PALACE

Palace, the iconic gay restaurant, bar and night club on Ocean Drive that is World-Renowned for its live drag performance first launched in nearly 30 years ago in February,1988.   Immediately upon opening, Palace began catering to the South Beach’s gay population.  The gay community had adopted the 12th Street Beach across the street as their own, and the party carried over, with Palace regularly hosting T-dances and drag shows. Around that time, designer Gianni Versace moved to Ocean Drive.  He frequented Palace regularly, often bringing friends like Luciano Pavarotti, Elton John, Madonna and Princess Diana to dine with him. As Ocean Drive became a hot spot for fashion models, photoshoots and music videos, Palace stood at its epicenter. Thomas Donall, a nightclub owner and designer from Michigan, took over Palace in 2007, and introduced daily drag on-the-street shows to Palace as well as weekly T-Dances.  Palace launched its popular drag brunch and during big gay celebrations like Pride, Winter Party, and White Party Weekends, created free block parties that eventually grew so large, Palace had to acquire permits from the city to shut down the entire 12th street block to accommodate the crowds.   Palace became a place for a new breed of celebrity: names like Andy Cohen, Nene Leakes, Cynthia Nixon, Leslie Jordan, Wanda Sykes, Ross Matthews and Perez Hilton were regularly spotted. Palace opted to find a new home for the community on Friday, November 24. The queens of Palace kicked up their heels at Palace’s new location at 1052 Ocean Drive. “The new Palace is bigger and better than ever,” declares drag queen Tiffany Fantasia. “1052 is better suited for the types of shows that we do,” agrees Joanna James. “We’re still out there on the sidewalk gathering in tourists, but we got more space here and it’s a little more glamorous.” “The last thirty years have been pure magic,” Palace states.  We are excited to see what the next thirty have in store!