District Eagle: Exclusive First Look Inside D.C.’s Newest Gay Bar

metroweekly.com:

Sometimes the answer is right in front of you if you just know where to look.Case in point: As you walk down the north side of U Street in Northwest D.C., the space that houses D.C.’s newest gay bar features a small, unassuming storefront — blink, and you’ll miss it.

A “Lucky Pollo Peruvian Chicken” logo consisting of LED lights, with a cartoon chicken wearing a leather cap and boots, serves as an “Easter egg” to those in the know — the rare external clue that more than what meets the eye lies beneath the exterior of the takeout chicken eatery.Once inside the restaurant, which, despite being under construction, is already equipped with an ATM and three tablets mounted to the wall, and where late-night revelers will eventually place their orders, your eyes inevitably drift to the right, almost by instinct, as you survey the space.

Scanning over the bright yellow and white walls and beyond the main service counter, you’ll notice a mid-20th century candy vending machine, a row of candy bars in its display windows.

A small note attached to the front of the machine reads, “Out of Order.”But it is this vintage machine that is the starting point for your journey.Grab hold of any of the machine’s vending levers, and give a tug.