Former employees of The Ruby Fruit speak out about sudden closure

Owners Emily Bielagus and Mara Herbkersman announced The Ruby Fruit, one of only 37 lesbian bars left in the United States, was closing its doors in a now-deleted Instagram post. 

The restaurant opened its doors in 2023 and quickly became a community space marketed heavily toward being a ‘sapphically-inclined,’ restaurant, event space and bar. 

During its peak, the Silverlake restaurant was filled with a plethora of mingling queers from all over Los Angeles and beyond. As only 1 of 2 lesbian-forward bars in L.A., many people in the community were thrilled to finally have a space to feel safe and welcomed in. 

Then a series of Instagram posts amid the recent fires that devastated parts of Los Angeles, began to raise eyebrows. At first, the posts suggested the owners and staff were safe from the fires, as well as the business itself. Then, they stated that the fires were the cause of unforeseen financial impact to the business, but did not explain how or why. 

The Ruby Fruit announced its closure through a series of posts on Instagram, first posting about their commitment to staying open and providing mutual aid for the community, to then asking for it in order to stay open. 

Within two weeks of them posting that they were committed to staying open and continuing to employ their staff, they posted that they were closing and all sixteen of the employees were left without work. 

The public and now-deleted IG account for the restaurant with over 34 thousand followers, made their first post about the fires on Jan. 9. The first post regarding the fires was posted shortly after large-scale fires burned through Pacific Palisades, Altadena and parts of Pasadena neighborhoods, affecting many members of the LGBTQ+ community. 

The restaurant posted about welcoming donations as a well-intentioned effort to aid the community and provide support. 

That same day, they also posted a shot of the crew of a handful of their employees with a caption that again mentioned their support for the community and asked for donated items to support those affected by the fires. 

On Jan. 10, The Ruby Fruit got over a thousand likes on an IG post that had a ‘by the numbers,’ infographic explaining the latest updates. 

The caption states: “We feel beyond lucky to report that none of our employees’ homes were damaged by the fires.” 

Then the post reads: “In the face of extreme disaster and with a profound sense of grief, The Ruby Fruit remains committed to staying open in order to serve our community however we can and to provide our staff with steady employment.” 

Shortly after, they posted again stating the ‘current natural disaster’ as the reason for its closure and within a moment’s notice, the restaurant closed its doors. 

“We have come to the heartbreaking decision that at this time, operating The Ruby Fruit is no longer possible due to financial impact from the current natural disaster,” read the now-deleted Instagram post. The post then went on to say that they hope this is “not goodbye, but a “see ya later.” 

Hundreds of community members grieving the loss of the space flocked to the comment section of the post to express their condolences and offer financial support in an effort to crowd-fund enough money to keep the closure from happening. 

The post also stated that it was ‘unsustainable for them during this time to continue running a business, all while experiencing the grief and loss of this disaster.’ 

To many members of the community, including their former employees, this did not add up. 

Former employees and event producers speak out

“I think ultimately, my goal is to make it clear that the issues that The Ruby Fruit had are not because of the fires and that the issues that they’ve had have been persistent since the day they opened,” said Jordan Grasso Ph.D, LGBTQ+ researcher and former employee of The Ruby Fruit. 

Grasso explained that they initially made contact with the owners back in 2023, when TRF was first opening up shop. The owners reached out to the community to find a security guard who would help keep the space safe from people who might target the brick-and-mortar because it specifically catered to the sapphic community. Grasso stepped in, not only as security guard, but also as someone who was actively doing research in preserving queer spaces in the United States. They also previously worked for Gossip Grill, a successful lesbian bar in San Diego. 

“From my prior experience and ongoing conversations with people who left after me and some of the people who were impacted by the immediate closure, there’s way more to the story,” said Grasso in an interview with LA Blade.

After announcing the closure, TFR started a GoFundMe with a goal of raising $15,000 dollars for their sixteen employees who had been suddenly left without a job. On IG, the owners stated that they would be designating a beneficiary to handle the funds and distribute them accordingly. At this point, it is worth noting that most businesses, if run correctly, should be able to pay out their employees as they depart from the business through no fault of their own. Those funds should not have to come out of the pockets of the community. 

“In the meantime, we want to re-amplify the GoFundMe we created on behalf of our employees to help them as we navigate this transition. In full transparency, these donations will be managed by the beneficiaries, who will ultimately distribute the funds how best serves them collectively,” reads their IG post from Jan. 14. 

Grasso believes from their own experience, that the owners did not establish any safeguards to ensure that their business would be financially sustainable and that was apparent to them from the very beginning. They also state that if the owners were being entirely transparent during this time, they would have more community support rather than having people speak out against them for lack of communication to their now-former employees.

According to Grasso, everything down to the way the business owners wanted them to refer to the business, did not make sense. The space was marketed as a lesbian bar and is even still currently listed as a lesbian bar on Google, but the owners and TRF website refer to the space as ‘sapphically-inclined,’ meaning that they were trying to use language that was more inclusive to avoid discrimination lawsuits. However, this made it easier for people from outside of the community to feel welcome, making it feel like less of a safe space for people within the community.

According to many members of the community, who have been very vocal on TFR’s IG posts, have said that many who identify as trans and as people of color, did not feel welcomed there.

Former employees reached out to LA Blade for comment after the LA LGBT Center posted an event flyer on their IG, promoting an event in collaboration with The Ruby Fruit. The event titled ‘Leather & Lace: A Ruby Fruit Fundraiser,’ was originally set for Feb. 22 and was going to feature The L Word: Gen Q’s Jacqueline Toboni, comedian Ever Mainard, activist Janaya Future Khan, and more. The individual party tickets were going for $150, while the VIP tables were set at $500, $1,000 and $1,500 with an open bar, Hors d’oeuvres and table service. 

Though the IG post was updated to say the event is canceled before they completely deleted their account, the Resy link for the event says all tickets are sold out and the website said the fundraiser was still open. 

The post originally had a caption that promoted the event, asking the community to donate to take part in saving The Ruby Fruit, also promoting the #SaveTheRubyFruit hashtag and it has now been changed to say the event was canceled and The LA LGBT Center was removed as a collaborator. They were asking the community for $100,000 in donations to save the bar, which many customers and community members say as heavily over-priced for low-quality food and drinks.

“If you are in a position of power, part of that role is that you [have to be] willing to set aside for a second and acknowledge that you don’t have all the answers and that’s okay,” said Grasso. “You have to be willing to listen to people and reflect and learn from it.” 

Other former employees also reached out for comment on the issue and wished to remain anonymous due to fear of retaliation, which is illegal under Municipal Code Section 188.04. 

“The Ruby Fruit was a necessary and aspirational project that never lived up to its potential because of the lack of leadership skills of the owners. Their stubborn refusal to integrate feedback from employees and customers alike created an environment oriented by scarcity, individualism, exclusion and rigidity. While it is devastating that Los Angeles has lost one of its two lesbian bars, we deserve better than The Ruby Fruit led by Mara and Emily. The sadness I feel about the closure of the bar is much smaller compared to the disappointment and hurt I experienced working there,” said one former employee who wished to remain anonymous. 

A second employee came forward and posted publicly on their IG stories about their experience. 

“The space was a labor of love and took a lot of hands and sacrifice to make it work. We deserve more than being laid off and being told it was because of the ‘fires,’ when that was clearly untrue. We deserve more than a $15k [GoFundMe] that they made without consulting us and rarely posted. And we deserved more transparency about their financial situation when they knew [TRF] could close at any moment,” read the statement of the second employee who also wished to remain anonymous. 

A third person who decided to come forward about the treatment they experienced, was a community leader who hosted monthly events at TRF. 

“We had a really good run for about six months and then there were some red flags like lack of communication – I would be left on read for two or three weeks,” said the event producer. 

The event producer who hosted their events there would host events that would bring in so many people, they would reach and at times – exceed capacity. They say they consistently dealt with issues when it came to getting paid. First, it began with a change in the overall amount and way to be paid out as an event producer hosting an event at TRF. What began as an agreed-upon flat rate, turned into a contract stating the event producer would get a 7% cut from what the bar made on the night of the events hosted by the producer. They had to trust that the amount they were being paid was correct because there was no transparency about the profit amounts or any other numbers involved. 

According to the event producer, the invoices would be paid out late, sometimes even accruing over time after multiple events would be hosted. 

“I dealt with all of these logistical red flags and where I felt less and less appreciated as the time went on,” they said. 

After some time, they weren’t budging on their 7% and the event producer says they feel as though they could no longer afford to take that pay and had to make the tough decision to walk away. 

“And of course, I also noticed the patterns of how they treated my friends and treated POC people and how they treated trans folks,” said the event producer. 

Other employees have also reached out and offered their statements regarding mistreatment. 

Though the owners have said the aforementioned Leather & Lace event is cancelled, the community still has questions about the intentions of the owners and many have even referenced a similar situation that happened back in 2023, with the sudden disappearance of Hot Donna’s Clubhouse – a lesbian-oriented event promoter who asked for $30,000 from the community to open a brick-and-mortar and then disappeared with the money. 

Many community members are anxious about what comes next and former employees are struggling to find employment. 

The owners respond 

“I think it’s important to understand that all of these feelings of like sadness and devastation and anxiety and like all of these feelings of mourning a space like we are feeling all of these as well, you know?” said Herbkersman, co-owner of TRF. “And I think, it’s important to, I think, understand, that through all of this Emily and I are individuals and humans as well and I just don’t want that to be forgotten.” 

In a four-way call with co-owners Emily and Mara, their PR agent and the Blade, Emily also spoke about her perspective on the restaurant’s closure. 

“And really, the truth is, and we can tell you the numbers, we’ve been very open with the numbers everywhere. On like day two, day three of the wildfires, you know, after business truly came to a grinding halt, and I completely understood what the city was going through and it still is, such an unprecedented crisis,” said Bielagus, co-owner of TRF. 

“Our business completely stopped and we had about $11,000 in our account and that was exactly the amount of payroll up to that moment,” continued Bielagus. 

In light of the recent fires that devastated parts of Los Angeles, many businesses have benefitted from the ordinances set forth by the city in light of the natural disaster to assist and preserve businesses. 

GoFund Me accounts have seen donation goals reached in record-breaking time due to the recent natural disasters affecting people, their businesses and their homes directly. It is up to the community to hold each other accountable, so that well-intentioned efforts are not taken advantage of.

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As an LGBTQ+ news editor and fellow sapphic, it sincerely pains me to spend time, energy and resources investigating the decisions and attitudes that led to this restaurant’s closure. During this particularly vulnerable and politically oppressive time, I would much rather be using my time, energy and resources holding people in positions of power from outside of our community accountable for their actions against us. I love my community and hope trust is not lost, but rather gained and that this can become the opportunity for more open and honest conversations.

The Better Business Bureau is designated to help with resources if you have experienced mistreatment in the workplace as an employee, or in a business as a patron.