Flaming Saddles

Flaming Saddles occupies a unique niche in West Hollywood's bar landscape: the country-western gay bar, with line dancing lessons on weeknights, a mechanical bull, country and western music on the sound system, and a crowd that is having significantly more fun than the bars on either side. The venue's western aesthetic — wood panelling, cowboy imagery, the general sense that you have ended up at a gay honky-tonk somewhere between Nashville and WeHo — provides a counterpoint to the polished Euro-dance atmosphere of most Santa Monica Blvd clubs. The staff are enthusiastically engaged with the theme in a way that is infectious rather than corny: dancing alongside guests, leading line dances, and maintaining the energy throughout the evening. The bar draws a diverse crowd united by the desire to dance and have fun rather than to see or be seen. For visitors who find the more fashionable WeHo clubs intimidating or dull, Flaming Saddles is the immediate answer: approachable, loud, physical, and thoroughly entertaining. Line dancing lessons are offered early in the week for beginners.