March 18, 2026
Kristin Hunt/for PhillyVoice
Val's Lesbian Bar is taking over the two-story building at 605 S. Third St. last occupied by Reef Restaurant & Lounge. The second-floor bar is pictured above.
After nearly three years of searching for a space for their lesbian bar, Julia Harris and Clover Gilfor were ready to call it quits. The business partners and girlfriends had talked to a small army of realtors and landlords across Philadelphia, but each time they started negotiations, something seemed to go wrong.
"It's somewhere around 15 locations that we got to varying degrees of really sinking our claws into them before something broke down and we weren't able to make it work" Gilfor said.
Luckily for the couple, the 15th time was the charm. Val's Lesbian Bar is now set to open Wednesday at 4 p.m. in its new home at 605 S. Third St. It will be the only lesbian bar in Philadelphia, and the first to operate in the city since the Toasted Walnut closed in 2021.
"We do feel a big sense of responsibility because it is a big responsibility," Harris said. "It's a responsibility that we're choosing to take on and doing so with a lot of purpose."
Creating a sense of intimacy was a guiding principle for Harris and Gilfor. The building — a two-story space with bars on each floor and lots of nooks and crannies — did some of that work for them. But the pair also decorated with a loose Valentine's Day theme, encouraging close connections through soft lighting and a red and pink color palette. Some of their cocktails come out in those hues, too. The Big Boy, for instance, is a blend of cranberry-infused vodka, soda, a citrus blend and a simple syrup made with three teas (oolong, chai and Earl Grey).
While Harris and Gilfor place a greater emphasis on the cocktail and mocktail program, Val's will also serve "elevated" bar snacks like pickle plates and smoked oysters. Grilled cheeses, including gluten-free and vegan ones, will be available throughout the year, and a second sandwich will be updated seasonally.
Val's only has a few events on its calendar for now, but its owners hope to ramp up in the coming months. A large open space on the second floor lends itself naturally to dance parties, like the "Tush Push" two-step scheduled for April 4. Gilfor and Harris are also eager to start a weekly karaoke night and plan lots of programming for Pride Month.
On top of being the only lesbian bar in the city, Val's is one of the few dozen left in the country. According to the Lesbian Bar Project, there are 36 scattered across the U.S. — 37, once Val's opens. That's a pretty steep decline from the estimated 200 lesbian bars in the late '80s, but the tally has actually increased in recent years. In 2020, per an NBC News report, there were only 16.
Harris and Gilfor see some hope in the outpouring of support struggling lesbian bars received during the COVID-19 pandemic, a movement they believe helped kickstart the upward trend. The Lesbian Bar Project, which spotlighted the issue through a docuseries, raised over $267,000 to support establishments in danger of closing between 2020 and 2021.
"I do think it directly led to the opening of several of the new lesbian bars," Harris said. "And perhaps in some ways indirectly led to what we're doing now. I think there has been this growing awareness that these spaces fill a really particular role in communities across the U.S. and beyond. That we need them, and not only do we need them, but we want them."
Just last year, Philadelphia welcomed the queer-owned women's sports bar Marsha's to South Street. It's two blocks away from Val's, which hopes to collaborate with Marsha's on future projects.
"I think after the real height of the pandemic, people got shaken out of this acceptance for a world where we're not in real contact with one another in a real material way," Gilfor said. "And more people saw that we're heading that way, so more people have started wanting to feel like they do have a place, both physically but also sort of meta physically. Like they have a place in history and they're seen in their world."
Val's will be open from 4 p.m. to midnight Tuesdays and Wednesdays, from 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. Thursdays through Saturdays and 4 p.m. to midnight on Sundays. It will be closed on Mondays. For its owners, the launch date can't come soon enough. They're excited to welcome in the community that helped make Val's possible — quite literally, through $15,000 in crowdfunding — and finally enter the next chapter in their bar's evolution.
"We have never had a baby, but I do feel like there's a little bit of an analog to having a baby," Gilfor said. "It's hard to think about other things and separate yourself from it. And we keep weird hours and we're just kind of tired all the time."
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