La Reserva, Mendoza, Argentina

Mendoza's cozy and friendly La Reserva (Rivadavia 32, just off the main thoroughfare of Av. San Martin, in the city center, 420-3531) bar isn't much, but then you didn't come all the way to this hub city of Argentina's esteemed Wine Country expressly to partake of gay nightlife, did you? Inside the laid-back spot just a few blocks from the city's central plaza are a handful of tables and chairs and a small bar to one side, selling inexpensive beer, wine, cocktails, and snacks. There's often live entertainment and drag shows, and on weekends the place actually fills up a bit. Mendoza is a relatively conservative city, which is not to say gays and lesbians will be made to feel uncomfortable here, but just that the gay scene is very much on the down-low. The crowd here at La Reserva ranges from mostly gay and lesbian to totally mixed, and you may very well have just as much success meeting a fellow gay traveler in one of the swank bars inside Mendoza's hip Park Hyatt Hotel and Casino.