“When we were opening the restaurant,” says Mikey Torres, the general manager of Taqueria del Barrio, “we realized we had five employees who are gay. Also, our block is very gay-friendly as well.” Next door is Hank’s Cocktail Bar, owned by star D.C. chef Jamie Leeds. Across the street, new critical darling Himitsu, co-owned by Carlie Steiner.
Increasingly, restaurants are stepping up to serve Petworth’s significantly gay population. Hank’s Cocktail Bar recently launched a monthly Ladies Tea — the next one is this Saturday, June 17, from 3 to 5 p.m. And Taqueria, the latest Mexican eatery from the DC Empanadas crew, is planning to launch a monthly Saturday drag brunch, as well as a bi-weekly gay-themed party.
This Sunday, June 18, Taqueria kicks off the first annual Petworth Pride Celebration. Intended as a family-friendly block party, Taqueria and two other restaurants in the 800 block of Upshur, Hank’s and Petworth Citizen, will serve specially priced special cocktails and small bites for the day. Each restaurant will donate proceeds from the day’s sales to LGBTQ-focused charities: The Point Foundation (Taqueria), Casa Ruby (Hank’s) and SMYAL (Petworth).
“We wanted to do something that reflected and honored Petworth, but was still in celebration of pride month,” says Torres. “It’s a great little community. I love coming to work here every day and being a part of it.”
The resident of Oxon Hill, Md., then adds, “Having grown up in the area, and worked in a lot of different D.C. neighborhoods, this is the first one that feels, to me, like a family neighborhood, where everybody knows each other.” –Doug Rule
Petworth Pride Celebration runs from 3 to 7 p.m. and includes Taqueria del Barrio (821 Upshur St. NW, 202-723-0200, taqueriadelbarrio.com), Hank’s Cocktail Bar (819 Upshur St. NW, 202-290-1808, hankscocktailbar.com), and Petworth Citizen (829 Upshur St. NW, 202-722-2939, petworthcitizen.com).
WorldPride participants share why Pride still matters, what issues drive them, and why visibility remains vital in today’s political climate.
By André Hereford, Ryan Leeds, and John Riley
June 21, 2025
WorldPride DC on Sunday, June 8, 2025 - Photo: Randy Shulman / Metro Weekly
Interviewed on Saturday and Sunday, June 7 and 8, 2025, at the WorldPride Street Festival, Parade, and March for Freedom.
Nic Ashe
Los Angeles, Ca.
Queer, He/Him
Why did you come to WorldPride?
I've been following WorldPride through the lens of Black queerness, namely with a focus on Christianity and religion. Early in my life, when I think about the first times that I was learning that queer may be a pejorative or that being gay was "not good," it was through my church upbringing. So I was very curious to find if there were examples in 2025 of those two oxymoronic opposing forces existing in harmony.
In one of the stranger crime sprees of Pride Month, a masked man on an electric unicycle is reportedly stealing Pride flags across Longmont, Colorado.
Since Memorial Day weekend -- just ahead of Pride Month -- the man has vandalized homes by bending flagpoles and tearing down flags.
Sheryl Colaur, one of the victims, told the Longmont Daily Times-Call that at least 10 -- and possibly as many as 15 -- of her neighbors in Longmont's Harvest Junction Village neighborhood have had their Pride flags stolen, allegedly by the same man.
An unknown vandal smashed the plexiglass sign outside Washington Plaza Baptist Church in Reston, Virginia, sometime before Sunday, June 15, targeting a message that read "God is Love. Love is Love. Celebrate Pride."
A member of the congregation was the first to notice the shattered singn and missing letters.
"Whatever was used to break the plexiglass on the sign was right over the word pride," Michelle Nickens, pastor of Washington Plaza Baptist Church, told the Reston edition of local news site Patch. "They actually damaged it so that the little track that the letters slid into was damaged. We could not even put the letters back up."
These are challenging times for news organizations. And yet it’s crucial we stay active and provide vital resources and information to both our local readers and the world. So won’t you please take a moment and consider supporting Metro Weekly with a membership? For as little as $5 a month, you can help ensure Metro Weekly magazine and MetroWeekly.com remain free, viable resources as we provide the best, most diverse, culturally-resonant LGBTQ coverage in both the D.C. region and around the world. Memberships come with exclusive perks and discounts, your own personal digital delivery of each week’s magazine (and an archive), access to our Member's Lounge when it launches this fall, and exclusive members-only items like Metro Weekly Membership Mugs and Tote Bags! Check out all our membership levels here and please join us today!
You must be logged in to post a comment.