The Neighbor's Pub, Santa Cruz

About The Neighbor's Pub

The Neighbor's is the bar Santa Cruz's LGBTQ+ community waited years for. Owner Frankie Farr spent the better part of a decade getting it open at 711 Pacific Avenue, downtown. The format is part Irish pub, part gay bar, part cafe: you can swing in for an iced coffee, stay for a locally sourced meal, or close out the night on the dance floor. The calendar keeps it busy with drag competitions, trivia, queer mixers, classes, live entertainment, and charity fundraisers. It's built as a community space first, with a share of annual profits committed back to conservation work and to local LGBTQ+ and BIPOC causes. Open to everyone 18 and up, it's downtown's dedicated queer gathering spot rather than a one-note nightclub, the kind of place you can use as a daytime hang or a Saturday night out depending on what you need.