Paddy’s celebrates its 14th year as Ventura County’s only surviving LGBT hangout
Sipping a Heineken while observing the Friday night clientele at Paddy’s in Ventura [California], you will, according to the bar’s owner Frank Roedel, likely find “a mixed bag of wax.” The two male mannequins sheathed in bridal white behind the counter and the rainbow banner garlanding a window make obvious the establishment’s orientation, but that’s where homogeneity ends. The crowd there is as diverse as any you’ll find in Ventura, with young and old, gay and straight, and several shades of skin milling around the historic building as disco music and strobe lights pulse in the background.
Occasionally misidentified as an Irish pub, Paddy’s (named after Roedel’s Irish grandfather) holds distinction as the only remaining gay bar in Ventura County, despite having been one of several in the area during the mid-’90s. On April 11, it celebrated its 14th anniversary and its 11th year in its current location at 2 W. Main St. But besides serving the estimated population of 40,000 gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered individuals within county limits, Paddy’s has earned a reputation as a comfortable place where you are welcome, says patron Stephanie Standley, “no matter what your deal is.”
Paddy’s boasts a pool room and a dance floor off the main bar area, a lower bar and party room, and an outdoor patio, a versatile setup that allows them to host regular events like karaoke on Wednesday and Sunday nights and dancing on Fridays and Saturdays. On a given night, the clientele appears about evenly split between men and women. Straight women, Roedel says, are relieved to have a bar they can come to without being hit on. And on a weekday afternoon, you will find old-timers and regulars nursing drinks at the bar.
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