In the 1980s, Gallus operated on Cypress Street in Atlanta’s Midtown neighborhood, a flagship restaurant during the “golden age” of gay restaurants. It was a self-contained space for gay Atlantans that offered a bit of everything: A white tablecloth restaurant, an upstairs piano bar and a basement bar with hustlers.

“You could walk in the door of the Gallus and your entire life as a gay man specifically was sort of in this one restaurant. And then you’d go out the door and you would face discrimination, and you would face a world that didn’t accept who you were in a lot of cases,” said New York-based journalist Erik Piepenburg.

He dives into the history and impact of Gallus in his new book “Dining Out,” which tours gay restaurants around the U.S. and explores how they became safe spaces

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