EDGE Los Angeles

Everyone ends up at the Abbey. The bar-restaurant tucked into a section of lower West Hollywood near the border of Beverly Hills on the West Side of Los Angeles, has become a haven for gay boys, the girls who love them, straight-but-not-narrow couples, and the bold-faced set.

Over the past 15-plus years, owner David Cooley has turned the Abbey from a modest coffeehouse into a hotspot known all over the world and revered at home. In L.A., where the cachet of nightclubs, restaurants and hangouts changes with the frequency of the top-grossing movies, the Abbey has managed to stay on top by continually reinventing itself.

Cooley started in 1991 with a coffeehouse where the Bossa Nova Grill is now. "This was before Starbucks or any of the corporate coffee chains," he told EDGE in a recent interview. The place anticipated Starbucks as making coffee a good reason to hang out with friends or sit with a writing tablet, pre-computer (because in Hollywood, everyone is working on a screenplay).

Like so many others before (and after) him, Cooley hailed originally from points East, in his case Ohio, and then Las Vegas, where he studied hotel management in college. The bright lights of Tinseltown beckoned, however, and he waited tables and cleaned houses when he first arrived in L.A. before landing a job as a stockbroker.

Not too long after, he founded the Abbey and the rest, as they say, is history. He quickly outgrew his digs and moved across the street, got a liquor license and the Abbey as we know it was born.

It quickly became the social hub of the then-new city of West Hollywood. The previously unincorporated part of Los Angeles only became "official" in 1984, but it had long been the hub of gay life in L.A.

The Abbey was the new city’s social center, a place where people could meet and relax. It was also something new on the scene: a gay establishment open to everyone, out and proud.

"I noticed the bars were all behind closed doors, with blacked-out windows, entrance from the back," Cooley recalls. "You had to sneak in. Here, you could be who you are. The Abbey was open and inviting."

Early on, Cooley decided there would be no VIP section, no roped-off area where the beautiful people could segment themselves. Here, everybody was a star. This was going to be a new concept in gay

"I wanted to make something that was a little more upscale," Cooley recalls, "outside, more of a bar and restaurant--not someplace where people were sitting on beer cartons and seats."

His new space quickly caught on. "I love when customers say, ’This is the first place where I was comfortable when I was coming out,’ or ’I can bring my customers.’"

When a few people complain that "they" are invading "our" space, Cooley just smiles and shrugs. "Isn’t that what we’re fighting for?" he asks. Everyone is welcome at the Abbey. It’s the place where the WeHo boys can meet on a date or take the folks visiting from out of town.

WeHo’s ’Town Center’
The Abbey has become an institution in an instant city where nothing seems to stay the same. "We’re on the Gray Line Tour Bus," Cooley laughs. "We’re one of the stops now. That’s great! We’re a landmark for the community."

He considers his bar the "town center" of West Hollywood. Just off the Santa Monica Strip, the Abbey is where people "feel safe, are comfortable and are recognized."

The Abbey has continued to expand within its location. Nestled alongside parkland, its outdoor seating area and expansive inside make it a destination for visitors and locals alike.

It has also developed a reputation as a bar-restaurant that gives back to the community. The Abbey hosts several benefits each year, including its well-known Academy Awards party "The Envelope Please." Co-sponsored with Esquire magazine, it raises over $150,000 a year for AIDS Project Los Angeles.

The Abbey also hosts events for other AIDS groups and other charities. Cooley’s own house in the lovely Hancock Park area of Los Angeles hosts a fundraiser fro Gay & Lesbian Elder Housing.

What’s Next for the Abbey?
In May 2006, Cooley decided that he wanted a partner who would share his vision so that he could continue to expand the business. He teamed up with SBE, a local player on the local nightlife and restaurant scene.

"I was never for sale," Cooley says. "I never thought about selling. I was working 16 hours a day but enjoying it."

SBE gives him complete control over his baby, while giving him "a little more of my back to me." Cooley maintains a second home in Montreal, which gives him just about as much of a change of scene from perpetually sunny L.A. as possible in North America.

In recent years, it has seemed that things just couldn’t get any better for the Abbey. Every night, it’s packed with scenesters, couples and everyone else in L.A. who wants a truly cool space.

Then, late in 2009, the Abbey was voted the "Best Gay Bar in the World" in an online poll taken by Logo, the MTV-run LGBT cable channel. The award came as a surprise to Cooley, who was in Greece to celebrate his birthday when he was apprised of the nomination.

"I created something, and I’m so proud of the support I got from the clientele," he says. As for the Abbey itself, it has continued to expand, most recently with a satellite bar and lounge dubbed the Effen Smooth Bar.

The Abbey is now 16,000 square feet, but it still provides the same sense of intimacy and welcome feeling it had when it began as a modest coffeehouse.