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

The Ruby Fruit, a Silver Lake “strip mall wine bar for the sapphically inclined,” closed out of the blue on January 11, 2025, after two years of enterprise, amid the chaos of the Los Angeles wildfires. The house owners, Emily Bielagus and Mara Herbkersman, introduced the closure in a now-deleted Instagram submit that learn, “We’ve come to the heartbreaking resolution that right now, working the Ruby Fruit is now not doable as a result of monetary affect from the present pure catastrophe.” The submit went on to say: “The maths simply isn’t mathing.”

The preliminary response to the closure was principally an outpouring of shock and heartbreak within the Instagram feedback, with many commenters asking how they might assist or if the Ruby Fruit deliberate to start out a GoFundMe to reopen. In distinction to these providing help, dozens of different commenters alleged that they’d not felt welcome on the bar. After the Ruby Fruit closed, a number of media retailers coated the information, together with an op-ed that rooted for the Silver Lake wine bar to reopen; one other mentioned its monetary struggles. A few month after the preliminary closure, on February 12, LGBTQ publication the Blade printed a report wherein former workers alleged mistreatment within the office. The report additionally included allegations of trans and BIPOC prospects not feeling welcome within the bar.

On February 6, Bielagus and Herbkersman put out a press release on Instagram addressing the feedback and occasions surrounding the closure, writing that they all the time supposed the Ruby Fruit to be an inclusive area. The assertion reemphasized that the explanation for the sudden closure was monetary struggles and steered that they’re all the time open to additional dialog. Feedback on this submit have been turned off. A few week later, on February 12, the duo deleted the bar’s Instagram account solely.

The Ruby Fruit was one of the crucial distinguished openings in 2023 and earned Eater LA’s Greatest New Neighborhood Restaurant award that very same 12 months. With nearly all of LA’s queer bars catering to homosexual males, the Ruby Fruit’s closure marked a somber reminder of the town’s lack of lesbian and nonbinary areas.

Eater spoke with Bielagus, Herbkersman, and two staff to look at the occasions for the reason that closure. Right here’s all the things to learn about what’s occurring with the Ruby Fruit.

What’s the Ruby Fruit?

The Ruby Fruit, named as an homage to Rita Mae Brown’s 1973 coming-of-age novel Rubyfruit Jungle, debuted as a Silver Lake wine bar for Los Angeles’s sapphic neighborhood on February 21, 2023. (Them, an LGBTQ information publication, defines sapphic as “an umbrella time period that features lesbian, bisexual, and pansexual trans femmes, mascs, nonbinary of us, and cis ladies.”) Bielagus and Herbkersman met and have become associates whereas working at Eszett, an informal wine bar beforehand occupying the Ruby Fruit area, ultimately internet hosting sapphic nights they referred to as Leszett.

Throughout its tenure, the Ruby Fruit provided wine, beer, cocktails, and occasional alongside a lunch and dinner menu with consolation dishes like popcorn rooster, a furikake Caesar salad, deviled eggs, and grilled wings. The bar was additionally a preferred venue for occasions like comedy reveals, coworking, and reside music.

“I had all the time mentioned I needed to open a lesbian bar earlier than I turned 40,” Bielagus explains. “Mara had all the time had that very same dream and that’s how we bonded once we have been working collectively. Fairly merely, we needed an area the place the sapphic neighborhood felt secure to go, and we knew that there wasn’t that area in LA.”

Whereas Los Angeles has quite a few lesbian and queer occasions, the one everlasting lesbian bar exterior of the Ruby Fruit was Honey’s at Star Love, which opened in February 2023. Although LA’s lesbian bars have been distinguished in a long time previous, in 2019, the lone lesbian bar within the second-largest metropolis in America was a pop-up referred to as the Fingerjoint.

What does it imply to be a sapphically inclined bar?

Within the wake of the bar’s closure, commenters on Instagram raised questions on why the Ruby Fruit referred to itself as a “sapphically inclined” bar as a substitute of a “lesbian bar,” particularly since the bar’s GoFundMe refers to it as a “lesbian bar.”

Agua, a former worker of the Ruby Fruit who solely desires to be recognized by their first title, alleges that Herbkersman emphasised that the bar needs to be for “everybody,” as a substitute of being centered on simply the lesbian neighborhood.

Bielagus says they used the phrases “sapphically inclined,” “lesbian,” and “sapphic neighborhood” interchangeably for the reason that bar opened. “I do know that there are individuals who really feel that the phrase ‘lesbian’ doesn’t embrace them, and I believe the phrase sapphic is a bigger umbrella that features the gender-expansive neighborhood, the trans neighborhood, and the nonbinary neighborhood,” she says. “We additionally needed to be clear that the phrase ‘lesbian’ is an okay phrase; we didn’t need to be like, ‘“Lesbian” is a grimy phrase.’ It’s simply generally not the one phrase for the neighborhood we needed to serve.”

What introduced in regards to the Ruby Fruit’s closure?

Based on Bielagus and Herbkersman, the Ruby Fruit has been “weak” since opening. The duo opened the bar two weeks after Eszett’s closure when the earlier house owners provided them the area; Eszett closed on January 20, 2023, and the Ruby Fruit opened on February 21, 2023.

Bielagus says that the bar was busy when it first opened however began to see a shift on the finish of 2023, concurrent with the SAG-AFTRA strike. She says that it grew to become clear that folks had fewer assets to spend, and the shoppers that did are available didn’t spend as a lot. Some prospects have been affected immediately and weren’t working on the time. Bielagus says that after the strikes, enterprise by no means actually normalized to the mid-2023 numbers.

Agua says that from the again of the home, the bar appeared busy after they began working there in March 2024 as a line cook dinner and later after they have been promoted to sous chef. However they are saying that after they converted to the morning shift, it was a “very completely different tempo,” citing challenges in competing with the favored brunch restaurant Millie’s subsequent door.

Herbkersman says that whereas the bar was capable of pay its workers and payments, it by no means turned a revenue and wasn’t capable of save sufficient to have a security internet. Bielagus provides that all through the bar’s run, she and Herbkersman have been attempting to safe buyers and extra monetary backing however have been “stretched skinny” whereas attempting to deal with day-to-day operations and work on the bar.

After the Palisades and Eaton fires broke out in Los Angeles on January 7, 2025, the Ruby Fruit paused operations for a day to guage the scenario. After the bar reopened, gross sales dropped 90 p.c, bringing in an estimated $600 for the day. “That’s when the panic actually set in,” Herbkersman says. “After we’re speaking about being weak, the road is so skinny between having the ability to keep on and never. It grew to become actually clear after two days of being open that if we have been to go on yet another day, we might run the danger of not having the ability to pay our staff, a nonnegotiable for us.” The pair realized they solely had sufficient cash within the financial institution for payroll as much as the shut on January 11. “The {dollars} made that call for us,” Herbkersman says.

Agua alleges that the enterprise had been struggling for a while. “Each single day, they might be, like, ‘We’re going broke,’” they are saying. After notifying staff of the fast closure by way of e mail, Bielagus and Herbkersman took to Instagram to make the announcement. “I believe they clearly have been combating cash for a very long time,” says Sienna Deadrich, a former line cook dinner on the Ruby Fruit. The duo attributed the closure to the “monetary affect from the present pure catastrophe.”

Some commenters took the assertion as Bielagus and Herbkersman blaming the closure on the hearth, although the bar was in a roundabout way affected. Bielagus clarifies that they didn’t imply accountable it on the fires, however as a substitute needed to focus on how delicate the enterprise was. “Something would have completed us in,” she says.

On January 13, Bielagus and Herbkersman hosted a Zoom assembly with former workers. Whereas Herbkersman says the meet was a chance for employees to air their grievances and ask questions, and a few even inspired them to start out a GoFundMe, Agua hoped that workers might have a dialog about office points. However that by no means materialized for the reason that restaurant was closing.

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The place are these allegations about office points coming from?

Within the feedback part below the fundraising submit, a handful of alleged former staff made allegations of mistreatment and different office points throughout their time working on the Ruby Fruit. The Blade stories that a number of former staff who wished to stay nameless as a result of worry of retaliation reached out to the publication. “The unhappiness I really feel in regards to the closure of the bar is way smaller in comparison with the frustration and harm I skilled working there,” an nameless former worker instructed the Blade.

“The responses from workers are surprising as a result of it’s not in step with what we supposed or understood was the temperature of it,” Herbkersman says. “It’s devastating to lose a job. I imply, we’ve all been there, but it surely simply felt like an enormous shock.”

Agua says that their expertise working on the Ruby Fruit began positively, particularly as a result of they have been capable of work with so many different queer individuals. However as they settled into the function additional and received snug, “toxicity from the house owners” emerged that left staff feeling like their experiences working there didn’t line up with the inclusivity Bielagus and Herbkersman had touted. “I made superb associates and a tremendous neighborhood out of that area,” they are saying. “However when it was dangerous, it was dangerous. It felt like I used to be strolling on eggshells.” They allege that being one of many few individuals of coloration engaged on the core group made their expertise tougher, they usually felt “remoted” at work.

Deadrich mentions that coworkers steered neighborhood occasions hosted by individuals of coloration, however alleges that their concepts have been discouraged. “A number of the workers have been youthful queer individuals of coloration. We needed to attempt one thing within the area subsequent door. Two of my coworkers tried to plan a queer film night time. Agua and I needed to do a few sit-down dinners and a guide night time.” Deadrich grew to become discouraged upon being introduced with two choices: both hire the area for $4,000 and promote their very own tickets, or pay nothing and the occasion can be hosted by the Ruby Fruit. “I used to be pissed off that both I must pay $4,000 or have them revenue off of my concepts and labor,” says Deadrich.

“I used to be employed below the concept everybody had a voice or one thing to say,” Deadrich says. “I believe Mara and Emily tried to cover below this veil of inclusion. However then, when it really got here right down to it, I might attempt to give my concepts they usually have been simply all the time sort of like, ‘No matter.’”

“I felt very tokenized all through my time there,” Agua says. “To see different individuals of coloration share that related expertise as me was very hurtful, as a result of nobody ought to ever expertise racism or any kind of bigotry. However it was very validating, and I didn’t really feel remoted in my expertise.”

Deadrich alleges that workers had introduced their issues in regards to the office and inclusivity to Bielagus and Herbkersman up to now. “We talked to them about it, they usually sort of simply glossed over it,” they are saying.

Bielagus says that studying the feedback below the Instagram submit was “heartbreaking,” and that they “shifted issues internally” to help probably the most weak whereas the bar was open, like sharing ideas throughout all the workers, from managers to dishwashers. Nonetheless, Herbkersman says that they have been “underresourced.”

Herbkersman and Bielagus say that they want they did extra “concrete” issues like DEI coaching for employees, and had extra insurance policies in place to discover that. “We perceive that as a missed alternative.” Herbkersman provides that the feedback haven’t been “unheard” or “ignored,” and that she sees and reads them. “I need and relish the chance to handle these issues,” she says.

How has the Ruby Fruit responded to allegations of being noninclusive?

Alongside allegations from former staff, some commenters alleged that the Ruby Fruit had been unwelcoming to trans and BIPOC prospects. “I don’t assume they purposefully didn’t embrace them,” says Deadrich. “However from the attitude of somebody who’s POC and trans, it was very clear that they didn’t embrace them.” Deadrich and Agua each allege that when issues about inclusivity have been introduced up, Bielagus and Herbkersman would brush them off.” Deadrich remembers one occasion when Herbkersman allegedly got here into the kitchen speaking about what individuals have been saying on-line in regards to the bar. Deadrich says, “She was similar to, ‘We’re a queer area, and everybody’s welcome right here,’ and all that sort of stuff. ‘I don’t know why they’re saying these kinds of issues.’”

“It’s actually shocking,” Herbkersman says of the feedback on Instagram. “I believe we’re simply in shock about it. It’s not in step with something that we got down to do.” She says that the “dialog of inclusivity” has all the time been a subject on the Ruby Fruit and that they’ve labored to verify their messaging was in step with their imaginative and prescient of the bar being a “radically inclusive area.”

“To listen to somebody accuse us of being TERFs is rather like gut-wrenching as a result of it’s so removed from the intention and what we have been actually attempting to perform,” Herbkersman says. TERF is an acronym that stands for trans-exclusionary radical feminist.

Bielagus says that they have been all the time aware of attempting to incorporate trans individuals, nonbinary individuals, and BIPOC in conversations about what individuals needed from the bar, and what it might provide. “The Ruby Fruit was by no means nearly us,” Bielagus says. “It was about making certain that others round us are lifted up.”

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What’s up with the GoFundMe fundraisers?

Bielagus and Herbkersman began the primary GoFundMe on January 12, 2025, the day after the Ruby Fruit closed, to help the laid-off workers. The fundraiser was capped at $15,000, which Bielagus and Herbkersman allege is the equal of 1 further paycheck for employees, whereas Deadrich alleges that it could come out to lower than a paycheck for employees. They allege that workers have been additionally not conscious that Bielagus and Herbkersman have been planning to start out the GoFundMe. “We saved on being like, ‘Let’s discuss this as a group, as a gaggle,’” Deadrich says. “And so they saved on simply posting stuff for us with out speaking about it earlier than.” Additionally they describe the timing of the unique GoFundMe as “insensitive” amid the continuing fires. “So many Black and brown households are posting their GoFundMes as a result of they’re shedding their homes, and also you guys can’t pay your staff since you guys are dangerous enterprise house owners,” they are saying. Bielagus shares a distinct account, saying that they have been “aware of that second” and needed “to concentrate on how this slot in with the remainder of the fundraising that was occurring on the time.”

On February 5, after about 25 days open, the Ruby Fruit closed the worker fundraiser at round $13,000, which was $2,000 shy of its purpose. The funds have since been distributed to staff.

On the identical day, Bielagus and Herbkersman introduced a brand new fundraiser to avoid wasting the Ruby Fruit, with a purpose of $100,000, together with a charity occasion referred to as Leather-based & Lace. Former staff have been confused by the shuttering of their GoFundMe to start out a brand new one. “We have been supposed to fulfill the purpose of $15,000, however as quickly as they began their new purpose of funding $100,000 they deleted ours,” Agua alleges. “Individuals have been nonetheless attempting to donate, and so we by no means even met the purpose — we have been sort of simply omitted once more of the dialog.” Deadrich says that the brand new GoFundMe felt like “a slap within the face.”

Herbkersman defends the selection to shut the worker GoFundMe and begin a brand new one to avoid wasting the bar. “It was mandatory for us to begin to shift our focus onto the enterprise as an entire,” she says. “In any other case, the choice of even ever hiring them again can be not possible. If we are able to’t get the enterprise again, then we are able to’t do something for anybody ever.”

Agua additionally alleges that the workers had no prior information of the fundraiser or the occasion. “That submit simply occurred out of nowhere, and we’re like, ‘What’s occurring?’” Bielagus and Herbkersman allege that inside an hour of the posting going up, they reached out to former staff to supply jobs working on the occasion. “They weren’t completely satisfied that they’d not been knowledgeable that we have been holding that occasion,” Herbkersman says.

“One thing I actually need to clarify is we now have all the time been very open with our workers,” Bielagus says. “We’ve included them in all the choices that they must be included in. However we additionally have to make some monetary choices which might be actually essential to our enterprise with out together with them in these choices.”

Is the Leather-based & Lace occasion nonetheless occurring?

Based on Bielagus and Herbkersman, the Leather-based & Lace occasion has been canceled with refunds issued to ticket holders. On the time of cancellation, they’d bought 50 common tickets and all VIP tables.

What have the house owners mentioned for the reason that closure?

On February 6, Bielagus and Herbkersman put out a press release on Instagram with a title card that mentioned, “A message from the Ruby Fruit,” addressing the closure and Instagram feedback. Within the submit on the now-deleted Instagram account, Bielagus and Herbkersman wrote that the bar “has all the time been and can all the time stay devoted to inclusivity” and has all the time “welcomed open dialogue.”

The submit went on to make clear that the choice to pause operations was immediately knowledgeable by the hearth, and the sharp lack of enterprise, including that they solely had sufficient to pay workers for yet another day.

Bielagus and Herbkersman additionally wrote that they have been reviewing their insurance policies and evaluating the enterprise shifting ahead together with offering range, fairness, and inclusion coaching for administration and workers; bettering office insurance policies; establishing clearer reporting mechanisms for office grievances; and inspiring extra open communication.

What’s at present occurring within the Ruby Fruit area?

Coco’s to Go-Go, run by culinary producer and chef Courtney Storer, is at present operating a aid kitchen out of the previous Ruby Fruit area.

What’s subsequent for the Ruby Fruit?

On February 12, Bielagus and Herbkersman put out a press release on the GoFundMe to reopen the Ruby Fruit, saying they “absolutely plan to re-open [the] doorways as a secure area for LA’s Sapphic neighborhood.” Whereas the fundraiser is paused, they withdrew $3,926.89 on February 14 from GoFundMe to maintain the enterprise afloat and can put the funds in direction of utilities, hire, and excellent vendor funds. In a follow-up assertion to Eater LA, Bielagus and Herbkersman say that they’re “unsure of any future plans for the Ruby Fruit.”

Agua says that for the reason that bar closed, individuals have requested them if they might work there once more if it reopens. They are saying they might be open to it if it have been employee-run and -owned. “The one approach the Ruby Fruit can occur once more is that if Emily and Mara are now not house owners, or in the event that they step again,” they are saying. “The identical factor will proceed occurring in the event that they’re in management positions.”

As of February 21, the Ruby Fruit continues to be promoting a $150 sweatshirt that reads, “I saved the Ruby Fruit, and all I received was this awful sweatshirt.”