23 July 6th–July 12th, 2023 phoenixnewtimes.com phoenix new Times | cONTeNTs | feeDBacK | OPiNiON | NeWs | feaTuRe | NighT+Day | culTuRe | film | cafe | music | Meet Me at Maudies This new pop-up bar creates space for queer wine drinkers. BY SARA CROCKER W hen Abigail Spong walked into a Somebody’s Sister event in Oakland, California, she’d never experienced anything like it. The roving Bay Area wine pop-up focuses on creating a space for lesbian, queer, non-binary and trans people. “I was in awe. It was so affirming and natural to be around people that share the same identity as you,” Spong says. It was an experience she wanted to replicate in Phoenix. On June 7, she hosted Maudies at The Wayward Taphouse – ringing in Pride Month and officially launching her own queer natural wine pop-up. Maudies will return to The Wayward on July 15, and Spong intends to host the event monthly. Spong launched Maudies to honor lesbian bars like Maud’s, a San Francisco bar that claimed to be the first of its kind and served customers from 1966 to 1989. Its patrons, who often regarded the bar as a community center, called themselves “Maudies.” “It’s just a nod to the queer folks before us that had to endure so much more than I could ever imagine,” Spong says. “This is an homage to that space.” The pop-up is described as “your friendly lesbian-operated bar, a pop-up! for everyone,” on its Instagram page. Spong saw a need for more places in Phoenix where people feel comfortable and are encouraged to be themselves, noting the sharp decline in lesbian bars since their peak in the 1980s. The Lesbian Bar Project, a storytelling campaign that has worked to bring that decline into focus, has spot- lighted bars like Phoenix’s Boycott Bar. “As a queer person in Phoenix I feel like I’m always complaining to my friends that there’s not a lot of places for us, especially lesbian or transfemme or queer femme people in Phoenix,” Spong says. When she began searching for a loca- tion for the pop-up, finding a queer, woman-owned business was important to her. Spong approached The Wayward Taphouse co-owner Hilda Cardenas and operations manager Serena Fonze. They’d initially met when Spong held Dusk Market, a night market she founded, on Grand Avenue. When Spong reached out with the idea, “there was very little hesitation on our part,” Fonze says. She and Cardenas echoed Spong’s desire for a spot that is centered around lesbian, queer, non- binary and trans people that provides a relaxed, casual setting — an option some may want in lieu of Inspired by historic and current queer bars and pop-ups, Abigail Spong, left, has launched Maudies. Maudies founder Abigail Spong with The Wayward Taphouse’s Operations Manager Serena Fonze and co-owner Hilda Cardenas. Catherine Zingg Catherine Zingg >> p 24 ▼ Chow
