R Place: General Manager Floyd Lovelady

By Cesar A Reyes

Please Introduce yourself:
My name is Floyd Lovelady but do not let the last name fool you. I was born here in San Diego and have lived on the west coast my whole life. A Navy brat, I lived in America Canyon, Santee, El Cajon, and Ocean Beach. I attended Cal State LA after high school and lived in Los Angeles for about six years. I worked in a gay bar called Revolver in the late 90s. That was where I came out and grew up. I moved up to Seattle and lived there for about 20 years where I ran a bar called R Place.

What does it mean, to now open R Place in Hillcrest and be involved in that?
I think everything happens for a reason. When I moved back here a couple of years ago, I was walking downtown and I saw this place called R Place Sports Bar & Grill. I asked “who owns this place?” and they pointed me to Demisio. I asked him “where are you from?” and he said Seattle. We talked and hit it off. I am super exited to be back here and to bring that entertainment and family fun atmosphere that we had in Seattle down to San Diego. It is nice to return back to SD and be part of my community here. I came out in LA after leaving San Diego, so having a chance to be part of the LGBTQ+ community here is very exciting. 

If I remember correctly, you had said that you were working for the Padres before; what was that like?
It was great! I am a huge Padres fan. I actually have Tony Gwynn tattooed on my arm! Working for the Padres, I got to experience the games up close. I was there for every single game during playoffs. It was so awesome and so exciting! I am going to miss working for the Padres but I will still go to a few games here and there.

Would you talk about what position you’re going to be playing in R Place?
I am going to be the general manager and I will be working closely with the owners, Demisio and Juan Carlos. Hiring staff, training them, booking the entertainment, introducing myself to the patrons, and just being out there among the people. By listening to the customers, I hope we can give people what they want.

Would you invite our readers to come and visit R Place?
Come out to R Place. It is going to be a lot of fun! I think it will be San Diego’s first sports bar for the LGBTQ+ community. But not only sports; we will have a lot of entertainment. I am going to bring some of the ideas from my time at Revolver and R Place in Seattle. Of course, there will be lots of local entertainers. It is going to be a lot of fun. Great food, great times, and a lot of laughs.