag queen or two, so keep an open mind and have fun. There are drink specials every night but expect to pay a cover charge on the weekends unless you arrive early.

The Mercantile Saloon

1928 L Street

Sacramento

When it comes to dive bars, the “Merc” makes many best-of lists due to its softly lit interior, great bartenders, and cheap, heavily poured drinks. So it’s mainly because of the cheap booze, but it also has a nice, covered patio: a must-have for many bar goers when the sun starts doing its thing in the hot summer months. Some patrons probably don’t even know they are in a gay bar, as its gay-to-straight ratio seems to have shifted to about 50-50 as word gets out that the Merc has no idea how to pour a weak drink and that drink prices are seemingly from the early 80s. Did I mention cheap drinks? Located right on the outskirts of Lavender Heights, the Merc’s clientele is representative of the diverse midtown Sacramento neighborhood it is in. It’s a great place to go after a long day on campus and play a few games of pool. Whatever the case, the Merc is worth checking out.

Steven Senn can be reached at [email protected]