I wasn’t sure I was up for the task but I knew I could rebrand the place and have it do great things for the community.” Donall introduced daily drag on-the-street shows at Palace and launched its popular drag brunch. “It needed major renovation and I was semi-retired. “The kitchen was outdated, the sound was bad,” he remembers. By the time Thomas Donall, a nightclub owner and designer from Michigan, took over Palace in 2007, the restaurant and bar was in decline. Stars like Luciano Pavarotti, Elton John, Madonna and Princess Diana were frequently spotted and as Ocean Drive became a hot spot for fashion models, with new photoshoots and music videos being shot every day. He would bring his celebrity friends to eat, too. Around that time, designer Gianni Versace moved to Ocean Drive, a block away from Palace, and became a regular fixture. The community had adopted the 12th Street Beach across the street as their own, and soon the party carried over, with Palace hosting T-dances in it’s parking lot.
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In the 90s, Palace started catering to the city’s gay population. Palace was the first on Ocean Drive and would usher in a whole new era that would eventually lead to cafes up and down the street. There were no other restaurants on the drive at the time and everyone thought Palsar was crazy to introduce one, but he did. It was older, grittier, gang-ridden as depicted on TV’s Miami Vice, which happened to be shooting on Ocean Drive when Palsar first came upon 1200 Ocean Dr., his “little slice of heaven,” as he called it. Miami was a much different city at the time. In February of 1988, Steve Palsar launched the original Palace at 1200 Ocean Drive. After all, “Every Queen needs a Palace”, and we’ve been home to the most glamorous performers and drag queens in all of South Florida since 1988. But after three decades of unforgettable parties - including South Beach’s righteous heyday as a ‘90s gay mecca - Palace was bound to become a legend.
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If these walls could talk, they’d tell you how becoming Miami’s #1 LGBTQ+ bar and restaurant was no small feat.