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Qué Rico opens in Oakland, a sign of hope for the East Bay s LGBTQ nightlife scene
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“Oakland needed this.”
That’s what one patron exclaimed to Valentino Carrillo on a recent Saturday evening as the sold-out drag show in the parklet of his newly opened LGBTQ+ restaurant and nightclub came to a close.
It was a response that stuck with the longtime East Bay nightlife promoter, whose latest venture, Qué Rico, comes after the recent loss of adjoining nightclubs Club BnB and Club 21, where Carrillo served as the director of operations and marketing for more than 15 years. When those clubs shuttered at the beginning of 2020 after a landlord dispute and were converted into shared tech offices, Oakland was left with just two LGBTQ+ nightlife venues: Port Bar on Broadway and the historic White Horse Inn on Telegraph Avenue.