“How many girls at that table do you suppose have already gone to get vaccinated in Houston?” he says. Gerardo is blunt when he explains the owners’ decision to go back into business. “The staff asked us to do this, they couldn’t wait any longer.” This particular bar is in Santa Fe, a part of Mexico City home to skyscrapers and areas with development markers similar to those of Germany, but also some of the city’s most marginalized neighborhoods. “We are doing really well, thank God,” he adds, his shirt partially unbuttoned. “We opened two or three weeks ago,” says Gerardo, one of the partners of the “restaurant” visited by EL PAÍS, gesturing to show that the bar is bursting at the seams. Drinks at an underground club in Mexico City. Over the last month though, the rebellion of the antros, as clubs are known in the country, has broken out into the open on social media. Since last year, some businesses in the food and drink sector have opened in secret to cater to family and friends, although this is largely kept hush hush. The Mexican Association of Bars, Discotheques and Nightclubs called for a demonstration in the capital in January using empty glasses to symbolize the loss of 300,000 jobs and 400,000 more under threat throughout the country, according to their own calculations. Visitors have to be in ventilated spaces. Remixes of ’80s and ’90s hits boom against the walls, and the only people wearing masks are the service staff.Ĭlubs and late-night bars have been left out of Mexico City’s economic reopening plan, where currently bars and restaurants can open, but with limited capacity and restricted hours. Backstage, bottles are popping and sparklers are being lit while smoke rises from water pipes, and more people cram inside. Seen from the outside, the bar looks dead and officially closed.
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“From 11pm the good stuff starts, you’re going to see how it gets,” says head waiter Nina.
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But behind closed doors, staff have already lowered the black curtains and Diego’s “restaurant” is in full metamorphosis. It’s past 10pm and there are only a couple of tables left on the outdoor terrace, where lingering customers are about to pay the bill, finish their drinks and move on. “Please guys, no pictures when you come in,” he says. A security guard peels off two small white tags, one to cover each phone camera. The only unusual request is for mobile phones at the entrance. Inside, there are sanitizing mats to disinfect shoes, digital thermometers and hydroalcoholic gel dispensers. Until now, the bar where he works had followed Covid-19 protocols to the letter.
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Diego (an alias) doesn’t want any surprises, and he is clear with his clients from the beginning: “If anyone asks, this is a restaurant,” the waiter tells them.