(Photo courtesy MR D’z Men’s Emporium)
TAMPA | MR D’z Men’s Emporium held its official grand opening Sept. 1-2, becoming Tampa Bay’s newest LGBTQ+ bar and the only one with a primary focus on the leather community.
The establishment is the latest venture for life and business partners Delon Cunningham and Michael Rivera. The couple purchased City Side Lounge in late 2020, which has served the LGBTQ+ community in Tampa for more than three decades.
MR D’z — named for Rivera’s initials, MR, and D, as Cunningham is also known — is billed as “an alternative leather-vibe bar/establishment.” The venue initially opened its doors in mid-August and is designed to welcome everyone in the community.
“After buying City Side we decided to venture out and open up this space with a different vibe because we thought there was something missing in Tampa Bay,” Rivera says. “We wanted to have a Levi and leather bar to change things up.”
Cunningham says it was particularly pressing after the permanent closure of Cristoph’s in early 2022. The LGBTQ+ bar featured regular events catering to the leather community and had partnerships with organizations like Bear Soup and the Tampa Bay Bears.
“We opened our doors to these groups at City Side when Cristoph’s closed,” he recalls. “There was no one else to take them in and we said, ‘here’s your home. Make it what you want.’”
“When we bought City Side it was to continue to create that safe space and to provide a space for the community to have a platform if they needed it for their groups,” Rivera also notes. “We just wanted to let the community know that there was somewhere they could go.”
Those relationships have only grown in the time since. Cunningham says MR D’z is an expansion that will give groups additional freedom and another option to come together.
“City Side is more of a neighborhood bar,” he explains. “It’s been there for 31 years and we have a specific clientele. There are people in the Bear or leather communities that don’t want to interrupt that vibe and we wanted them to have their own space.”
That concept and space — an 1,800-square-foot, nonsmoking interior with two outdoor, fenced-in patios — have been well received thus far. The MR D’z grand opening welcomed 163 people on Sept. 1 and 147 on Sept. 2, with another 90 closing out the holiday weekend Sept. 3.
“Everybody had compliments, we didn’t hear anything negative,” Cunningham says.
“It’s been really positive,” Rivera adds. “Obviously we still have things that we’re working on, we didn’t get to do everything we wanted, but over time we will. It’s a work in progress.”
The bar reflected on such via social media Sept. 3:
Forthcoming renovations include a bar window and door to connect the venue’s larger outdoor patio to its interior. The additions will allow guests to order drinks without coming inside and have quicker access to the area, which will soon feature an awning.
MR D’z currently employs five bartenders and General Manager Todd Kruckenberg-Moore. Its owners call the team “really, really solid” while noting that their GM was “the driving force” behind the new bar.
“His handstamp is on every single part of it,” Cunninham says. Kruckenberg-Moore’s duties also extend to City Side.
MR D’z is currently open Monday-Thursday from 4 p.m.-2 a.m. and Friday-Sunday 2 p.m.-3 a.m. Entertainment and special events are expected to vary and evolve.
“We just want everyone to feel welcome,” Rivera says. “We genuinely care about our patrons, so just come and have fun with us.”
View photos of MR D’z below by Ryan Williams-Jent and courtesy of the venue.
MR D’z Mens Emporium is located at 1510 N. Nebraska Ave. in Tampa. For more information, visit the bar’s Facebook page.
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