Prohibition came to Atlantic City earlier this month, but that didn’t stop the drinks from flowing.
The gambling mecca’s first LGBT casino nightclub, Prohibition, opened its doors May 5.
The club is situated on the 13th floor of the Resorts Casino Hotel and is open from 6 p.m.-3 a.m. Thursday-Sunday.
Joel Ballesteros, Resorts’ director of LGBT marketing, said the venue was one of the new ideas circulated by Resorts owner and CEO Dennis Gomes after he purchased the casino and hotel last summer.
Ballesteros, who also serves as the vice president of the Atlantic City GLBT Alliance, said the LGBT market has recently come to the forefront in Atlantic City’s tourism efforts, and Resorts was eager to fill a gap that existed in LGBT-specific entertainment venues.
“The LGBT community has been a part of the history of Atlantic City going back to the 1920s. It’s come and gone, and now we’re trying to bring it back,” he said. “In the past few years, different properties have been holding [LGBT] events on weekends or having one-night events, and some restaurants in town do these events, but we felt like in order to really capture the market we needed to have something that’s more of a permanent fixture.”
As its name suggests, Prohibition employs a “roaring-’20s” theme, grabbing onto the success of HBO’s A.C.-based “Boardwalk Empire.”
The club features a lounge and dance floor, a food menu, DJs, dancers and regular entertainment, like former “American Idol” contestant Erika Schiff, who stopped by for a performance last Saturday.
Ballesteros said the club isn’t catering to a specific LGBT demographic, evidenced by the crowd that has packed Prohibition in its two weeks in business. Guests came from New York City to Philadelphia to Washington, D.C., and all areas in between.
“One of the great and beautiful things about the club is that we’ve seen an incredible mix of people. They’ve been gay, gay-supportive, young, old — it’s just been a real wonderful mixture.”
The fledgling success already seen by Prohibition should encourage other casinos in Atlantic City to take note of the possibilities the LGBT market could afford, Ballesteros said.
“I’m hoping that other properties will follow suit and also do this. Our whole goal here is to show people that Atlantic City is a gay-friendly destination. We want to be the catalyst for making that happen.”
Jen Colletta can be reached at [email protected].