Rubyfruit Bar & Grill, at 531 Hudson St., has been open 14 years. As its clientelle have aged and settled down, they’ve stopped going out.
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By Dustin Fitzharris
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
In the mid 1980s, Debra Fierro was on a dinner date at a cozy restaurant called the Village Green. She turned to her date and said, “Someday I’m going to own this place.”
And she did. In 1994, Fierro opened Rubyfruit Bar & Grill, which became a cherished lesbian mainstay located at 531 Hudson Street—the exact space of the Village Green. But today, Fierro’s dream is in jeopardy.
Days before this year’s Gay Pride celebration June 29, Fierro gathered her loyal customers and staff to announce that the bar would probably close due to the double whammy of skyrocketing rent (from $6,500 a month in 1994 to $11,000 in 2008) and dwindling customers (her aging lesbian clientele no longer bar hopped, and the rest of the community no longer sought out gay-only establishments).
“Volume has been down substantially, and I didn’t think I was going to make it through the summer paying all the bills,” Fierro told The Blade. “Instead of getting thrown out, I wanted to go out with dignity.”
But the “Closed for Business” sign hasn’t gone up yet. And it might not.
After news of the impending closure spread, various media outlets picked up the story, reporting the bar was definitely shuttering. Immediately, offers poured in to buy the space. The New York Post reported Armin Amiri, owner of Socialista, a Cuban lounge, was one of the interested parties.
Along with the suitors, Fierro was also inundated with phone calls begging her to stay. Now she’s looking into the situation more closely to see whether she “can pull a rabbit out of a hat and keep it [the bar] going.”
To help achieve her goal, Fierro is hoping that more people will stop in for an evening out—even if it’s just occasionally. She knows, however, that nighlife’s longer a priority for her clientele.
“Luckily, [since the opening] many of my customers have settled down with partners, have babies and homes,” Fierro said. “But that means they don’t need to go to a bar to cruise women.”
Fierro pointed to another factor contributing to shrinking customer base: Today’s lesbians feel more comfortable being openly gay in any establishment. Fourteen years ago, that was another story.
“When I opened, there were still women who were uncomfortable being out in public restaurants,” Fierro said. “This was really the only place where women could go and hold hands and feed each other. Now it’s pretty accepted all over—the lesbian chic kind of thing has evolved. It’s great that our mission has been accomplished, but on the other hand, it’s always good to have your hub.”
The community is just as responsible as Fierro for creating that hub. Fierro didn’t have a lot of money when she started Rubyfruit, so she sold her Jeep to buy furniture for the bar. Then people from all over helped put the place together.
“All the dykes came to put the nails in, paint, and build tables,” Fierro said. “It really was like, it takes a village.”
From its grand opening, Rubyfruit was a hit. Although there were other lesbian bars, according to Fierro, Rubyfruit was and still is different from all the others.
“We do not discriminate in any way—looks, finances or economics,” Fierro said. “Whoever you are, you will feel comfortable here.”
The bar, an 1827 carriage house, is named after Rita Mae Brown’s 1973 novel, “Rubyfruit Jungle.” The term is slang for female genitalia.
Over the years the bar has seen a lot of famous faces. Tennis champion Martina Navratilova held her retirement party there, and Liza Minnelli, Billie Jean King and author Patricia Cornwell, who referenced the bar in one of her novels, have also dropped by. Actress Tammy Lynn Michaels, Melissa Etheridge’s partner, was discovered by a talent scout while working at the bar. Fierro said one of her most memorable experiences during the past 14 years was Etheridge stopping in and singing.
Growing up in Paterson, N.J., in a family of six brothers and sisters, Fierro, 52, always wanted to own a restaurant. In college, she majored in English and experienced New York City for the first time when she and a friend visited the Duchess, a former lesbian bar in the West Village (now the Garage Restaurant and Café).
“We were scared at first,” Fierro said. “We had never seen women dressed as men, but we loved it. We were free, liberated, and we became regulars.”
If Rubyfruit does have to fold, Fierro has no plans for her next chapter since the bar was always her master plan.
“What I will miss the most is coming in with my cup of coffee in the morning before anyone gets here and turning the lights on,” Fierro said. “It is my joy to just come in and soak up the energy.”
After 14 years of memories, it’s a story from a Christmas years ago that exemplifies what the bar is all about to Fierro. A woman came in after walking the cold streets looking for any place that was open. She saw the lights on in Rubyfruit and came in. Since that night, that woman has shared with Fierro that she was so moved by her visit that she wept after leaving because she was had felt so comforted and welcomed.
“Something like that completes me,” Fierro said. “Whether we were busy or slow, we were always here. I don’t have any regrets. I just hope we can stay here and be forever. This is my baby—and my baby is getting old.”
Rubyfruit Bar & Grill, 531 Hudson St., 2 p.m.–4 a.m., Mon.–Sat., Sunday brunch is served beginning at noon, rubyfruitny.com, 212-929-3343.
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