{"id":669542,"date":"2026-03-20T16:45:27","date_gmt":"2026-03-20T16:45:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/669542\/"},"modified":"2026-03-20T16:45:27","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T16:45:27","slug":"phillys-new-lesbian-bar-debuts-to-packed-house-in-queen-village","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/669542\/","title":{"rendered":"Philly\u2019s new lesbian bar debuts to packed house in Queen Village"},"content":{"rendered":"

Philadelphia finally has a lesbian bar again.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Val\u2019s Lesbian Bar<\/a> officially opened its doors on Wednesday night to a packed crowd full of women and queer people enjoying a space made just for them. Now you, your ex-girlfriend and her new partner (who you probably also dated one time) have a place to meet up and talk horoscopes.<\/p>\n

According to the bar\u2019s owners and girlfriends Clover Gilfor and Julia Harris, Val\u2019s is Philly\u2019s first lesbian bar since the Toasted Walnut closed in 2021. Gilfor is also one of the very few (perhaps only) trans women to own a bar in the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just wanted this space to exist,\u201d said Harris, who is a PhD candidate in lesbian history at Harvard University. \u201cWe wanted a space to exist for the lesbian and queer community in Philly that could be a place you could go, six nights a week and just have a drink \u2014 a place where you can go on a weekend for a party, a place where you can go sing karaoke and just be surrounded by other lesbian and queer people.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"People packed around the downstairs bar during opening night at Val\u2019s lesbian bar in Philadelphia, March 18, 2026. (Kimberly Paynter\/WHYY)<\/p>\n

A bar of their own<\/p>\n

The inside of Val\u2019s is large, with two floors, two bars, a pool table and a side patio. There is a subtle Valentine\u2019s theme (it\u2019s Val\u2019s bar after all) \u2014 with pink and red menus, decorative streamers, hearts and roses. Still, the overall vibe is a bit divey, filled with cozy booths and vintage decor. Even though the bar is just opening, the space already seems worn-in and well loved.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe wanted this to be a place that celebrates love in all its forms, and we wanted to create a space that was kind of cute and a little sexy and a little romantic,\u201d Harris said. \u201cA little kitschy, a little vintagey.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt matters to the queer community to have a place where people feel kind of sexy and they feel like they\u2019re doing a little bit of cruising,\u201d Gilfor added.<\/p>\n

Claire Choquette and Lane Radeke \u2014 two stage directors who are also a couple \u2014 were excited to come to Val\u2019s on opening night. The pair planned to be there until close.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Claire Choquette (left) and Lane Radeke (right) enjoy the lounge at Val\u2019s lesbian bar on opening night, March 18, 2026. (Kimberly Paynter\/WHYY)<\/p>\n

The fact that the word lesbian was specifically in the bar\u2019s name was means for celebration. \u201cThe title is super important,\u201d Radeke said. \u201cBecause then it has to stay that way. It can\u2019t not.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c[It] makes me feel like crying,\u201d Choquette said. \u201cIt\u2019s emotional to be in a space that\u2019s for us, because there are so few. I travel for work all the time and keep up with the lesbian bar project and try to go to lesbian bars in every town I go to, and there just aren\u2019t that many.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to the Lesbian Bar project<\/a>, there were over 200 lesbians bars in the United States in 1980. By 2021, that number dropped to 24.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like we\u2019re always reading about all the bars that closed \u2014 all the lesbian bars that didn\u2019t make it past the 2008 crash,\u201d Choquette said. \u201cAnd so, it feels historical honestly, to be at a lesbian bar opening. And I feel like hopefully it\u2019s going to be on the upswing in the next few years.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Erica Mandell drinks a Butch Babe, a cosmo with a twist, at the opening of Val\u2019s lesbian bar in Philadelphia on March 18, 2026. (Kimberly Paynter\/WHYY)<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is just the beginning\u201d<\/p>\n

Val\u2019s is located in Queen Village, just a few blocks from Marsha\u2019s<\/a> \u2014 Philly\u2019s first female sports bar, which opened last September.<\/p>\n

Kara Wentworth and Kelly Bird, two friends from Mount Airy, came to the bar with their wives and ran into each other. It was Bird\u2019s 52 birthday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBest birthday present ever to be here together on the opening day,\u201d Bird said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Next, the group was heading to Marsha\u2019s. Just a year ago, crawling from one female-forward bar to another wasn\u2019t on the table in Philadelphia.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"(From left) Corie Hammers, Kara Wentworth, Jane Keating and Kelly Bird came to Val\u2019s opening night from Mt. Airy to celebrate Bird\u2019s birthday. (Kimberly Paynter\/WHYY)<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there\u2019s been a story that lesbians don\u2019t have money, that lesbians don\u2019t go out, that this space isn\u2019t needed or isn\u2019t needed anymore, and the opposite is true,\u201d Wentworth noted. \u201cThis afternoon, we were getting ready. I started plucking my eyebrows, and I was like, \u2018we\u2019ve been living in a city without a lesbian bar, and now we\u2019re living in a city with a lesbian bar.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got to turn up,\u201d she added. \u201cSo I hope that this is just the beginning of a strong community of support from people who are excited to be in queer space, an explicitly queer space.\u201d<\/p>\n

The bar\u2019s menu is both cocktail and mocktail friendly, featuring drinks with names like \u201cButch Bait\u201d and \u201cTouch-Me-Not\u201d as well as a curated beer and draft list. (We should note that the two cocktails we tried were strong and delicious.) Food items include grilled cheese, a pickle plate and toasted chickpeas. Bar manager Kelly Donahue created five mocktails for the menu \u2014 just one fewer than on the seasonal cocktail list.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am sober. I don\u2019t drink,\u201d said Rebby Zanolla from South Philly. \u201cI love an environment where there\u2019s something else.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Jadyn Duguid said they gravitate to the pool table in any bar at the opening of Val\u2019s lesbian bar on March 18, 2026. (Kimberly Paynter\/WHYY)<\/p>\n

\"\"Rebby Zanolla watched for the newsletter and checked the bar\u2019s website to know when Val\u2019s lesbian bar would officially open. (Kimberly Paynter\/WHYY)<\/p>\n

Zanolla said it felt \u201ceasy\u201d to be at Val\u2019s. They were playing pool with West Philly store manager Jadyn Duguid, who proudly sported an \u201cI Heart Dykes\u201d t-shirt.<\/p>\n

\u201cI usually don\u2019t stay at bars for too long,\u201d Duguid said, \u201cBut, when I\u2019m able to play at a pool table, I\u2019ll be here all night, babe.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOne-hundred percent!\u201d Zanolla added. \u201cIt\u2019s part of the joy of the lesbian bar. There\u2019s something uniting us that isn\u2019t just drinking\u2026 I appreciate that there\u2019s a pool table here, because it gives me another side quest.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to be a refuge\u201d<\/p>\n

Gilfor and Harris were running around the packed house throughout the night, \u201cslinging grilled cheeses\u201d and working behind the bar to make sure patrons had what they needed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m feeling hungry, but I\u2019m feeling really good,\u201d Gilfor said. \u201cYou know, for an open it can be really scary, but our systems are working. Our staff is absolutely crushing it. People are enjoying themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Grilled cheese, a popular menu item at Val\u2019s lesbian bar in Philadelphia on opening night, March 18, 2026. (Kimberly Paynter\/WHYY)<\/p>\n

Gilfor and Harris met five years ago. They are a rare \u201cTinder success story,\u201d according to Gilfor.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cOur personalities just complement each other, which obviously is great in a romantic partnership, and it\u2019s also been great in this business partnership,\u201d Harris said. \u201cClover makes me laugh every day, so much! We have so much fun together. I think she\u2019s so smart and brilliant and beautiful.\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked what made her fall for Harris, Gilfor\u2019s reply was quick: \u201cLook at her!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe both love passing the time by making up nonsense songs,\u201d she said. \u201cI think something that really made me fall in love with Julia is that she was, and still is, really able to help me see, when I\u2019m feeling overwhelmed or I don\u2019t have a handle on things. It can be easy for me to seclude myself, and Julia is one of the first people to really get me to come out of that, and that\u2019s been a huge thing for me.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The pair are excited for their space to become a hub for Philly\u2019s lesbian and queer community \u2014 they look forward to hosting events and fun, like the tarot card spread they had at their soft opening. They also have a newsletter for those interested in following the bar\u2019s happenings.<\/p>\n

\"\"The owners of Val\u2019s lesbian bar chose a Valentine\u2019s Day theme with pinks and reds to give the bar a sexy and cute atmosphere. (Kimberly Paynter\/WHYY)<\/p>\n

Harris believes Val\u2019s opening couldn\u2019t come at a better time. Despite its roomy interior, as the night wore on, the bar kept getting busier and busier. When we left at just 8:30, there was already a long line at the door with around 40 people in it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cOver the last 100 years of lesbian bar history, lesbians have faced all sorts of oppression, political threats, violence, and we\u2019re seeing that history, unfortunately, is not over,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019re seeing surging homophobia and especially transphobia across the US and across the globe today tied to rising fascism and it\u2019s really scary.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to be a refuge,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd not just a refuge, but a place to have fun and feel free and feel like you can be yourself.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t