When is a straight bar NOT a straight bar?

Here's more proof that the gay community in New Orleans is bouncing back from the hurricane. We spent Friday night hanging out with a few friends at Phillip's Bar and Restaurant, located on the corner of Maple and Cherokee streets in the Uptown neighborhood.

Though ostensibly straight, Phillip's had developed a loyal Friday night gay clientele before the storm.

By 7:30 p.m., when we were there, the crowd numbered about 70 - mostly guys apparently of the same persuasion as me and Rex. Want proof the crowd was mostly gay? No one seemed to notice the hot, young female babes working the bar except for a married buddy of mine. And we seemed to be the only ones paying attention to the Peach Bowl football game featuring LSU and Miami that was playing on the projection screen television.

Me and buddies at Phillip's Bar and Restaurant in Uptown New Orleans.

By 10 p.m., the gay crowd had thinned substantially, only to be replaced by the type of college crowd one would normally expect to find at a bar and grill within walking distance of the Uptown universities.

Phillip's was nice enough, and everyone - gay and straight - seemed comfortable. But the long martini list, oversized snow flakes hanging from the ceiling and other details made the place a little too foofy for my taste.