Party Expert

I recently headed to Talbott Street (2145 N. Talbott; 317-931-1343; www.talbottstreet.com) with friends Stephanie and Bryan after some pre-drinking, myspacing and sushi. Gabriel and Dresden, a techno/house DJ duo, tore down the walls; their two-hour mix had clubbers jumping, screaming and sweating in unison.

But that wasn’t the only thing to appreciate at Talbott. I was in awe of all the gorgeous women at the club. Everywhere I turned there was a sexy brunette in mid laugh or a skinny blonde bringing a glass to her lips and soon I forgot all about the bumping concert.

I always thought Talbott Street was a gay bar, but after being introduced to one of the owners in the upstairs VIP section, I was corrected.

“It’s a gay-friendly straight bar, or a straight-friendly gay bar,” he explained.

Judging by the photos of half-naked men in the lobby and the drag show taking place on the club’s side stage, I would guess Talbott is the latter of the two.

Either way, the club had an assortment of beauties that would make the most loyal card carrying member of the gay elite have second thoughts. I had to figure out this untapped resource. Are gay bars the new best place to find hot girls?

Let’s examine the evidence:

Style: Thanks to shows like Bravo’s Queer Eye and NBC’s Will & Grace, America has acquired an image of the gay man as all-knowing, all-powerful, high-fashion guru. If a girl is going clubbing with her homo homie she is surely not wearing last season’s attire. Expect her to be decked in her hottest outfit, her hair perfectly sculpted and her face looking flawless. It’s not so much that she thinks she’ll meet her husband. She just knows gays are critical when it comes to wardrobe and the last thing she wants is a warehouse full of guys shunning her.

No Barriers: It’s hard to approach women at most bars because so many ladies put up walls. They go clubbing knowing and expecting to be hit on. So, before a guy even says, “Hello,” women have already internally denied all his pickup lines and mapped the best exit routes. At a gay bar, a woman is much more uninhibited. She doesn’t have to worry about every guy in the room trying to get down her pants. So, she may have an extra drink or two, she may dance on boxes and when you approach to say hello she may just say hi back.

Stimulation: Ever used the phrase “This is what hell must be like”? It’s what every straight girl is thinking during last call at a gay bar as she scans the room for her friends and realizes she’s in a sea of well-manicured, usually shirtless, unavailable men. If a guy strikes at the right time it won’t matter if he’s Brad Pitt or Bill Gates, she’ll make out with him just for the pure satisfaction of finding a straight guy when all looked hopeless. By 2 a.m. girls have been visually stimulated beyond capacity by men they can’t have and are ready to pop. Maybe you’ll get lucky and she’ll pop with you; maybe that’s why they call it a “straight-friendly” gay bar. Good luck.