Part of the Gay Chicago Guide — bars, events & things to do.
Chicago, Illinois
A long-running Latino drag bar in Little Village.
Operating in Little Village since the early 1980s, La Cueva is widely recognized as the oldest Latino drag bar in the country. The club runs two drag shows per night, Thursday through Sunday, with trans Latina performers lip-syncing to Mexican and Latin pop icons like Juan Gabriel and Lupita D'Alessio. The crowd is a genuine mix — gay Latino men, lesbian couples, trans women, and straight Mexican couples all share the dance floor under the disco ball. The bar grew out of a drag show created by Ecuadorian-born performer Ketty Teanga, who convinced a local bar owner to move her popular show into La Cueva, where it became a neighborhood institution. There's no English sign out front; this is a community spot that's earned its place over four decades.
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