Years in the making, The Neighbor’s offers the LGBTQ+ community a long-awaited bar to catch up

The day after the soft opening of The Neighbor’s in downtown Santa Cruz, the bar’s new owner, Frankie Farr, sat alone in a spacious booth the color of red velvet cake.

“I don’t know what I’m feeling right now,” Farr (who uses they/them pronouns) said in a haze of exhaustion and relief. The evening before, Santa Cruz Mayor Fred Keeley and City Councilwoman Sonja Brunner participated in a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the business nestled between the Asti and the Oceanview Card Room on Lower Pacific Avenue. The two city officials did their official business in the presence of a crowd of at least 100 people waiting to be the first to visit Santa Cruz’s newest and now only LGBTQ+-oriented watering hole.

Before the night was over, more than 200 people had come to Neighbor’s, a beautifully unfinished space reminiscent of an Irish pub in San Francisco’s Richmond neighborhood. The party was the culmination of seven years of planning and fundraising on Farr’s part, which included researching gay bars in other cities, all with the goal of creating a place that could quickly become the Santa Cruz County’s main gathering place for the queer community.

I spoke to several people who were part of the opening night crowd and heard a recurring theme: Although people were grateful to other clubs and taverns in the area for hosting occasional supportive events to homosexuals, it was a joy to have a place where the LGBTQ community could live. The place quickly reached capacity, with dozens of people waiting patiently on the sidewalk in a line all the way to Laurel Street. Today, The Neighbor’s is little more than a cozy bar, but he hopes to soon open a kitchen serving a small menu including pancakes and poutine, reflecting Farr’s family and upbringing in Buffalo, New York. It’s now open until 11 p.m., but Farr plans to push it back to midnight soon.

The Neighbor’s aspires to be a sort of LGBTQ community center, welcoming those 18 and over with various shows and events, including a “Holigay Market” on Saturdays from noon to 3 p.m., with giveaways, performers and other vendors, right after the downtown holiday parade – and will continue the following two Saturdays, December 14 and 21. Farr said the staff now numbers nine, but they post a “help wanted” sign.

In the meantime, Farr said they were pleased with the huge support The Neighbor’s received on its opening night. “Some people promised me they would be here every day,” they said. “I recognized a handful of people last night, and the rest… well, I have no idea.”

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