The Mineshaft

Overall, it was a great experience. Randal was awesome (sorry if I spelled your name wrong), but he was very knowledgeable, welcoming, and his customer service was impeccable ^_^

I really don’t mind coming here because it denounces the pretentious stereo type that you picture when thinking of a gay bar/​club. This is definitely not your West Hollywood type of a gay bar. Not that there’s anything wrong with a WeHo bar, I’ve been known to visit the bars out there once, or twice, or a thousand times, but it’s nice to have establishments like this that are chill and not so high maintenance. The vibe is a bit dark and dingy, the bartenders are cool people, drinks are affordable, and it tends to be one of the more popular and happening gay bars in Long Beach. It would’ve possibly received four stars out of me but because the parking, like every other gay bar in the area, is abysmal and because you must pay in cash only, I’m giving it three stars for not being too consumer friendly, especially to non locals.

always A a great time good drinks fun people, pool tables.

Came in last night (Friday) and was completely impressed with the service of Johnny. I live nearby and the service is usually blah except for last night! Johnny remembered our drink orders and throughout the night had them poured before it even was our turn to order! He is a prime example of a great bartender.
–1 star for the bar being cash only

Great place to spend time. Good drinks and music. The people are friendly and made me feel at home. Great time.

The jukebox app system is screwed up. We paid for 8 songs and none of them played and we were there for 2 hours. The owner was there and didn’t seem to care. Never had a bad experience here before but sadly disappointed in their tech and lack of concern for the $ 16 we spent on songs.

Still the best bar in Long Beach and now it’s official Jonny is Best Bartender In Long Beach! Congrats and well deserved!

The bartenders here are rude and mean! They called my friend a horrible name for no reason and then gave her the finger. It’s just no way to talk to a lady. Others around saw as well and they were speechless. Do not go here.

I’m a straight woman who goes to gay bars because my best friend is gay. I had been to this bar no less than 40 times with no problems. One day we walk in and a drunk threatens my friend in the bathroom. We tell the bouncer (old rasta guy) and he removes the guy. Next time we come we are told that we are not allowed in. We are able to get in during the week but not on weekends. The owner told me that I can be there but the bouncer won’t let me in. I have experienced hate crimes against me before but this takes the cake. I am just trying to have fun with my friends. Old rasta guy needs to be replaced. He obviously doesn’t like women. Preference for dating is one thing but hating females is too much. The owner might want to do some psych evaluations on the employees. Just saying. He lives far away and leaves us to deal with unstable staff while he rakes in the dough. Get it together people.

This place used to be hit or miss, but the last two time that I’ve visited I’ve had a blast.
It’s the people that make a bar experience and the locals here are great.

This place is so fun if you like it for what it is — a dive bar! Only expectations should be alcohol (probably low grade), pool table, casual conversation, and pop hits on the jukebox! I ordered a wine (I think it was $ 2 for a glass — something ridiculously inexpensive), but the glass had lip marks on it (I can’t imagine the wine glasses being used there often!). The bartender was cool and served the drink with a new glass. So when you go, check your wine glass for lip stains, put on some good tunes, and be cool.

I was happy with the current DJ who I have not heard before at this club. It was a fantastic Mickys DJ. I was impressed. DJ SRO was his name. The drinks were reasonable and people were dancing

So far my favorite gay bar in Long Beach. The name would have me think of a bar that has been decaying since the 60s (which have their own charm) but it is actually well designed, clean, and had a good variety of clientele gender and age. Busy on a Saturday night but not packed.

Abusive Hell Hole — if you want to be treated poorly and even yelled at by a psycho bartender, then this is the place for you. I can take that the place is a dive bar… no probs with that. But to have consistently lousy service by the bartenders is not cool.
There is one bartender in particular, the younger of the two, who are usually on shift, that likely has a personality disorder. As a few previous reviewers have mentioned, this dude selectively ignores you. He’ll serve others but seems to randomly pick a handful of guys that he simply choses to ignore. This makes noooo sense for a place that serves alcohol in order to make money. Unfortunately, this had happened to me on a number of occasions. It eventually became easier to simply let a friend order, as they’d actually get service. Not sure what I did… refuse him on Grindr???
In speaking to a number of other guys, this same bartender has done the same to them. It wouldn’t be so bad if there were a handful of bartenders working from which to choose, but there are only ever two, no matter how busy they are. So not only can getting a drink be damn near impossible, the line-​up takes forever. A very stupid move on the part of management as they could be pouring way more alcohol with more staff on.
The worst of it came when the last time I was there I went to the bar and asked for change from one of the guys at the bar. He told me that he was only a bar-​back and couldn’t get me change and that I’d have to ask one of the bartenders. After he pointed out the bartenders to me, the younger of the two bartenders came towards me aggressively yelling and calling me an asshole. WTF??? I felt like I was in the Twilight Zone. Buddy kept on swearing at me at the top of his lungs. I think he may have missed some of his meds. He then got the bouncer to throw me out. For asking for change??? Again, WTF.
I sincerely hope that the bartender does get some help. Guaranteed though, I’ll never darken this pit of misery again. They don’t deserve the business.

If you want a drink, be prepared to wait a while. My boyfriend and I stopped in for a drink and were never even acknowledged. We waited about twenty minutes with this massive crowd, but were skipped over repeatedly. There was virtually no walking-​around room and the music was so loud it was deafening. There was also a sub-​par go-​go boy in tightie-​whities on a box. We will skip this place in the future. The Brit Bar is better!

I love a dive bar as much as the rest… but they have it the limit on dive here… the place smells like backed up sewage… and be sure to check when the DJ starts so u dont pump in bills to the jukebox… post a fukin note on the jukebox… all in all this place is a typical gay bar… no maintenance… sloppy…management resting on captive audience… mostly likey greedy owners… taken the gay communities money with nothing in return… except for the sun bleached gay flags out front

After a few drinks, this gay bar was pretty fun. A gay friend took me and 2 other straight guys out to this place. I wouldn’t come here by default or as a first choice but this bar was better than the other gay bar down the street that we hit up first.
The music was very girls’ night out-​ish: Spice Girls, Beyoncé, Nsync. You get it. I loved it.
The vibe is fun and lively. 1 of my straight guys friends was sticking to the wall and not making eye contact with anyone except our group of friends. He was still getting approached left and right. Later on he said he felt like he was «a piece of meat». Go figure, how dyou think us girls feel 99% of the time?!
It’s cash only, but there is an ATM inside the bar.

My Shaft? Minecraft! I love the name!
Cheap drinks, nice bartenders, nice crowd! It’s pretty cozy here. Parking though? Good luck! I’ve never seen such terrible parking in a city thus far.
They closed pretty early the other night, 1:30am. By the way, no credit cards, bring cash or use their ATM.

The Mine Shaft Bar, more historically known as «The Shaft,» is a favorite local neighborhood watering hole, along Long Beach’s famous Broadway corridor.
Open from noon to 2am each day, they serve stiff drinks at cheap prices, so what more could you ask for? Good music, with a couple pool tables and a jukebox for entertainment. Not generally my scene, but the place is chill nevertheless.
It gets crowded closer to the weekend, but nothing you can’t manage. The locals are cool and for my first visit, I felt really comfortable. The only downside of course is the parking. Trying to find one nearby can be a chore.
Also, the place is CASH ONLY, so it does dampen your spirits if plastic is your choice of payment. I believe I did see an ATM machine, so it works out either way. It’s generally known to be a gay bar, but who cares about that kind of stuff these days. As long as the people respect you and you in turn are just as considerate, you’re gonna have a great time.
THE DOVE SHACK
Consisting of C-​Knight, Bo-​Roc, and 2Scoops, this G-​funk group from Long Beach is well known for the tracks — «This Is the Shack» and «Summertime in the LBC.» I can’t cruise thru Long Beach without at least thinking about one of their jams. (
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Whoever the dj is tonight on ⁴⁄₁₂ is amazing! Best songs of the 90s and 2000s. So glad we didn’t pay to get into another bar in long beach. Mineshaft is pretty hot tonight.