For Dallas' LGBTQ Community, The Grapevine Is Much More Than a Bar

The Grapevine Bar, which has stood since the mid-'90s on a corner in the Oak Lawn neighborhood, celebrated its departure this week to a new Medical District location by updating its Facebook profile photo — a meme showing the bar getting replaced by a Spirit Halloween store.

What will be now known as "The Grapevine former location" wasn’t just a bar to me. Nor to many others like me.

Sundays were set aside for brunch and The Grapevine. Specifically with the folks I considered family, a group consisting of like-minded 20-to-30-something queer folks who found solace in LGBTQ+ spaces and community.

Our small group would meet a little after noon, eat away our sorrow from the night before and refuel for the day ahead: Sunday Funday.

Those Sundays led us to The Grapevine, the small, clay-like bar with a funky interior and a collection glassware as mismatched as its visitors. Inside, the dark-toned purple lights, ageless furniture and warm staff (who are not your therapists, by the way) welcomed us with the open arms we so needed.

They also provided vodka sodas and pom poms. Let’s not forget that.

When we walked into The Grapevine, no one batted an eye as we grabbed our drinks and made our way to the courtyard with its basketball hoop centerpiece.

At the tables, we talked openly about who were, who we wanted to be and how we saw the world. A young, soon-to-be Dallas Observer contributor would often find himself reading over the weekly print edition found outside the bar, consuming the unique local and cultural news of the week.

It was at those tables on those Sundays where a group of queers finally got to simply be. During the work week, we were confined to our day jobs and a society that was growing less tolerant. At The Grapevine, all of those worries went away. We were home.

The Grapevine opened its doors in 1996 and has since served as a bar for the misfits. The staff is quite possibly also the kindest, with bartenders still cracking a joke and showing genuine appreciation for your time even as the happy hour crowd increases.

Many of the bartenders know friends of mine by name. When one moved out of state and visited a few years later, one voice from behind the counter asked: “Where the hell have you been, Bryan?!”

The Grapevine is the bar I would see portrayed on TV, where familiarity is part of its charm. The magical interior made me feel like I was in Wonka’s chocolate factory, but instead of candy, the staff served a generous pour of your favorite mixed drink.

The Grapevine isn’t going anywhere. God, no. But it has now left its current spot on Maple, on the outskirts of the historic Oak Lawn gayborhood. The bar’s new location, mere minutes down the street, will surely be an extension of the bar’s presence in the lives of many Dallas residents. Still, the fact remains that a small dive bar with an oversized patio once occupied a small corner at Maple and Shelby, and an oversized spot in our lives.

On Wednesday, in its final day of operations at its Maple Avenue location, my friends and I gathered at The Grapevine one last time. Sitting at our table next to the basketball court, two guys approached and sat next to us. It was their first time there, both from New Mexico.

“Well, you’ve found the right place,” I said. “Welcome home.”