Missie B's, Kansas City, Missouri

Kansas City's most popular gay and lesbian nightspot, Missie B's (805 W. 39th St., 816-561-0625) is on the edge of the trendy Westport neighborhood and close to West 39th Street's strip of excellent restaurants. The two-floor club has several notable features: a leather and sex boutique on the upper floor, which also has a small dance floor and a lounge called Bootleggers that's home to the leather-oriented Bootleggers Club of Kansas City; a back patio; and a show stage on the ground floor that presents highly entertaining drag/female-impersonation shows. There's also karaoke, beer busts, live cabaret, and all sorts of other inspired entertainment, depending on the evening. There's a good-size crowd here most evenings, and on weekends it's absolutely packed with revelers of all ages, tending toward the collegiate-to-early-30s generation in most parts of the bar. Bootleggers (pictured here) tends to draw a somewhat older, leather-and-Levi's bunch. And when drag shows are on, the crowd is pretty mixed-gender, and even comprises quite a few straight fans.