The Candy Bar
A lesbian bar with a door you could walk in
The Candy Bar opened in 1996 as the first dedicated lesbian bar to achieve genuine mainstream visibility in central London. Before it, lesbian social spaces in Soho tended to be one-night club nights or hidden floors above pubs. The Candy Bar changed that: a permanent address on Carlisle Street, open every night, welcoming anyone who wanted to come. Amy Winehouse was a regular in her Soho years.
It closed in 2014, another casualty of Soho’s attrition. The Gateways Club in Chelsea (1931–85) was the great predecessor – the longest-running lesbian venue in Britain – but the Candy Bar was what a visible lesbian bar looked like in the satellite-television era. Before it, there were women’s nights, if you knew where to look. The Candy Bar had a door. You could walk in.