The coronavirus pandemic has shut down live entertainment across the world, but some drag queens in San Francisco have found a new outlet for their artistic expression – Meals on Heels.
Before the world changed forever earlier this year, Oasis was a popular nightclub well known for its drag shows. Then COVID-19 came along, and bars all across the Bay Area closed their doors.
“COVID hit and we thought we were going to maybe be shut down for a couple weeks, or a month or two, and it’s turned into a much longer thing,” the owner of Oasis, D’Arcy Drollinger, said.
Drollinger needed a game plan, and that’s where the idea for Meals on Heels came from. Customers can order dinner online and then receive their meal, along with a show.
“You get dinner, some kind of signature Oasis cocktail, delivered by a drag queen, who also does a curbside, socially distant, lip sync for you,” Drollinger told ABC 7 News.
Meals on Heels is rolling back through San Francisco this Friday! Make your reservation for dinner, drinks, and drag at your door TODAY, before your chance blows away just like Roxy's tip money!! https://t.co/VjwoSpKZrB pic.twitter.com/isJiQIkJNa
— OASIS (@sfoasis) August 5, 2020
For $95, customers can get a dinner package for two with entrees, dessert and cocktails. Only a single entree with drinks and show costs around $50. People are also encouraged to tip the queens for their performances.
The last few months have been difficult for performers the world over. Lindsay Slowhands, a regular queen in Oasis, said she was excited to have another artistic outlet again. “For D’Arcy to create this, and have this opportunity for drag queens to perform live and have the audience feel that energy again, that just means the world, and I am really ready for that energy,” she said.
Meals on Heels hasn’t just helped drag queens though. All the food is prepared by Martha Avenue Home Cooked Meals, which is another business venture that’s sprung up out of the pandemic. One of the co-owners recently thanked Oasis, as it’s been their best month in business so far.
The entire operation has been such a success, Meals on Heels may be kept on as a permanent fixture even after the pandemic. For now, the service has provided a small sense of normalcy back to San Francisco.
© 2020 GCN (Gay Community News). All rights reserved.
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