New(ish) Kid on the Block

What will the new place be like?It'll be newer and prettier, but you can still smell beer [ laughs ]. I'm not looking to change the vibe. All those who came before will come again. Along with new people who will want to check it out.

Give us an idea of what we'll see when you reopen.Well, we now have a second floor. The first floor is now completely open to the street. The patio is recessed into the lower floor. We have great new lighting and I'm very excited about the giant screens for projected images; you can see them clearly from the street. The city was very encouraging. Our plans definitely improve the block. It's gonna be very hard for people not to come in.

What are you doing to bring in more people after you reopen? We're doing lots of regional advertising -- San Francisco, Palm Springs, San Diego. Also, drink prices will be similar to where they were. We will have cover charges, but nobody minded before. You want to do so much with a new place, but we dialed it back a bit so as not to alienate our core customers -- people who just want to dance and party and have a good time without pretension. I love this community. I'm part of it and I can't wait to be back in the mix again. We've always supported the community and it killed me that we weren't open and around for all that Prop. 8 shit. Gays appreciate other gays and gay businesses.

So are you pleased with the way it has turned out?Oh, very! We're happy to be back.

Michael, honestly, do you really think we need another gay bar?Well, we need the one we had.