Visit Oakland calls FLUID510 “a love letter to the experience of Oakland: diverse, passionate & fun.” This LGBTQ+-welcoming venue is the creation of nationally recognized, award-winning owners Richard Fuentes and Sean Sullivan. They previously ran The Port Bar, which was also very popular and located next to the Paramount Theatre. A landlord dispute led to its closure last year. But FLUID510, located in the heart of Oakland at 1544 Broadway not far from City Hall and City Center, remains an East Bay destination that serves up tasty food and drinks, and holds stand-up comedy nights, trivia brunches, and other events. It is also becoming known as a go-to spot for private events, since the 5,000-square-foot space includes a full kitchen, state of the art sound & lighting, two projection screens, two full bars, and an elevated lounge.
GGBA: Tell us more about FLUID510.
Sean Sullivan: FLUID510 is the destination for all things fun in Oakland. Our vision is to help you implement your vision for your next great event! We are committed to Oakland. We live & love in downtown Oakland, so it was important for us to present the community another space to gather.
Richard Fuentes: In our short two years, we’ve had Barbara Lee launch her successful campaign for Oakland Mayor here, we have shows for emerging queer designers like Emergence during Oakland Style Week (October 8–12, with the FLUID510 event on Saturday, October 11), we’ve hosted dozens of RuPaul drag queens, we partnered with BoomBoom Bay Area for album releases like Bad Bunny with Morphine Love Dion, and we had a most successful Oakland Pride week with events every day of the week and the morning of Pride starting at 7 am with the annual Stonewall Democrats Breakfast, sold-out drag brunches, and incredible proud, fun into the wee hours.
GGBA: Why did you decide to create FLUID510?
Richard Fuentes: We had outgrown The Port Bar (The Port Bar forever!) and we needed a venue not only to host larger dance parties and drag shows but also the community wanted to host their own events in a beautiful venue such as FLUID510 and guests wanted more than drinks and so at FLUID510 we provide food as well as tasty mocktails.
Sean Sullivan: Our creative programming really resonated with our beautiful LGBTQ community on both sides of the bay and we felt this was a new, more elevated way of bringing the community together.
GGBA: Who are some of your role models, and especially those who helped to influence your business?
Sean Sullivan: [One is] Fred Rogers, founder of the world famous Elephant Walk, Harvey Milk’s favorite bar in the Castro. It’s a bar steeped in LGBTQ history as much as Stonewall! Fred has always been a great ear for our concerns and way-shower for how to run a business but be a leader in the community. He’s a member of the Oakland Gay Men’s Chorus and we are big supporters of the Chorus’ shows.
GGBA: Why did you decide to join the GGBA, and how long have you been a member?
Richard Fuentes: We just joined to help the GGBA expand its presence in Oakland and the East Bay. Our community needs representation and greater visibility, so join us at their next mixer conveniently located at 1544 Broadway in Oakland.
GGBA: What advice would you give to someone who is thinking of starting their own business?
Richard Fuentes: Having experience in the industry you are pursuing definitely helps because you never know when you will need to step in.
Sean Sullivan: The buck stops with you, and, in our industry, sometimes that means you’re cleaning the toilets and other times that means you’re making the drinks. Hopefully, not in that order and definitely wash your hands before and after you do either!
Richard Fuentes: I would also say reach out to your intended customer. Before we started The Port Bar, we did focus groups. We’ve intently listened to our customers in creating FLUID510 and ever since.
Sean Sullivan: Your network is your net worth! Definitely having a strong network of support will help your business and constantly working to support other emerging leaders helps you as much as it does them.
GGBA: Is there anything else that you would like to share?
Sean Sullivan: We have popular brunches curated by our amazing gay chef Alessandro Campitelli. Sometimes the brunch is taken over by a hip-hop promoter. Sometimes it is led by Anne Marks, a leader in the No on Prop 8 movement with her amazing DayThinking Trivia Brunches every 1st & 3rd Saturday. Sometimes it features drag performances like [the one on] October 26 with a Halloween theme. And every Friday it is served tapas-style with our RnB Karaoke party. But whenever they are, theme or not, they are delicious!
Richard Fuentes: Now more than ever, we need to support each other. We have a great relationship with our fellow LGBTQ+ bar owners, restauranteurs, Visit Oakland, and the City of Oakland. We are in this together! Sean recently created the new Uptown Stroll on the 3rd Thursdays of the month to bring more feet on the street and hungry bellies in the doors of restaurants of downtown Oakland. It’s new, but it’s already a hit and that’s because of the power of community working together.
GGBA Memberspotlight
Published on September 25, 2025
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