The Abbey

For an entrance point into the Boystown nightlife scene, it’s all but necessary to hit up the Abbey, which is widely considered one of the world’s best gay bars. The drinks are notoriously strong (albeit pricey), there’s a plentiful food menu and the upscale, Gothic-Mediterranean ambience and hunky bartenders are all aesthetically satisfying. If there’s a downside to the Abbey it’s actually the bar’s success: A decade or so ago, it was the nucleus of gay life in West Hollywood, but as its popularity has grown, increasingly the crowd—particularly at night—seems to be made up of tourists. To its credit though, the Abbey famously announced in 2012 that it would ban bachelorette parties until marriage equality was achieved, which helped to shore up its gay street cred. Last year, it was certified by the Stonewall Inn Gives Back Initiative as an LGBTQ+ safe space, which required bar management and employees to undergo extra training to promote safety and inclusivity.