I had so much fun here, it was my first time. I was visiting my cousin and she was showing me around and took me here.
The music was good, it was a mixture so everything was good to dance too.
The drinks are good and cheap. Â I spent about $19 on 4 drinks and they were good as far as putting in plenty of alcohol.
It was Halloween weekend so they had a costume contest, a lot of fun.
I've been to this place many times, I love it here, I like how you can come in and be yourself, like the vibe, music and the people. The service is great there really helpful if you have questions about drinks you may want to order, they don't give you a weird face like your dumb or whatever, the dance floor is big compared to other place I've been, and they always play good music :)
Review Source:I came here for the first time with a few of my friends who were visiting from LA. The vibe was ok for a monday night but this diva who was in the back of the counter looked mad, was frumpy looking, and with attitude when we mistakenly ordered a drink from him. And when the bar was about to close one of my friends was trying to finish his drink and the guy who checks for IDs just pulled it away from him while he was still drinking it - it doesn't get any more rude than that, in my opinion. I don't know if I want to give this place a second try
Review Source:To be fair, I don't really have a grasp on what the other bars in Riverside are like, but this one could definitely use some help. Â I went on karaoke night, which seemed like a fun time to go, however, for a gay bar it didn't strike me as the most welcoming of places. Â For one thing, the KJ was extremely partial to the regulars, ignoring newbies and making us wait longer. Â The other notable thing was a sign on the door of the men's bathroom, threatening to kick out any women who dared use the male bathroom... Â There was, notably, nothing on the female restroom door... Â This bar could use a little bit of schooling regarding the gender binary system. Â The women's restroom toilet was also clogged and they said it was a plumbing issue that they couldn't fix, which resulted in a nasty pile up of toilet paper. Â Other than that, the drinks and the beer were fine and the bartenders were nice.
Review Source:Everytime I would go to this bar, the tall bartender with the glasses would be a complete dick. I asked for a drink and he simply told me, "No" and refused to make my drink. Then when he finally did make my drink, he charged me twice. Please NEVER GO TO THIS BAR! It's classless, unfriendly, and unprofessional. There are plenty of other bars nearby that will give u better service and you'll still have a good time. I'm happy to say I'll never go back here again and they'll never get another dollar out of me or any of my friends. I wouldn't recommend this place to anyone.
Review Source:FABULOUS!!! This place is very cool for Friday Night awesome! Decently priced drinks! GREAT music, and friendly people! ALL OVER!!
Straight women. Please stop embarrassing the rest of us, Go there to dance and have fun, not cry over the fact you can't get a boyfriend, and constantly cock block your  token gay best friend.  please. stop it.
The people here were super nice, my sister and I came here to drink and listen to awesome music and great vibes to just dance and have fun. Â
Basically people go in get your drinks, have fun. Â Bartender was sweet to us.
I enjoyed it. Â Will probably go back if i'm ever out in Riverside again. :)
THE MUSIC WAS AMAZING!
Best bar in the IE.  Not sure where all the negative comments regarding David the owner are coming from, but he's always  very friendly and welcoming to us.  The bar is a nice refuge in an otherwise conservative area.  If you want to come when it's busy, arrive after nine.  David the bartender (not owner) is super sweet and knows how to make tons of drinks--he always has a good idea when it comes to shots.  As a former San Franciscan, hats off to Menagerie.  I've been here with straight co-workers and gay friends.  We always have a good time and everyone is always welcome.
Review Source:I used to come here all the time, until I came across, the RUDE, UNFRIENDLY, CLASSLESS, and RACIST owner: David.
Our group of 4 came early on Thur night super excited for the drag show. The tables by the wall only have 2 chairs each, so we grabbed the chairs from the other table so the 4 of us can all sit together. We all ordered drinks, and were having a fabulous time.
Then, I see this hobbit-like old man in a suit walking towards us, around 10ish (an hour before the show) and just out of the blue saying some random stuff like "This is why we only put two chairs per table. This is why...see....this is why."
He rudely comes over to our table, and without any type of "excuse me," "hello," or a "good evening," he just starts blabbering about how he's the owner of the bar, THEREFORE HE GETS TO MAKE THE RULES, and that we can't be blocking the walkway during the show.
We didn't even try to argue with him; we just all smiled and complied with him.
My problem is the fact that the owner of the bar, somebody who should be going around and saying hi to people and thanking customers for being there, talked down to us and made us feel very bad for doing something that we had NO idea we were not supposed to do.
Why did he had to make such a big deal out of us moving some chairs around? Plus, it was an hour before the show, couldn't he have told us more politely, and maybe tell us that we had to move later when the show started? Later, my friend told me when David walked past her, he gave her a very dirty look, because some parts of her body (like her feet) were still in the supposed area of the walkway we're not supposed to cover; however, he never said a word to all the people that started crowding the walkway during the show. HE SEEMED TO BE GIVING ONLY THE NON-WHITES PROBLEMS ALL NIGHT.
LATER DURING THE SHOW, NONE OF THE PERFORMERS EVEN USED THE WALKWAY WE WERE SUPPOSED TO CLEAR OUT FOR THEM TO USE.
David is obviously somebody who is clueless on how to run a business properly, and is a classless, uneducated hobo in a suit, who only serves his white customers (from what I noticed all night, he was sitting at a table with these 4 old wrinkled out white bimbos, which I assume he was trying to get into their pants all night, but failed miserably.) Too bad Menagerie isn't registered with the BBB, because it seems like some of the complaints here on YELP isn't having any effects on David and how he runs his show.
Admittedly this was my first time going to a gay bar, but as one of those filthy breeders that everyone keeps hating on, I had a great time. The music was the best I've seen so far in the IE, and they had a $5 Long Island special the night I was there.
Ironically enough, I showed up with a gay friend but seemed to be getting a lot of attention at the bar. I'll have to come back again sometime and see if this a trend.
Fabulaus. LOL. I love this neon signage as it is obviously spelled incorrectly. There is a history to the story of this sign. The original owner purchased the sign but as it was installed, it was not working, so she returned it for another one. She got replacement sign but it didn't work again. So finally after the third try, the sign works. There is just one problem, it is misspelled and she just said screw it and put it up.
I love the music videos to this place as it seems to be European inspired. The interior has some historical character to it. I came here on a Tuesday night, but it seemed to be quite dead. The bartender told me that the best night to come here was on a Thursday when Raven the drag queen is performing. Raven was on RuPaul's Drag Race and also on Drag U.
I could imagine this place being really busy during the weekends, but even with it being dead on a Tuesday night, I was content with watching music videos, drinking, and talking with the people at the bar.
I went on a SATURDAY NITE & the music was a bunch of music videos that i could have just danced to at home! lol. Â Why isnt there a real DJ on SAT & SUN where it's badly needed?
I guess i have to go on Karaoke & Drag nite then to experience the positive reviews the others are boasting about.
But for now, SATURDAY NITES are bad music & bad crowd (very few cute women as well :/ Â )
Came here on a Monday for karaoke night. Delightfully seedy atmosphere, casual crowd, up-to-date music selection, helpful bar staff. Raised stage with spotlight makes you feel like a washed-up burlesque queen. I would give it 4 stars except THEY DO NOT HAVE "EDGE OF SEVENTEEN" IN THEIR CATALOG. Seriously, what kind of clown-shoes karaoke joint doesn't have the entire Stevie Nicks catalog on tap? Oh well -- the show tunes selection was good at least.
Review Source:The best dancing for your Riverside weekday party rocking.
Who I'd take here: A date, not my guy buddies, but would bring a big group if the girls wanted to dance.
Music and Entertainment Quality: 4
This is hands down the best place to dance among the bars in downtown Riverside. The MTL and Worthingtons are deserted; Lake Alice, the crowd is too old; the Mission Inn is too crowded. This is the place if your girl/guy wants to dance, and they're playing music you can hip hop dance too.
+1 best dancing in that area.
Drink Quality: 4
This place is your standard full bar. I was impressed by how cheap their drinks were, in comparison to the MTL and the Mission Inn. Similar prices to Worthingtons, which is next door.
+1 cheap prices.
Location, Cleanliness and Ambiance: 4
This place is located downtown in what I'd consider the 'bar area'--it's located on a street with 4 other bars. The bathrooms are pretty dive-y. Keep an eye out for the signs on the bathroom doors, I thought it was funny.
+1 in the R'side bar area.
How I rate: I have 3 categories, and each category starts at 3 points. For each item where I am impressed, they get 1 point; disappointed, lose one point.
Overall rating: round(average(ratings)) = round(4) = 4
All i can say is wow!
This place is not my #1 choice at all.i mean they just let anybody in.....including homeless people! Straight up walked in and saw some dude drinking outta peoples left over glasses. C'mon  man!
Well besides that i always say i'm never going back but end up there because drinks r way cheaper than Worthington's. They have a nice patio(but ya'll need to get better fans its hot out there!) and r always packed on a friday and saturday night. Like to go there on Artwalk nights because u can always find fun and friendly people drinking there.
This bar had the absolute worst service I've ever encountered at a bar. Â I had to wait about 10 minutes to get a drink when it wasn't crowded and about 20 minutes per drink as it got more crowded. I don't know why the bartenders were working so slowly, but they were constantly joking, talking and taking shots amongst themselves, which made it really infuriating to wait those 20 minutes. Â I will NEVER come here again.
Review Source:oh, menagerie...
what can i say about a place that i have frequented so many times in the past 3 years? i love this bar so much, and i honestly have nothing bad to say about it.
heres the low down- gay-straight friendly bar where pretty much everyone drinks in harmony with one another. the music is pop and danceable, there is karaoke on monday nights (which is amazing), uber-fun drag show on thursday hosted by the fabulous miss raven, the beers are always $2-3 on any given night, the mixed drinks are strong and well priced, the patio offers plenty of seating, and usually everyone is friendly and approachable.
i guess you could say i am kind of biased about this bar because i am a regular, but i pretty much always have a good time here.
if i had to complain about something, the ladies room is only made for 1 person, and when it gets crowded in there, usually you have to wait a while to pee. just go next door to the less-than-stellar worthingtons and use their bathroom. much faster than waiting.
all in all, i love menagerie and if anyone tells you otherwise, they are just bitter and dont know what they are talking about. this bar is true riverside.
Interesting story on how I found this place.
I was new in town for awhile and was sitting in Lake Alice getting tired of paying a bunch for drinks and while I was outside smoking I glanced across the street and saw The Menagerie.
I gulped down my drink and stumbled across the street.. not knowing what who or what A Menagerie was.
I walked inside and didn't immediately notice that it was a gay bar.
They had real cheap drinks (I think maybe $1 or $2 drafts and wells) so I got RIGHT hammered.
I did notice that there were alot of boytoys walking around but that didn't  bother me.
I went outside to have a cigarette and had a drunken dwell moment, and it dawned on me... It is a gay bar!
5 years later I still come back, and have made lifelong friends there and I always have a good time. I even met a girl that I dated for awhile at the Menagerie so life isn't that bad. I do love to come in though and watch the so called "smart" straight guys come in to see if they can vulture up a girl that has come with her gay friends to let her guard down and not be bothered with hook ups.. a good laugh.
I love this place!
So after nearly 6 months, I made yet another visit to this establishment with a Bay Area friend in tow. What's up with the overractive fog machine? I mean sure, it makes the added rear projection screens look great with the rays of light, but beyond it, that just seems to be an eye irritant. Decent drinks, not bad really. But I have yet to see a Bay Area institution utilize such visual effects; perhaps I'm just not in the know.
oh well, as before, generally chill, and albeit cruisy that night, it's a fine place to chill with a good friend.
This is a great small Gay bar in downtown Riverside. I love my straight folk and i bring straight friends here often. Mainly because Straight bars creep me and some of my straight friends out, but wow it is 60/40 with the Straights. You will get the cool ones and the less than desirable  ones who are all paranoid that someone will hit on them, dont worry most gay guys don't go for bros and can tell by the sporty sunglasses atop your head well after the suns gone down and bad shoes that your not gay. Lots of guys go to hit on the straight girls or even lesbians. Had a guy practically siting in my lap trying to pick up on my straight friend.
On the plus side. Drinks are stiff and staff is awesome. and so are most of the patrons even some of the breeders.
I love the patio, very nice on a summer night. and where you will find a lot of characters.
Park on the street or in the structure to the side, watch out for sometimes hidden tow  a way signs in some lots.
I just went here for my friend's 21st birthday. Â It was also my first gay bar experience, so I guess I don't have much to compare it to.
Karaoke was fun and there were a bunch of older (40-65) men who were really cool and just hanging out, having a good time on the karaoke machine. Â The karaoke mistress (is that the term?) was also really nice. Â My friends and I had a great time talking to the older guys, but as the night wore on, the crowd got younger and more distant.
Now, I'm 22, so you'd think it'd be easier to fit into this crowd, but it just seemed to get more and more unfriendly. Â I got hit on a few times (which was to be expected) and was happy that no one seemed pushy about anything. Â I just preferred the place earlier in the evening when it was less crowded and the crowd was more friendly.
I'd probably go back (my buddy lives in Riverside and he seemed to enjoy himself), but it's not the sort of place that I'd go to alone. Â Then again, I don't really drink much, so I guess I wouldn't really go to a bar in the first place.
INLAND EMPIRE GAY BAR TRIVIA! Â There's not much to be said about this place but here are a couple of winners I found out while there this past weekend.
* There is a cool FABULAUS sign hanging over the stage. Â This story is unverified but cool sounding nonetheless: Â The previous owner, Ms. Lee, twice ordered the neon sign. Â Both times It came spelled incorrectly but wouldn't work. Â 3rd times a charm and the sign worked, the only problem was that it was spelled FABULAUS. Â Ms. Lee in all her glorious wisdom (I'm imaging her with a dirty martini in one hand and cigar in the other) said "f* it, we're keeping it!!!" and left it as is.
* Convo with bartender, Me "this is my 1st time here", BT: "really?", Me: "yes, I'm from San Diego". BT: "Well....yeah....San Diego is nice....there aren't very many bars in the Inland Empire. Â This place is the equivalent of winning the gold medal at the Special Olympics"...Me: "Yeah, I totally agree".
Bottom line: Â This place ranks #1 in a competition where there no such rank is possible. Â If you are thirsty for an alcoholic beverage and you are inside The Menagerie staring at the Fabulaus sign wondering WTF? then you are already a winner!
I had no idea what to expect from the Menagerie. BFF had been a few times and liked it, and so we just happened to be in Riverside, and BFF just happens to be gay...and so we went to the Menagerie.
Let's start with the positives. No cover charge! Awesome. And, on a Saturday night, hardly any line. I am not one for waiting in line to pay money. It's an interesting space...the ceiling is beautiful pressed tin, and yeah, there are large paintings of nudes. The bar is a large rectangle, and drinks are CHEAP. Yeah...5 bucks for Stoli? Oh dear me, that is a major postive!
And the negatives...although it was not busy, we waited for a good 10 minutes for a bartender to serve us. Part of the problem is that their bar seemed to be set up completely inefficiently. It is a large bar, and the bartenders had to walk around the whole thing to get bottles. Once we finally got our drinks, we were interrupted by the bouncer wanting to see our "over 21" wristbands. Repeatedly. Like every time he made his rounds. It was annoying and rude.
The music was alright, but there was no way we were going to wait for another drink...so we left. The Menagerie = 2.5 stars!
I liked the venue. It was cool the way it was constructed, but the clientele were a fun bunch. It's interesting to see the tone of each community in different regions. Every town needs a gay bar though. Ch'ello!
The music was all has-been Top 40's hits, but that didn't stop me from gettin' down with my fraaands. Later there was a drag show, which was just ridonkulous. SF drag queens I guess just take it to a whole new level, and yes, I am bragging about SF drag queens. Hmph. The drinks were pretty gross, but if you walked through the sitting area, you could walk through a hallway, which led to an outdoor bar/patio area. It was huge and pretty cool. I think one person in our group got lucky that night, but I wasn't really wanting to get lucky here. Sorry, just not feeling it so I instead just had a blast with my friends!
Madeline Lee was the former owner of The Menagerie and the founder of the Inland AIDS Project. Ms. Lee installed the first condom dispenser in Riverside NOT Â located in a gas station bathroom in The Menagerie.
The Inland AIDS Project (IAP) was established in September 1983 as a response to seeing her patrons become affected by HIV/AIDS. IAP's first small office was on University Avenue and now has three office locations in Riverside, San Bernardino and Hesperia.
Just a bit of Menagerie history...
<a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.inlandaidsproject.org%2Findex.html&s=d6110269900e471c72b398746f30fb998689fc5853616c09f2b879820cbb23c0" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.inlandaidspro…</a>
Shame on all the other reviewers for failing to mention the unique aroma of the Man-agerie. Although, I suppose my use of the word "aroma" indicates that it is pleasant. It is, in fact, not. I'm not sure what exactly is going on with the plumbing and/or ventilation system in the best gay bar in Riverside, but David should really use some of the money the straight boys are slammin' on the bar to fix it.
That said, the Menagerie was my home-away-from-home for a year or so and I still visit on occasion. There is an interesting mix of people. Again, "interesting" does not always equal "appealing", but still... gay or straight; man, woman or somewhere-in-between; those who take showers or those who avoid soap like the plague-- all can find a spot to sit, stand and/or dance.
And all can find a well-poured drink for a small price. The bartenders here don't know what those little shot measuring devices are for. In fact, I've never seen one used here in my many many nights of knocking back completely-clear Long Beaches. Order a 4Play-- I have no idea what is in it, but it's a house specialty that is sure to get you good and f-ed up real quick.
Bring cash- this is a cash-only bar. They do have an ATM if you forget or manage to spend too much. If you are a man who is pee-shy, my understanding is you best make a pit-stop before the bar-- the stall doors are always broken. Sing, dance, get drunk off your ass and please tip well.
Definitely agreed on the high number of straight people here. Â I guess the music must suck so badly at the nearby straight bars, that people there have no choice than to go to Menagerie.
Other than that this is just your average medium-sized city gay bar. Â Music videos playing on the big screens in the club. Â People out smoking on the back patio. Â I find Menagerie a better alternative than VIP -- which seems trashy and not worth the cover charge. Â It's a large club with high ceilings and an expansive bar in the middle of the room. Â
There's a huge misspelled neon sign you see on your way out of the bar that says "Fabulaus." Â Cracks me up every time.
A wonderful gay bar in the heart of downtown Riverside. I've been there a few times. But I love the fact that they play great music to dance to, plus the monitors play the accompanying video! (well I think it's cool)
You walk in to a fairly nice place with big pictures of naked men and their rock hard penises waving you "hello". Breeder night is on Wednesdays and one of my favorite games to play is "guess who's gay" I lose, a lot. Oddly though, I never get hit on? Don't know if I should be offended or not?
Great place to go if you're open minded and not a homophobic. Overall, the bartenders are quick, average priced drinks good music and the people are friendly. And for once, the lines for the pissers are longer for the guys than the girls. Hey, it's the little things that make me happy
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