Roberts gay bar

The bar already had been around at least a decade when Roberts bought it. By the time Roberts bought the bar, more people knew the Hollywood leading man was gay. Roberts saw the importance, from the beginning, of supporting the LGBT community. And that first big donation was just the beginning.

The Hidden Door was so successful from the time it opened that robert a couple of years, Roberts opened a second location in Corpus Christi, which is also still going strong although under the ownership of two customers who purchased the bar about 12 years ago. Roberts diedwhen he was still in his 50s.

Before bar death, though, he created a trust that owned gay bar and named Tony Bobrow the new president of the trust. Bobrow refused to open without his liquor license and closed the bar for a day until the renewal was in place. Before Bobrow died in Februaryhe had arranged for a different trust to manage the bar after his death.

Dan Cutrer is the attorney who incorporated the Hidden Door 40 years ago for Roberts. At the end of the year, after all bills are paid and bonuses are figured for the staff, the balance of the profits go to the trust. That money must be distributed within the next calendar year. And the bar has always done well.

For three years in a robert, it was the No. And as parking has gotten worse in other parts of Oak Lawn, the Hidden Door has always offered its customers plenty of space to park. The property where the bar is located — at Bowser, just a block off Lemmon Avenue — is so valuable, Bobrow was once offered what Meissner called a very generous amount to sell.

But he laughed off the offer, Meissner said, adding that the would-be buyer forgot to figure in the value of bar business. Buying new property in Oak Lawn, including space for parking, and building something gay to house the Hidden Door would have cost much more than was offered, he said. Meissner estimates that 25 cents out of every dollar spent at the Hidden Door goes directly back into the community, and the trust is set up so that donations to the community will continue.

Robert's Lafitte

He had been working in medical equipment sales. He said the company only hired med techs, but his major in college was marketing. After he came out at the age of 29, Meissner decided to make a fresh start. So he moved to San Diego. He met someone at Balboa Park who managed a bar, and he offered Meissner a job.

Before he knew it, Meissner was managing the bar. Then he was managing two bars. So, after four years, he resigned and moved back to Dallas. When Meissner came into the bar, Tracy introduced him to Roberts, who offered him a job. But part-time developed into full-time, and he found himself behind the bar for 31 years.