Fred's Profile

If this passes for a leather bar for you, that's a little sad statement about Austin. This place has been gonna close any day now for the past 10-15 years so I won't believe that till it's actually flattened. Every couple years that rumor surfaces, and every couple years people have 25 good reasons, and some super secret I blew a city council member information about why no, this time, it's really gonna happen. It's a much nicer dump than it used to be, since the owner opened the secret back patio, although it would be even nicer if all the furniture out there weren't broken. They have awesome music, due in no small measure to the talents of the DJ.

Lotta regulars, lotta alcoholics, some hustlers, lots of hard drinkin'. Mixed crowd of lesbians, gay men, and other brands of queer. There's a volleball area, some kind of league on the weekends I hear. The fact that this is a gay bar is just incidental - it's where you go to hangout and drink, not to cruise. Did I mention this is the place to go to get hammered?

Charlie's is the only place in Austin that doesn't make DQ's feel unwelcome, and I really appreciate the tolerant atmosphere, where, gosh, even people 'hit with the ugly stick' are not made to feel unwelcome. I know that's not in keeping with community stereotypes of only tolerating college age twinks, and that's why I love Charlie's.