This article appeared in The Advocate's November/December 2020 issue. Since print publication, Los Angeles County has mandated the closure of all restaurants, including the Abbey, in response to a spike in infection rates.It was a sight unseen before in West Hollywood.
The gates of the Abbey — the epicenter of the gayborhood’s nightlife — were closed on a Friday night.“Never in almost three decades did I think I would have to post a message like this.
For the safety of our staff, guests, and entire community, The Abbey will be closed temporarily,” owner David Cooley wrote in a March 13 open letter.It was Cooley’s Facetime session with a friend in Rome, where the line of gay bars near the Colosseum had gone dark, that made the Abbey the.