Worcester's newest LGBTQ+ bar is almost ready to throw open its doors on Pleasant Street, with co-owner Andrew Lapin targeting a grand opening as soon as next Friday — and a Studio 54-themed party to launch it. If permitting or final touches cause any slippage, Lapin says the backup date would land the following Friday, November 20.
Pleasant Street Venue Nears the Finish Line
Vice is planned for 27 Pleasant St., according to co-owner Andrew Lapin, as reported by Worcester Magazine. Final inspections and permitting remain part of the process this month. Lapin and his boyfriend, Mike Steward, signed the lease earlier this year; preparing the former restaurant space has involved electrical and plumbing work, sound equipment and murals.
Pleasant Street’s Changing Setting
Pleasant Street is also the focus of a broader effort to improve the commercial corridor. The City of Worcester said in a March 27, 2024, announcement that a $125,000 MassDevelopment award would support storefront improvements, business-relocation assistance and district branding. MassDevelopment’s Worcester TDI workplan describes the corridor as a main connector to downtown.
Lapin has described Vice as a dance-focused venue intended to draw a broader crowd than the typical young Top 40 bar audience. The planned opening party will have a Studio 54 theme.
A Calendar Built Around Community, Not Just Cocktails
Lapin has described a schedule that would include monthly reggaeton and Latin house nights, events for trans and nonbinary patrons, nights for bears and the leather community, and Sunday-afternoon tea dances. Vice also plans an extensive nonalcoholic menu, with the stated aim of welcoming people whether or not they drink.
Vice does not plan to hold sapphic nights, a choice Lapin has described as a way to complement rather than compete with Femme Bar. He has said he hopes people will visit both venues. Femme Bar co-owners Danielle Spring and Julie Toupin Spring reportedly helped Lapin and Steward prepare for Vice’s opening.
Femme Bar's Growth Prompts a Move
Femme Bar, which opened in March 2023 according to USA Today, is preparing to move to a larger space. Worcester Magazine reported that the bar announced in a September social media post that it plans to leave 62 Green St. for an undisclosed downtown location in 2027.
Femme Bar is co-owned by married couple Danielle Spring and Julie Toupin Spring, and the bar's profile has only grown nationally. USA Today named Femme Bar among its 2026 Bars of the Year, calling it one of the top 38 places to drink in America. The outlet also reported that Massachusetts had three lesbian bars, including Femme Bar, and fewer than 40 nationwide — part of a broader resurgence the paper noted, since all three of the state's lesbian bars have opened since the COVID-19 pandemic amid renewed interest in the format. The Lesbian Bar Project, a national advocacy group, separately lists 37 remaining lesbian bars across the country on its own site, a figure that doesn't quite match USA Today's spring count of 36 — a small discrepancy the available reporting doesn't resolve.
Filling a Gap in Worcester's Nightlife
As of August, Lapin had said that only two of Worcester’s many bars specifically served an LGBTQ+ crowd: the long-running MB Lounge on Grafton Street and Femme Bar. Vice would be a third. Lapin works as a therapist outside the bar, and MassLive reported that Steward would manage day-to-day operations while Lapin focused on marketing.
