Best Dance Club: Pearl Bar
We admit, by the strictest of definitions Pearl Bar probably isn’t exactly a dance club, with the qualifiers one might list when voting for the Numbers and Barbarellas around town. But any time we’ve ever been to the Washington Avenue LGBTQ bar “that specializes in lesbians” (as self-described), the place has been bumping banger after banger. The club’s dancefloor is routinely packed on weekends, thanks to touring music acts and trusted DJs who know and spin the music that creates fun times, the kind that make you wanna leave Pearl with an “I Licked It So It’s Mine” T-shirt to later wear proudly.
Why Pearl Bar isn’t exactly a dance club may have to do with the broad swath of programming it affords its faithful. Everything from “Queen Karaoke” to “Sapphic Singles” mixers to steak nights to drag shows and pilates classes, there’s a lot going on here; but many if not all of those offerings include music. It just seems like there’s always an opportunity to dance at Pearl Bar, a safe space for Houston’s queer community and its allies to come together to celebrate life. Who wouldn’t want to joyfully dance to that?
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This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2025.