Part of the Gay Des Moines Guide — bars, events & things to do.
Des Moines, Iowa
Des Moines' rowdy drag and nightlife bar in the East Village
The Blazing Saddle is Iowa's oldest gay bar, opened in October 1983 by Bob "Mongo" Eikleberry in what was then a rough corner of Des Moines' East Village. More than forty years on, it's the kind of room where leather daddies, lesbians, cowboys, drag queens, and queer elders who remember a pre-Pride Des Moines all share the same bar — the unofficial "gay Cheers" of the city, and the subject of the documentary series The Last American Gay Bar. It earns the institution status: Capital City Pride traces its origins to conversations on these barstools, and the bar still runs drag and Latin nights across the back half of the week. The house motto — "always a double, never a cover" — tells you most of what you need to know about the vibe: stiff pours, no pretense, no door charge, and a welcome that's held the line for Des Moines' queer community for four decades.
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