The clientele was fun, the bartenders were friendly and the drinks were strong. There was Rob Webb, Isaac Bryant, Patrick Smith - all gone now - who joined me bellying up to the bar on a regular basis we kicked up our heels and always had a hoot. Typically, waiters are thirsty and have cash, so we’d often hightail it to Patrick’s to let off steam and drink (heavily). Patrick’s was the tastefully-appointed, go-to watering hole for me and several of my co-workers after we finished our shifts waiting tables at (the then newly-opened) Dakota’s. For me in the mid-1980s that place was Patrick’s, a cheeky piano bar located on Oak Lawn Avenue at Brown Street, where Fast Signs now sits. Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name. We asked various people from across the community to reminisce on what is no longer physically present anymore, but which lingers in the memory. Many have left their marks on the folks here who survived them. We have had our cultural centers - baths, bookstores, bars… restaurants, coffee shops and galleries … businesses, fundraisers and groups … and, of course, people, have come… and gone (and sometimes stayed). Dallas’ gay community, which Dallas Voice has been privileged to serve and document for 35 years this week, has changed a lot over its lifespan. And as a result, parts of it die off - whether people or places or things. RSVP An oral history of the gayborhood of the pastĪ ny thriving community is an organic thing.
