The Silver Platter may be the oldest existing Latinx bar for LGBTQ+ people in Los Angeles, but it’s not just a bar; it’s a living piece of local history.
Established in 1963, the Silver Platter has served as a sanctuary for Spanish-speaking gay Latinos, transgender Latinas and working-class immigrants in the Westlake district. There, customers find community and acceptance for who they are.
Yet now, after many years of supporting this diverse community, the bar faces demolition.
On a typical Friday or Saturday night, the bar can expect up to 200 patrons, many of whom are longtime regulars. They catch up on neighborhood gossip, or sing along to pop, disco and Latin rock. Owner Margarita Xatruch not only cooks for her customers, but also acts as a surrogate mother of sorts.
“For [many in] this community, they don’t have family here, some [members of] our trans community don’t have a family that accepts them,” said Xatruch’s daughter Martha Vasquez, who runs the bar with her mother. “It is a very hard and sad time, but to share a place or have somewhere to go, that you’re not by yourself, brings a feeling of acceptance.
“It’s like the Hispanic [version of] ‘Cheers’ where everybody kind of knows everybody, but it’s also a very welcoming space,” Vasquez added, referencing the American sitcom.
Last August, Vasquez was going to help her mother at the Silver Platter as usual, when she saw a note stating that the building would be demolished. She later learned the landlord intended to build affordable housing there.
Vasquez was told she would be given an update at a later date, and in January, her family’s business received an official eviction notice. Although they originally settled on a Nov. 30 move-out date, the landlord has extended their stay until March 1.
Roussin Capital Group, who owns the building, did not respond to a request for comment.
Vasquez said the news of the demolition and eviction came as a shock to her and her mother. The bar had survived the Civil Rights movement; the Olympics in 1984 and the L.A. riots in 1992. The bar also helped sponsor the Lavender Left demonstration against police harassment in 1988.
The Silver Platter even endured a shutdown during the first 18 months of the COVID-19 pandemic; as well as the occasional spikes in crime, followed by the rampant ICE raids this summer.
While the owners signed a lease to another location in Westlake, they are still looking to City Council, the Los Angeles Police Department and the Neighborhood Council to grant them a conditional use permit in order to reopen, which requires up to $22,000 for a nonrefundable application fee and up to 18 months to get approved.
The Silver Platter has ample support in the community, including from the Los Angeles Conservancy, the Latinos in Heritage Conservation, the Museum of Neon Art, the TransLatin@ Coalition and a local school, in addition to their loyal patrons.
“[The] Silver Platter is the fabric of the community,” Vasquez said. “[Our] neighborhood is really a first-generation immigrant community. They’re basically telling us what Trump is saying: ‘You don’t belong in these spaces. If you want to get relocated, or if you want to stay in this neighborhood, you better get in line like everybody else.’”
LAPD Rampart Station Sgt. Anthony Kong said that the space where Vasquez and her mother are trying to relocate Silver Platter has been vacant for three years and has had no problems during that time — nor have there been any issues with the Silver Platter.
Vasquez said she is hoping to preserve some aspects of the Silver Platter by bringing them to the new building. She is working with the Museum of Neon Art to restore the iconic “Silver Platter” sign that is perched just above the building’s entrance, as it has taken some damage over the years. They hope to move the sign and the bar table itself to the new bar.
The demolition was recently approved by the City Council. Vasquez said that, although they have the authority to waive the application fee or public hearing, the City Council declined. Waiving the hearing would have allowed the Silver Platter to reopen in its new location in four months, instead of what could be 18 months. Vasquez said she hopes they will redeem themselves by approving the permits for the Silver Platter to reopen.
“They can really deny us, they can say, ‘No, we’re not going to allow you to relocate,’ and that’s it,” Vasquez said. “That’s the end of an era. That’s the end of the oldest Latinx LGBTQ+ bar in the Westlake district, and it’s done.”
Recognizing the Silver Platter’s historic legacy within the Latinx and LGBTQ+ communities in Los Angeles, the Latinos in Heritage Conservation, which was established in 2014 to help support Latinx preservation, got involved and named the Silver Platter one of the top 13 endangered Latinx landmarks in the country.
“When we lose a landmark, we’re not just losing a brick building; we’re losing a history, we’re losing a memory,” said Sehila Mota Casper, executive director of the Latinos in Heritage Conservation. “We’re losing stories, we’re losing community identity.”
Mota Casper said there are many sites across the country that are being demolished, like the Silver Platter, because the history and value isn’t recognized. In the National Register of Historic Places, less than 1% of sites listed there are representative of Latino heritage, despite Latinos making up 20% of the U.S. population.
In addition to the Silver Platter, the Latinos in Heritage Conservation also included the the Elgin Mexican Cemetery in Texas, which is where many Latinos who migrated during the early 20th century are buried, but the area is threatened by flooding, and Las Barracas, a World War II-era building where bracero workers would stay as they supported the troops, but is now abandoned, facing deterioration and vandalized.
“If our sites aren’t designated, if they’re not protected, then they will be demolished,” Mota Casper said. “So the designation of it, or the overlooking of this history and the valuation of it, creates threats every single day.”
For Cris Davila, a regular patron at Silver Platter, “that bar is like my home.”
When Davila first started coming to the Silver Platter five years ago, she instantly felt welcome. She was drawn to the bar because she knew it supports the Latinx LGBTQ+ community, and as a bisexual immigrant from Honduras, she was seeking community. She doesn’t have family in the U.S., but she says her family in Honduras didn’t accept her either.
After long work weeks, Davila likes to go to the Silver Platter to relax, sing and enjoy time with friends. While everyone in the bar has been very welcoming, Davila said it is especially the owner, Xatruch, who makes the place special.
On Holidays like Christmas and Thanksgiving, Xatruch cooks for the patrons. Davila said that Xatruch also cooked her barbecue ribs at the Silver Platter for her birthday.
“I’ve made many friends, I’m accepted by everyone who goes there,” Davila said. “I feel very welcome and loved by the people who have visited, by the owner and by the staff.”
“As a person alone in this country, it makes me really sad that this place will be demolished,” Davila added.
Julio Castillo, who has been a regular for 10 years, also enjoys spending the holidays at the Silver Platter. He particularly likes the fiesta Xatruch throws at the bar on Nochebuena, as she cooks a feast for everyone. At midnight, they all embrace.
“I’m glad they are attempting to relocate, but we were already used to being in that business location that treated us good,” Castillo said.
“It’s very important to preserve the bar; it’s a place where we can be ourselves in this moment. I wish it wouldn’t get demolished so we could keep going there.”
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