The warm neon glow of the Silver Platter tells you you’ve arrived somewhere special.

For decades, this unassuming bar in the Westlake neighborhood has welcomed for Latinx, LGBTQ+, and working class Angelenos to dance, drink, and connect. Starting in the 1990s through today, the bar has been a special and rare place for trans Latinas be themselves.

In 2020, the property owner submitted plans to build a new mixed use building on the corner of 7th Street and Rampart Ave. However, the owners of the bar and the public only learned about the project in 2024 when a demolition sign was posted on the building.

The Conservancy is proud to collaborate with the Silver Platter owners, Council District 1, and the Museum of Neon Art to salvage historic elements such as historic neon sign, and support the business in continuing its legacy at a new site.

The Conservancy and the Silver Platter nominated the site as an Endangered Latinx Landmark, and on September 9, 2025 Latinos in Heritage Conservation unveiled the site as part of its inaugural group. The recognition will bring new attention to the bar and help convey its story to a nationwide audience.

The Silver Platter is undoubtedly a historic place as one of L.A.’s few remaining Latinx and LGBTQ+ bars, and one of the only that has played such a vital role in the trans Latina community. We believe the Historic Resource Assessment prepared for the development application that claimed the site non-historic was seriously flawed. It evaluated only the architectural merit of the building itself, but not the decades of LGBTQ+ context – much of it readily available online.

While State Bill 330 prevents historic designations from being submitted after the approval of a housing project, we are committed to helping tell the story of this place as part of our LGBTQ+ and legacy business initiatives.

We’re providing advocacy and technical assistance to the Silver Platter, as part of our Legacy Business Initiative, to help the bar relocate to a new permanent location.