The Drama Behind Silver Lake Queer Bar the Ruby Fruit’s Sudden Closure | Eater LA

"Opened on February 21, 2023 as a Silver Lake wine bar and named as an homage to Rita Mae Brown’s 1973 coming-of-age novel Rubyfruit Jungle, the spot debuted as a sapphic-focused venue run by Emily Bielagus and Mara Herbkersman after they transitioned the space from Eszett. It offered wine, beer, cocktails, coffee and a lunch/dinner menu with comfort dishes like popcorn chicken, a furikake Caesar salad, deviled eggs, and grilled wings, and hosted events including comedy shows, coworking, and live music; it was also one of 2023’s most prominent openings and earned Eater LA’s Best New Community Restaurant award. The owners framed the mission plainly: “We wanted a space where the sapphic community felt safe to go, and we knew that there wasn’t that space in LA,” and Bielagus added, “I had always said I wanted to open a lesbian bar before I turned 40.” Financial fragility followed much of the bar’s run — the duo say the business was “vulnerable” from early on, never turned a profit, and struggled to secure enough backing while operating day-to-day — and conditions worsened after the SAG-AFTRA strike in late 2023 and again after the Palisades and Eaton fires in January 2025, when sales dropped 90 percent (one day bringing in an estimated $600). The owners announced a sudden closure on January 11, 2025, saying in an Instagram post, “We have come to the heartbreaking decision that at this time, operating [the bar] is no longer possible due to financial impact from the current natural disaster,” and “The math just isn’t mathing.” Herbkersman recalled, “That’s when the panic really set in,” and added, “The dollars made that decision for us.” After the closure, responses split between shock and offers of help and dozens of allegations from former staff and customers that the space could feel exclusionary to trans and BIPOC people; a February 12 report in the Blade collected anonymous former-staff accounts alleging mistreatment, and former employees described a pattern of feeling tokenized and like they were “walking on eggshells.” Staff accounts include: “I felt very tokenized throughout my time there,” and “The sadness I feel about the closure of the bar is much smaller compared to the disappointment and hurt I experienced working there,” (an anonymous former employee). Former line cook Sienna Deadrich said, “I think they clearly were struggling with money for a long time,” and described frustration that staff-driven event ideas were discouraged or cost-prohibitive. The owners say they always intended the venue to be inclusive, that they used terms like “sapphically inclined,” “lesbian,” and “sapphic community” interchangeably to be expansive, and that they are reviewing policies and “wish we did more ‘concrete’ things like DEI training,” while defending some decisions around fundraising and the pivot from an initial employee GoFundMe to a later campaign to attempt to save the business. The first employee fundraiser (started January 12, goal $15,000) closed around $13,000 and was distributed to staff; a later fundraiser to save the business (goal $100,000) and an associated Leather & Lace event were announced and then the event was canceled with refunds. On February 6 the owners issued a statement titled “A message from [the bar]” reiterating dedication to inclusivity and plans to review workplace practices; comments were turned off and the bar’s Instagram was deleted about a week later. The space is currently being used as a relief kitchen run by Coco’s to Go-Go, and the former proprietors withdrew $3,926.89 from the fundraising page on February 14 to cover utilities, rent, and vendor payments while saying they are “uncertain of any future plans” — former staff say they would only consider returning if it were employee-run and -owned. " - Mona Holmes