Queen has drag brunches, bottomless mimosas, and the spark for something big.
Between Liberace and Siegfried & Roy , Las Vegas has never been unsure about welcome gay entertainers to its Strip saleroom . Even puff point date back to the other 1950s , whenLynne Carter had a regular gig at the El Cortez , setting the stage for Frank Marino , RuPaul ’s Drag Race Live , and other nonmigratory performers . However , homo culture and night life have long been relegated to the fringe of the Strip , withbars and other businessesin brave out shopping plazas like Commercial Center and a territory dubbed the Fruit Loop near the aerodrome .
" When I came to Vegas in 2008 , there was n’t anything large for gay representation on the Strip , " Q Hospitality Group CEO Eduardo Cordova says . " Everything was on the sides and in dark alleys … We have a beautiful community , but we did n’t have something centrally located . "
Cordova is hoping that will change withQueen , which control on a stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard where the Strip merges with Downtown . The venue promises to be a bar , restaurant , nightclub , and hotel in one , following a slow - motion takeover of theThunderbird , a retro dress shop motor lodge that date back to 1948 .
Photo courtesy of Queen Las Vegas
Judging by the drag brunches that quarter compact crowd on weekends , the concept is already off to a good get-go . ticket include an entree , such as a wimp and waffle sandwich , avocado toast with beetroot hummus , or reddened salsa chilaquiles , and bottomless buck’s fizz , while drag performers work the elbow room and lip - sync hits by Taylor Swift , Whitney Houston , and other entertainment icons . add plenty of singles . Tipping is part of the fun . So is singing , saltation , snapping hand fans , and interacting with Kimora Blac , the raunchy host who maintain the show actuate .
Queen kicks off brunch at noon on weekends in the former Thunderbird Lounge , now reimagined as a lively , colourful blank with rainbow flag , pink lights , and an well-lighted corridor leading to a cosmos of dateless possibilities — and a digital photo station . A DJ works the room from a cubicle that resembles the bottom half of a disco ball — a decoration desirable of any queendom .
On the other side of that hallway , a nightspot welcomes the general world on Friday and Saturday night with 30 - base - improbable ceilings , 50,000 LED lights , optical maser , CO2 confetti cannons , and a stripper pole for expert measure . The music tilt toward Top-40 and pop remixes with every pulse finger over a booming sound system . The social club is available the rest of the calendar week for individual bookings and special case , although Cordova would finally like to have a residency show—“ideally something sunny that will flow into what I ’m doing here , " he says .
The Thunderbird ’s wedding chapel service is being split up . Part of it will be the first and only merry marriage chapel in Las Vegas , with Lance Bass , a endorse officiant , already pop the question his celebrity armed service , while the ease will be reconfigured as a waiting room for Latin medicine .
This is just the beginning of what Corvoda hope will be a unexampled definitive LGBTQ+ neighborhood in the sprightliness of West Hollywood and Chicago ’s BoysTown . He ’s been in inter-group communication with the mayor and other city officials to encourage business incentives and exploitation – plus a rainbow - tinge crossing across Las Vegas Boulevard . It ’s a gritty part of Vegas , known for bail bond services , adult shop , old motels , and vintage wedding chapel . Yet it ’s advanced for a resurgence with a emplacement sandwiched between other up - and - coming neighborhoods like the Gateway District , Huntridge , and Beverly Green .
" I make love a challenge , Cordova says , describing the orbit as " a lilliputian gem that could be polished … We ’re already image a modification in the demographic . We ’re mad . "
Photo courtesy of Queen Las Vegas
The early achiever of Queen reflect a growing adoption of LGBTQ+ cultivation in Las Vegas . Krave , once the homophile residential area ’s most high - profile nightclub , survived at Planet Hollywood for eight years — technically on the Strip , but around the corner with an entrance on Harmon Avenue — and fizzled out after moving business district in 2013 . Since then , theLas Vegas Pride Festival & Paradehas bit by bit grown in height , retarding force shows are thriving in tourist bit like theNeonopolisandTreasure Island , andThe Center(formerly the Gay & Lesbian Community Center of Southern Nevada ) renamed itself while expanding divine service . Temptation Sundays , a concept led by Cordova , just celebrated 13 years at the Luxor as the longest - ply LGBTQ+ kitty party in Vegas . The Sahara introduced a similar concept , Elevate , for Saturdays last year .
Before Queen do along , Cordova struck gold withthe Garden , give the jocund community a cocktail waiting room in thebooming Downtown Arts District . Opening in a difficult clock time during the pandemic in 2020 , the venue was unapologetic about its individuality yet blended effortlessly with its surroundings while drawing a diverse hearing .
" We ’ve convey a lot more dealings because the area itself has become busier , " Managing Partner Edith Castillo enunciate , citing a interactive core between new developments like theEnglish Hoteland events likeFirst Friday . " Yes , we are an LGBTQ+ legal community and couch , but everyone that occur in here feels welcome , whether they ’re part of the community or just happen to stumble upon us . "
Photo courtesy of Queen Las Vegas
Castillo helped spread the Garden , left the operation , and is now back in the fold , leading efforts to update the weekend brunch bill of fare , shift the dinner into a tapas format , and lend in novel entertainment , from an expanded docket of drag operation to a spring up batting order of international DJs . As the Garden operates under raw management , Cordova continue a now - dumb majority possessor while negotiating a buyout . Regardless of how things become out , Queen " is my babe , " he says .
Castillo believes there ’s room for both the Garden and Queen — as well as unexampled businesses to come — in the local LGBTQ+ shot . " The more places that we have to propose the community , the better , " she say . " I think it ’s a win - profits for everyone . "
Queen is off to a rousing scratch , but some challenges have emerged along the direction . An early September grand possible action was stay due to equipment damage during a rainstorm , and a consecrate parking lot across the street is still in development after Cordova was hoping to have it quick by Las Vegas Pride Month in October . Guests are currently welcome to park in the hotel lot or next door at the Viva Las Vegas marriage chapel .
Photo courtesy of Queen Las Vegas
In the months in the lead , Queen will develop a series of themed hotel suites at the Thunderbird with program to rebrand the entire hotel within two years . Queen is now open day by day until 5 am , and Cordova plan to make it a 24 - hour address with 15 gaming machine in the barroom once a license is settle . Dinner follows a supper club data format with sporadic crop up - up atmosphere performances between 8 and 10 pm .
look to see more special events and themed evening . Cordova add in national drag deed Fantasia Royale Gaga as a resident performer , steal the show during the weekend brunch and headlining daughter Nights on Mondays with a drag king and Trans Nights on Thursdays . Kataluna Enriquez , the first trans woman top Miss Nevada in 2021 , will also make appearances .
Cordova has a grand vision for Queen , with with child affair to come as other LGBTQ - friendly businesses issue around it . " I just love have that sense of biotic community , " he say , line a neighborhood where , " you take the air your firedog , bring your mum . It ’s not so dingy and hidden . "
Photo courtesy of Queen Las Vegas
