801 Bourbon Bar

About this place 801 Bourbon Bar

801 Bourbon Bar occupies the ground floor of a corner building at the intersection of Duval and Petronia streets, with a second-floor balcony that hangs over Duval and has served as one of the great vantage points in American gay nightlife for decades. The drag shows at 801 are the best-known on the island — they run nightly, they feature Key West's established resident performers, and they are calibrated for the large mixed crowd of locals and tourists that Duval Street's location attracts. The format is the classic American drag bar show: audience interaction, lip sync to recognisable material, comedy, and the consistent cultivation of the bar's particular atmosphere of cheerful excess. The street-facing balcony makes 801 as much a spectator sport as a bar — watching the parade of Duval Street from the balcony with a drink in hand is one of Key West's defining experiences. The adjacent 801 Cabaret and the connected Bourbon Street Pub complex mean that the 801 address can absorb a very large crowd while maintaining multiple distinct social zones. For first-time visitors to Key West, 801 Duval is the obligatory start to any gay evening.