168 York Street Cafe, New Haven

About 168 York Street Cafe

168 York Street Cafe is often called one of New England's longest-running gay bars. Its lineage runs back to The Pub Cafe, which opened on Chapel Street in the mid-1970s, burned in 1978, and moved to the York Street townhouse; it reopened under the 168 York name on Christmas Day 1993 and quickly earned the nickname "the Gay Cheers." Owner Joey Goodwin started behind the bar in 1985 and bought the building in 1992, and he runs the place with his longtime partner George Coyle, who has been part of the spot since the 1970s. Despite the "cafe" in the name, this is a bar first, though the kitchen is no afterthought: dinner Tuesday through Saturday, a well-liked Sunday brunch, and late-night personal pizzas and soft pretzels after 9 p.m., with chef Eddie Swanson having run the line for more than 25 years. Monthly drag shows and dance parties round out the calendar. With nearly five decades of continuous history, it's one of two bars, alongside Partners, holding down New Haven's queer scene.