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Fern bar is an American slang term for an upscale or preppy (or yuppie) bar or tavern catering to singles, usually decorated with or other greenery, as well as such decor as fake . The phrase came into common regional usage in the late 1970s.
Another early fern bar, also thought to be the original birthplace of the Lemon Drop martini, was Henry Africa's in San Francisco, California. The bar opened in 1969 at Broadway and Polk Streets by out-of-work veteran Norman Hobday, who by his own account "took the opium-den atmosphere out of the saloons" in favor of "antique lamps and Grandma's living-room furniture." By some accounts Hobday copied the concept from another restaurant, Perry's, which opened several months earlier and was made famous as a singles "meet market" by Armistead Maupin's novel, Tales of the City.
Hobday closed the establishment in 1986, and opened up Eddie Rickenbackers, another eclectic bar, the next year.
Fern bars were gathering places for well-dressed "upscale" young men and women, initially during the sexual revolution of the 1970s and later the yuppie era of the 1980s. Fern bars were frequently talked of disparagingly as singles bars where individuals would go to hit on men or women for casual sex. This image was common in the 1980s despite the fact that many people attended these bars for after-work occasions, parties or in groups.
Description
Typical drinks served included spritzer, lemon drop martinis, frozen daiquirís, Harvey Wallbangers, and piña coladas. Franchises sometimes labeled "fern bars" include T.G.I. Friday's, Bennigan's, and Houlihan's.
See also
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