Your home away from home.
Downtown Olly's is proud to be a safe haven where everyone is welcome, regardless of gender, sexuality, race, or background.
Finding a comfortable and accepting space can be difficult, and we want to be that special place for you. Whether it's to make new friends, let loose and have a good time, or just take a break from the world outside — we truly believe our bar can be your home away from home.
So come on in and join our diverse and loving community.
One corner, decades of welcome
One of Indianapolis's early gay bars opens on this corner — famously windowless, so patrons could gather in safety at a time when that mattered.
The space is reborn as Downtown Olly’s (incorporated in late 2001), beginning its run as a downtown institution and a home for the LGBTQ+ community.
David and Peggy Brandon take over from the original owners, growing Olly’s into the bar, restaurant, and Backyard events venue it is today.
Scott and the current ownership team take over — investing in Olly’s future while honoring more than two decades of welcome.
The people running the place
More than a bar
Downtown Olly's has been part of Indianapolis's LGBTQ+ community for decades, on the corner of Illinois and St Clair at the north edge of downtown. It has outlasted recessions, a pandemic, and the slow disappearance of gay bars across the country — and it is still here, open from seven in the morning until three the next.
That range is the point. Olly's is a diner at breakfast, a lunch counter in the afternoon, a bar in the evening, and a stage at night. Drag shows, karaoke, trivia and live music run through the week, most of them with no cover. The Backyard, our covered patio, holds the bigger nights.
Everyone is welcome here, whatever your gender, sexuality, race or background. That has been true the whole time, and it is not a marketing line — it is the reason the place exists.
Recognition
Press & media enquiries
For interview requests, filming, photography, press passes and media relations, contact Lisa, our Marketing Manager.
marketing@downtownollys.net