We interviewed bar manager Alan Oen (in lieu of owner Darrel Zakreski) about what the Texas Lounge offers the community and what changes they’ve seen in the community over the past 2 years.

“For Beswick House we do an AIDS Calgary food drive for Christmas time, and we did the Pride day [fundraiser] - that was for Beswick House as well. …You know, it’s funny because you don’t have to worry about fitting in. Everybody kinda gets along with everybody down here. I find with a lot of the bars it becomes so ‘cliquey’ if you’re not wearing a certain kind of trendy outfit or you don’t look a certain way. You don’t really fit in with some of the trendier bars, whereas down here you can fit in with pretty much everybody. It’s quieter than a lot of the other bigger clubs, so you can actually sit down and have a conversation with somebody, and get to know somebody without yelling. …It’s a little bit more sociable, like I can be behind that bar and I can tell you every single person’s name that’s around the bar. And if somebody comes in and they’re new, I’ll [introduce them to everyone]. It starts them off and it gives them a little bit of an edge because maybe in some of the other bigger bars, they don’t have the time to necessarily do that. …There are always new faces, and there are so many regulars too.”

“The biggest thing is that we’re doing fundraisers down here. …We are limited with what we can do…Beswick is such a dear charity to me. It shows the community that we’re giving back. We’re very lucky in that a lot of the clientele down here are very generous when it comes to charity. We have people constantly donating whatever they can. This [fundraiser before last] I just happened to mention that [Beswick House] needed some kind of a ghetto blaster, or something for music, and I didn’t even say it to the customer. The customer went and bought a brand new ghetto blaster for them and donated it. Didn’t want people to know who donated it or anything. …I’m very lucky, I’ve got a lot of loyal customers but it’s because I’ve been here a long time, and even before I worked here this was always my favorite place to come to.”

“That’s the one thing that I’ve noticed in the community, it’s changed a lot, there really is no such thing anymore as a gay bar. Yeah, the majority of our customers are gay, but there’s so many more options and it’s so much more open than it used to be.”

The Texas Lounge celebrated their 17th anniversary this February.
Texas Lounge
308 17th Avenue SW
(403) 229-0911

Classification: Lounge
Typical Crowd: Mostly gay, some bi-curious/lesbian.
Typical Age Range: 18-75
Established: 1988
Size: ~700 sq. ft.
Floors: 1 (basement)
Approx. Capacity: 49
Consumables: Alcoholic beverages, Snack Food Available
Entertainment: Juke Box, Movie Nights, Karaoke
Activities: VLTs, Conversation.