Tony’s Corner Pocket: 20 Years of Respect, Drag and Found Family

As Tony’s Corner Pocket marks 20 years in Houston, owner Tony Vaccaro is reflecting on the goal that guided him in 2006: to create a place where people could connect and feel respected.

“I wanted it to be open to everybody and for everybody to have a good time. It would be all about respect,” says Vaccaro. A sign on the patio makes that promise explicit: “We welcome all races, all religions, all cultures, all sexual orientations, all gender identities, all people.”

Born in New York, Vaccaro settled in Houston in 1987 and became a familiar nightlife figure. He advanced from barback at Mother’s to bartender, then worked at Gentry, Decades, and EJ’s, where owners Ed and Jeff promoted him to general manager. “They gave me the training I needed and had faith in me,” he says.

In 2006, Vaccaro purchased 817 West Dallas Street after piano bar Keys West closed. “The bar business was all I’ve ever known,” he says. Vaccaro named the new club Tony’s Corner Pocket and commissioned an eight-ball logo. Most of the Keys West staff left, but Josh Jones stayed on and is now general manager.

The early years were difficult as Vaccaro navigated permits and reshaped the property. Enlarging the patio showcased its spectacular view of downtown, which is just blocks away. “Tony saw the potential of that view,” Jones says. The skyline has become a favorite photo backdrop for guests on the patio.

Today the club has a main bar, a back corner bar, and two patio bars. By acquiring neighboring parcels over the years, Vaccaro expanded parking from about 25 spaces to more than 90. “It’s his hard work that has built the club, his being willing to change and challenge people, but always keeping this as a place to land,” Jones points out.

Finding the right identity took time. Whereas Keys West had been an upscale martini bar, Vaccaro envisioned a welcoming neighborhood gathering place with no cover charge, recurring entertainment, and room for newcomers and regulars alike.

Nightlife and Entertainment

Now, every Monday night there is an open mic called “Tony’s Got Talent.” Anyone is invited to sing, perform drag, read poetry, play an instrument, or share another talent. Mykey Whitney, who is also a bartender, emcees the show.

The other six nights of the week, the club features amateur male strip contests, with cash prizes for the winners. Different drag hostesses moderate the shows and provide entertainment. The hostess lineup includes Angela Mercy, Kayla Monroe, Alexis Nicole Whitney, An’ Marie Gill, Ashleey Houston, Regina Dane, and Justice Taylor.

Dance contestants register each evening at 9:00 p.m., and are each given a chance to perform. “We consistently have between 20 and 30 dancers every night; 32 is the cutoff,” Jones explains.

The show starts around 10:00 p.m. and runs until 1:45 a.m. The dancers are split up into three to five sets, and the hostesses perform in between. At the end of the evening, all contestants stand on the stage, and winners are determined by audience applause.

Vaccaro says he is very proud of his dancers and pleased he has been able to give young men a steppingstone to achieve their goals. Many have pursued higher education and gone on to careers in fields including law and medicine. They paid for their education by competing in the contests.

One regular performer is a breakdancer and can spin on his head. Another has been dancing for 18 years. Each dancer has their own unique personality and performance style. Popular dancers usually stay from two to five years.

Alexis Whitney, a hostess at the club for nine years, is visually impaired, having lost her vision at age 22 when she contracted spinal meningitis. She has learned her way up to the stage, uses the wall to walk to the center of the stage, and then knows the number of steps to go forward to the edge. “People are very respectful towards my performances. They touch my leg to let me know they want to give me a tip.”

Whitney is known for her performances of Celine Dion and Selena songs. Her signature piece is Juan Gabriel’s “Amor Eterno,” a powerful ballad about deep grief, loss, and the pain of loving someone after they have died.

The club’s event calendar includes Easter shows and a Kentucky Derby celebration. For Houston Pride, Tony’s has served food to parade participants because the bar was near the end of the parade’s lineup route. The patio offers a spectacular Fourth of July fireworks view, while October brings the anniversary celebration and Halloween.

On Thanksgiving and Christmas, Tony’s serves a free meal, often supplemented by guests’ desserts and side dishes. Five Christmas trees glisten in the bar. During the holidays, Vaccaro and staff members assemble about three dozen bicycles for children and deliver them to a local fire station to be distributed. A toy drive supports Thomas Street Clinic patients who could not otherwise afford gifts for their young loved ones.

The club’s annual turnabout show is always comical. Bartenders, barbacks, and DJs dress in drag and perform. Meanwhile, the regular entertainers tend to the bar.

Sometimes Vaccaro takes to the stage and lip syncs old standards. Among his favorites are songs made famous by Nat King Cole. Jones performs as Bitter Leggs Debris, one of the campy Debris Sisters who often do shows at the club.

A Place for Community

Tony’s also hosts memorial services for employees, customers, and others in its community who have passed away. The club lost one of its bartenders to COVID. Jones estimates he has attended more than 100 of these final tributes. “The services are especially meaningful since so many people in the gay community don’t have family,” he notes. “It’s just their friends and their found family that is left to celebrate their lives. So, we’re always there for that.”

After longtime employee Gilbert Hernandez died in March, the club commemorated him at his usual workplace. “Gilbert worked one particular station, and we now have a memorial plaque above that station,” Jones points out.

Tony’s has also been a regular platform for benefits, community groups, and special events. “Tony loves to give back to the community and opens his club for charities to have benefit shows, or events from barbecue plate sales to car washes,” Alexis Whitney says. “The annual anniversary show raises money for one organization every year, and a couple of years it was for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. We have raised an average of $12,000 each year.”

That instinct to help is clearest in emergencies. After Hurricane Ike in 2008, Vaccaro rented a generator and reopened quickly. Customers brought meat that might spoil, and the club held a patio barbecue. During the 2021 freeze, Tony’s opened within a day so people could warm up, eat, and charge phones.

In 2020, COVID brought a different test. Closed for six months, Vaccaro combined savings and government assistance to support employees. “He really took care of the employees at that point in time and made sure they had what they needed,” Jones says. “The staff stepped up and did things, trying to keep our name out there. We didn’t give up. We just kept going.”

The hostesses performed online shows to give regulars a sense of continuity. A socially distanced parking-lot event helped staff stay connected with customers. The guests brought their own liquor as staff delivered mixers to their cars and picked up tips for the entertainers. “Tony has built such a family with the employees that we were all behind him because he was helping us,” Jones says.

Reopening began at 25 percent occupancy, with masks, plastic barriers, and occasional barbecues.

Over the years, Tony’s has supported local gay sports teams, the Krewe of Olympus, the Texas Gay Rodeo Association, and PWA Holiday Charities, to name just a few. The patio fence features logos from the many organizations that have a connection with the club.

PWA (People with AIDS) Holiday Charities Executive Director Don Gill says, “He is 100% a supporter of the Holiday Charities, and a true gentleman when it comes to our endeavors.” Donation canisters for the organization are located throughout the bar. The group’s events help provide $100 Target and Kroger gift cards to low-income people with AIDS for meals and to buy gifts to give to their families and friends during the holidays.

Judy Reeves, longtime curator of the Gulf Coast Archive & Museum of GLBT History, Inc. (GCAM), remembers annual fundraising “revival” programs at Tony’s. The campy event was like an old-fashioned tent revival, complete with a preacher, gospel songs, and hanky waving. At the end of the show, the entire cast would take to the stage for a performance of the legendary gospel anthem “Looking for a City.”

“Every time we had a show there, Tony would get out his checkbook and make a donation on behalf of the club,” Reeves remembers. The club also displayed historical materials in two GCAM display cases.

Regular customer Jose Garza values the club’s accessibility. “It’s in my neighborhood, and it’s within walking distance. The bartenders are friendly. The drinks are good, as are the prices.” Tony’s sponsors Garza’s softball team, the Tequila Shots, which raises money every year for the Walk to End HIV. The club’s bartenders join the team members and walk as a group.

The club also works with the Empire of the Royal Sovereign and Imperial Court of the Single Star on fundraisers for Montrose Grace Place, the Legacy Women’s Health Program, scholarships, and emergency aid. “We’ve always had a good relationship with Tony’s,” says Angie Dunwoodie, the organization’s reigning empress and a DJ at the club. “It’s a very welcoming, very safe space,” she adds.

Twenty Years and Counting

The October 3, 2026, anniversary celebration was set to feature patio performances by the Main Street band, the introduction of the new Mr. and Miss Tony’s Corner Pocket, hors d’oeuvres, and a free catered dinner. The Chinese-inspired menu nodded to the traditional 20th-anniversary gift of china. Tips and donations were to benefit Montrose Grace Place, which serves homeless LGBTQ teens.

For Vaccaro, this anniversary is both a business achievement and evidence of a relationship sustained over two decades. He calls it “definitely, a milestone. We plan to keep going, and would love to be here another 20 years.”

Bradley Boon, who first met Vaccaro in 1987 and has worked as a bartender at Tony’s for more than 12 years, credits Vaccaro’s consistency and generosity. “He succeeds because he doesn’t forget where he came from. It’s amazing what he has achieved from the time I first met him four decades ago.”

“There’s a lot of love in his heart, a lot of compassion,” Boon continues. “He’s there to take care of those that a lot of people don’t want to take care of. In his heart, he’s got more love than a lot of people have during their whole life. Tony is also a goofball. He enjoys life.”

Jones sees the same spirit in the club’s staff and customers. “We’re not in the gayborhood like so many of the bars,” Jones notes. “We are a destination bar. But we are known for our sense of community, and the staff feels like family.”

Some customers return after years away to explain what the club meant to them. Jones recalls hearing: “Y’all helped to mold me and help me understand what being part of the gay community is about. You were there during a hard time or helped me understand something I didn’t understand about myself and gave me a space to explore my feelings.”

For Tony’s Corner Pocket, those returns may be the clearest measure of its first 20 years: not simply how long the doors have stayed open, but how many people find a place to belong once they have walked through them.