Lighten up: Loafers, a new gay cocktail bar, set to open on Court Street

Loafers, a gay bar set to open in Carroll Gardens on Oct. 23, takes its name from a midcentury insult lodged against gay men: “light in the loafers.” 

The bar has flipped the phrase on its head, celebrating local queer history and communities with a cozy vintage vibe and open arms.

When owner Brendan Donohoe moved to Brooklyn from Dublin five years ago, he was taken with the borough’s oft-hidden queer history. In first half of the 20th century, gay artists and visitors found safety and community in Coney Island; sailors and queer women took on jobs and relationships at shipyards in Red Hook and the Brooklyn Navy Yard; Brooklyn Heights became a hotspot of gay bars, artists’ communes, and cruising on the Brooklyn Heights Promenade. 

But after World War II, attitudes changed and became more hostile. The thriving gay community in Brooklyn was quieted, the history unacknowledged. 

“That kind of brought me to say, let’s get a gay bar that has a nod to the 1940s, that is kind of vibrant, comfortable, a little bit intimate … and a nod to a period of time before McCarthyism in the late 50s, that it kind of was a little bit more footloose and free to be queer,” Donohoe said.  

He and the small Loafers team found a “beautiful” space with large glass windows at 517 Court St., on the corner of 9th Street. The bar has been decked out in vintage splendor: the walls are painted a dark green, with a mural showing couples dancing and embracing behind the bar. The furniture and barstools are velvet, and pink vintage-inspired lampshades by Ace of Shades cover the hanging lights over the wooden bar. 

Donohoe brought the history he was so inspired by right into the bar, too. With the help of some local historians, he got some archival black-and-white photographs to hang on the walls: pictures of a couple posing on the beach, men in suits sharing a kiss, and a group of women dressed in coveralls and hardhats. 

The decor is intended to bring people back to the time period Loafers is inspired by, Donohoe said, and to serve as a conversation starter for people settling in with a date. 

“Attention to detail is important,” he said. 

Donohoe, a partner at Ginger’s Bar and Mary’s Bar Brooklyn, wanted Loafers to offer something different from some other gay bars in the borough. 

“There’s not that many gay bars that are just intimate spaces for you to go on a first date with someone, or bring the parents of your partner,” he said. “But there’s a lot of them when it comes to the heteronormative world … we don’t have many gay spaces that are a different kind of vibrancy other than a dive bar or a club.” 

As for the cocktails, they’ve kept it simple. Donohoe said — a fairly extensive wine list and “classic cocktails” inspired by the 40s. 

A classic Negroni, for example, has been replaced by a white Negroni, swapping out Campari and vermouth for lighter ingredients, while the gin and tonic is crafted with tonic syrup. Some drinks push the boundaries even further, like a spicy pepperoncini martini or a strawberry tequila mocktail.

Cremini’s restaurant across the street will provide snacks like sandwiches, meats and cheeses — not enough for dinner, but enough to accompany a few drinks.

Loafers will host live music every Friday with a DJ instructed to stay close to jazz and swing influences to maintain the 1940s element — plus karaoke with a piano player and a vocalist every Thursday. Events will grow and change as the bar settles in, Donohoe said. 

After a successful soft opening last week, Loafers will celebrate its grand opening on Oct. 23 at 7 p.m. After that, the bar will open at 5 p.m. each night, seven nights a week. 

“We hope that people come find us, and feel that we’ve really added to the neighborhood, that we’re doing something unique,” Donohoe said. “And that they come conscientious that it is a queer space, and we have a code of conduct, and there’s an expectation that you walk in here, you’ll be on good behavior, because if you don’t, we’ll be asking you to leave.”