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(JBisMe is an occasional contributor to Re/Creating Tampa. Last week she took her visiting-from-out-of-town friend Mikey on a whirlwind tour of some Tampa-area gay bars.)

I was appalled recently to realize that I’d lived in Tampa for three years and still had never visited any of the gay clubs (with the exception of one visit to the Azalea Lounge a couple of years back, before it became the Chelsea). A three-day visit from my young friend, Mikey, provided the perfect opportunity to check out “the scene.” Mikey was the perfect partner in crime: As a journalist-in-training, he has a mind trained to notice the details; as a bartender, he knows his booze; and as an avid frequenter of his own city’s “fruit loop,” he has a solid basis for comparison.

Thursday

At the suggestion of a friend, ES, who accompanied us, we began our evening at the Ybor City Social Club (1909 N 15th St., Tampa, FL 33605). We arrived at around 11:30pm. There was a $4 cover, but the experience was well worth it. I thought the Social Club (”the Social”) was a lot of fun – it’s basically just one big room, but it’s on the second floor and has big windows along the sides that look out to the street below. The dance space is small, but somehow it manages to seem friendly and inviting. The music is fun to dance to, and it isn’t too loud that it hurts your ears. The room is well-lit enough that you can see the people around you, and I thought the crowd was very interesting and varied. There were gay men and lesbians and heteros and all manner in-between (though mostly gay men). Ages varied too, from mostly pretty young to a few 40s and beyond sprinkled here and there. The bartenders were very sweet and attentive, and the mixed drinks were strong. There was a drag show after we’d been there for maybe an hour, and it was fun and high energy. So, I thought the Social was a solidly good experience all around. Mikey agreed, and gave it thumbs-up.

Next we went to the Castle (2004 N 16th St., Tampa, FL 33605) which isn’t, strictly speaking a gay bar, but which has been described to me as “gay-friendly” on Thursday nights. According to their website, Thursday night is “Pop n’ Wave” night, and while they don’t say anything about a “gay-friendly” policy, they do say to expect “scenesters” and “tattoos.” They played some good tunes for dancing, and Mikey liked it that there are so many different rooms (and bars!) to go to. Mikey also noted that it’s good that there’s a quiet, mellow downstairs bar where you can go if the noise upstairs gets to you. Where he lives (Buffalo, NY), there is no smoking inside bars. So most of the bars he goes to have outside patios where people can get away for a few minutes and chat, smoke, escape the noise, etc. The downstairs bar at the Castle provides this sort of environment as well (although you can’t smoke there).

Our next stop was G. Bar (1401 E 7th Ave., Tampa, FL 33605), but we hardly stayed there at all. The dance floor looked mostly empty, and we were winding down for the night. We left before I could even form an impression of it, and headed for home.

Friday

On Friday night, we started at the bar at Streetcar Charlie’s (1811 N 15th St., Tampa, FL 33605) for a few drinks with some friends. We got there at about 10:30pm. It was very nice – quiet, not too crowded but enough people so that it feels lively. The bartenders were friendly. It seemed like a perfectly nice place to get a drink if you want to be around people but don’t want to be in a dance club. I think the gender breakdown was pretty much a lot of men, a small handful of women.

Next, we hit the Social again. This night, there was no cover and it was empty inside. I’m not sure if we went at the wrong time or on the wrong night, but there was hardly anyone there. We got one drink, sat for a few minutes, and then left. Some of my companions wanted to check out the downstairs area (which may or may not have been a leather bar?), but the bouncer told us that there were “no women allowed” down there. So I couldn’t go, but some of the others did and they said that all they saw down there was a drag queen. I felt confused. We left.

The Honeypot (1507 E 7th Ave., Tampa, FL 33605) was our next (and it turned out last) destination of the evening. There was a $5 cover charge. It was very loud, crowded, and dark inside. There were long lines at the bar, there were scantily-clad young men dancing on stages on the dance floor, there was a disco ball, there was loud music… It definitely didn’t seem as laid-back and friendly a club as the Social had been on Thursday night, but it was very energetic and there was a lot of stuff to look at. It was a very young crowd – mostly men in their early 20s I would guess. Many of them were alarmingly skinny, actually. I wanted to tell them to eat more. By that time I was drinking only water so I can’t tell you if the drinks were any good. Mikey liked the music, though, and we danced for a while. It was a lot of fun, and there are a lot of very incriminating photographs!

After the Honeypot, we headed home. All in all, Mikey said he liked Tampa’s gay club/bar scene, or at least the parts of it that he saw. My personal favorite was the Social on Thursday night. I liked the Honeypot, but the energy there was too frenetic for my weary ass. And I still have to make it to G. Bar eventually… Any other suggestions?