One of the Oldest Gay Bars in Las Vegas Closes

LGBT-friendly dive bar Bastille on 3rd, one of the oldest gay bars in Las Vegas, closed on Sunday. The Arts District bar, which went through a renovation in 2015 and converted to Bastille on 3rd from Snick’s Place, originally opened in 1976.

Four months ago, Lance Johns of Atomic Liquors fame purchased the Bastille along with three other businesses on Third Street for $1.35 million, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. He tells the paper he plans to open four new food-and-beverage businesses in the spaces with the first opening by the end of the year. One space is rumored to become an Atomic Liquors brewery.

Johns, who reopened Atomic Liquors six years ago in Downtown Las Vegas, says one of the new outlets is a personal project, and none of the new locations plan to be exclusively LGBT.

Of note, LGBT-owned Mexican restaurant Mingo Kitchen & Lounge from Mingo Collaso closed last week in the Arts District.

• Mexican Restaurant Abruptly Closes in the Arts District [ELV]

• The Best Gay-Friendly Bars and Nightclubs in Las Vegas [ELV]