Manila’s Gay Clubbing started flourishing in the early 2000’s in the streets of Malate, Manila particularly along Orosa-Nakpil. Bars like Chelu, Bed, Mafia, and O Bar are the sanctuary for those Paminta souls who are longing to have fun and a quick hook-up sometimes! Some establishments survived the growing demands of the gay crowd, but some are not lucky enough like Mafia which only lasted for a couple of months. We have listed four (4) of the most frequented gay clubs in the Metro today, so it’s for you to find out which one suits you the best, which one you can afford, and which one you can identify yourself most with because most likely, that is where you belong! Always remember that when you go clubbing, you have to be with your trusted friends and as much as possible (although it is very hard at times) avoid casual hook-ups to keep yourself “virus” free! Enjoy mga Paminta! ;-)
STARLITES
Located at No.5 Westpoint Street, Cubao, Quezon City (near LRT2 Araneta-Cubao station)
When Starlites started operating, it had to compete to a nearby bar which caters as well to the gay crowd. Anyway, Starlites is probably the cheapest place if you just wanna have a good time with friends, sing your heart out, or dance the night away! They serve pretty decent and reasonable “pulutan”. You also don’t need to worry about dress codes because they ain’t got one, yes, you can come in your pambahay attire and no one would even care (coz everyone’s in their pambahay outfits! *kidding) Seriously, the crowd here is class B,C,D to Z! You can come in shorts, sando, slippers and they would not mind if your Havaianas are fake! With just around 100 pesos you can survive the night here because most likely, you’ll bump into your friends (na nagtitipid din kaya nagkita-kita kayo dyan) and you guys can do the traditional “ambagan” or “patak-patak” of about 50 pesos, that’s the trend in Starlites! But if you’re out to check some class-A cute paminta then definitely this is not the perfect place to be, although, casual hook-ups is very rampant here as the place is surrounded by cheap motels but you have to be very careful as this area is known to have been infested by Aling AIDA, if you know what I mean. Starlites has been a favorite hangout among Gay Clans all over Manila because of its cheap rate in Karaoke/VIP rooms which is ideal for group eyeballs and recently we found out that those VIP lounges are being used also by groups who organize group sex…well if that is okay with the management, then who are we to object? Overall, this place is fairly good! It has already established a name, reputation, and “parokyanos” of its own.
O BAR
Located at Ortigas Home Depot, Doña Julia Vargas Ave., Ortigas Center
O Bar is one of the pioneers of gay clubbing in Malate. It was strategically located at the corner of Orosa St. and Nakpil St., it occupied a very small area, hence, it was always crowded! Thank goodness they already moved to a bigger and better location in Ortigas to accommodate its growing number of “parokyanos”. Now O Bar is really setting the bar really high when it comes to gay clubbing. It features entertainment shows like Poi Dancers, Go-Go dancers, and of course the Drag Queen impersonators. O Bar usually starts to get packed before midnight so you might wanna consider coming early if you want to occupy the cocktail tables at the center area or might as well give them a call and do a reservation beforehand. The staff here are well trained but sometimes service can get really slow due to the large volume of club goers that they need to attend to. This place doesn’t promote casual hook-ups but it depends on the person, really! If you want to experience O Bar clubbing then you have to at least dress appropriately, no “jologs” no “jejemon” please! They charge 400 pesos during Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays and it’s inclusive of 3 stubs for local beers/sodas/juices or you can exchange all 3 stubs for a cocktail drink! That’s fair enough considering that this place holds bragging rights of having the most good looking paminta customers! Yes you read it right! If you want to check out some really cute A-listers and yuppies (Young Professionals) pamintas, then this is definitely the place to be! I guess the last sentence would be enough to convince you guys to check out this bar!
F CLUB
Located at 1204 E. Rodriguez cor. Doña Hemady St., Quezon City
So every gay club goers in the Metro probably know that F Club started as a Bath House or a Towel Club where gays can go for sauna and casual hook-ups, more popularly known to its “parokyanos” as FAHRENHEIT.
Since gay clubs are sprouting like mushrooms, they used the opportunity to transform their place into a gay club and named it F Club! Although I can say that this place has not established a crowd of their own yet (compared to O Bar) but one thing very brilliant about F Club is their menu and cocktail drinks which are very unique and original. If you are visiting F Club make sure you have at least 1,000 bucks in your pocket and please dress fashionably! Overall, this place is perfect if you want to go clubbing but doesn’t want to go rubbing sweats with the person behind you as this place rarely gets crowded!
CHELU
Located at 1802 Orosa St., Malate, Manila
Chelu, together with O Bar and Bed Bar, pioneered the gay club scene in Malate, making Malate the Capital of Gay Clubbing! Since O Bar left Malate and moved to Ortigas, many felt like it was already the downfall of gay clubbing in Malate. The Malate that used to be lively and loud and colorful suddenly became dull. But Chelu never stopped dreaming big! It continued to host street parties and events in Malate and yes, Chelu survived and is still standing proud on its original home in Malate, and that is what we’re proud of Chelu! It started in a 2-floor area, it was not too spacious and they did not have door charge so basically anyone could get in, but later on they followed the trend and set their own door charge which is just but fair. As their “parokyanos” grow bigger, Chelu decided to have a makeover and now, the new Chelu is bigger, better, and bolder! It now has a classy facade and interior! Club goers here are from class A, B, C so you might wanna put on some decent party clothes and bring in at least 1,000 bucks! If you have a thing for foreign gays then there is a lot in the area particularly in Chelu. Like all the other clubs, there’s always a long queue at the rest room so you have to be very patient with that! The staff here are the most friendly and approachable, some of them belong to the original staff when Chelu just started, so you can say there is a good management-employee relationship here. Overall, Chelu is ideal because of the location itself, if you get tired of dancing or listening to the loud music inside, you can go out for awhile with your date or whoever, you can take a walk along the well-lighted streets of Malate or maybe you can just sit down on the sidewalk and have a small talk before going back inside the club. This vicinity is just romantic!
Indeed the Gay Clubbing scene in Manila has evolved dramatically through the years, and it will continue to evolve for as long as there are people who are willing to embrace changes and challenges. For now, let us all enjoy what these clubs has to offer. The party continues from dusk till dawn!
In light of this, we would also like to acknowledge the contributions of BED BAR to the gay clubbing scene. BED is also one of the pioneers in Malate but after years of providing fun and entertainment to Manila’s gay crowd, it has finally bid farewell! Well, some good things never really last!
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