Rumors Cabaret — Restaurant in Bellingham

3/11/25 EDIT: UPDATE - Changing this to 5 stars!

Appreciate you taking the time to respond—it’s clear you care. Now I see the usual front door guy isn’t there anymore, which clears up my confusion.

I wasn’t sure how to bring this up and was nervous to call incase I got one of them on the phone, but I’ll reach out directly next time. I know if I was a business owner, I’d wanna know rather than lose customers without knowing why, so I figured a review was the best way to bring it up before updating it.

I completely get wanting to be inclusive, and Hopefully, they find a better-suited position where they feel less stressed—it could be a win-win.

Anyways, with that being said, the bartenders are always great, especially the dude who always wears the hat and Saturday was a much better experience overall despite the one part mentioned previously. Thanks again for listening and making improvements! I will for sure be back and bring my friends!

3/10/25 - let me start by saying this - Rumors is an awesome club—great music, solid drinks, and 90% of the staff are friendly and welcoming. review on rumours itself is 5/5 stars. Also, it absolutely pains me to leave bad reviews cause I know how bad they suck to hear. That said I thought it was just me but now I see 2 reviews down someone else had a similar experience!

there are two staff members (one at the register/coat check on Saturday and one at the front door who checks IDS Who wasn’t there on Saturday) who are consistently rude or condescending. They both make me and I think a lot of people scared to ask any questions.

Listen, I get it—we all have bad nights and stuff going on. But this happens every time I’ve gone. The other night, I saw the tall gal at the register/check in/coat check yell at at least 3-4 people and make the most condescending faces legit mocking them when they turned away—painful to watch. The tall husky younger guy with the beard at the front door who wasn’t there Saturday but is the usual guy manning the front door is Always making weird, mean, uncomfortable comments that make you feel like you’re the problem. Meanwhile, the guy with glasses on Saturday at the front? Super friendly and respectful every time.

I was hesitant to leave a review because I don’t want to get anyone in trouble or make them feel bad—we’re all human. But after reading the review below mine, I realized it wasn’t just me. Since I never leave bad reviews, I even used a different email just to avoid any backlash on my job’s Google reviews.

This isn’t a knock on the club itself—5/5 otherwise. Just feels like those two might be better suited for a role that isn’t...

Edit: I spoke to someone about this today who was very understanding and caring about this issue so I'm bumping the stars back up to 5. I really hope this gets resolved.

The music and most of the staff are great and I almost always have a good time when I'm there. But Theo, the person taking IDs last night is the most horrific person you will ever have the misfortune of running into. From the moment I walked in the door, I accidentally went to the wrong side of the tape and waited because people were flooding in and out so I just waited to give them my ID and they just started yelling at me to get on the right side of the tape and being condescending. I had been smiling and never said two words to them to warrant all the bad energy and negativity they were spewing towards everyone in the club. They were horrible and rude to everyone around me for no reason at all even though everyone was being kind to them. And when we were leaving, since I don't come here often, I got to coat check a bit before my boyfriend who had the number card for my jacket. So I told Theo my coat number, because I didn't know they needed the card. In their best effort to ruin my night, they actually shouted in the rudest voice and most condescending attitude possible that they needed to see the card. I didn't do anything to deserve that attitude and their terrible vibes and rudeness just hurt my feelings terribly. I just didn't know and most people who work here are very nice. Theo needs to get fired, and there aren't very many people I'd ever say that about but if you want to save your business and avoid possible confrontations being started with this awful person by drunk people (I'm just sure this is bound to happen eventually, Theo is a liability for sure), you should 100% let this person go. Don't let such an awful person continue to work for you they will ruin your business. My experience last night was so awful I felt compelled to leave a whole review about this person. I couldn't believe how bad Theo treated people last night. It hurt my heart to see such a mean person lash out at everyone for no reason. It was so bad I considered leaving 1 star but I honestly have always had a good time with people working here in the past when I've come. There is no bad night this person could have been having to warrant them lashing out so bad, they clearly got a power rush out of what they were doing, it was very obvious. I probably won't ever come back. It was the person with orange hair and pigtails if anyone...

I’ve been a fairly long time patron of Rumors for a while, and instead of just talking about this with people who already know what’s up, I want it to be known by all what a wonderful, kind, lovely place this is.

If you’re looking for community in the 21+ queer spaces, this is the place to go. There are many, many regulars who are some of the most lovely people you will ever meet. The bartenders both here and at the Backdoor are incredibly sweet and attentive. Every bouncer/security person there (A huge shoutout to Vix, Maya, Theo, and Felix) will go out of their way to facilitate a safe space for LGBTQ folks. There’s a fairly vast array of community events held here, and staff go out of their way to make sure things run effectively and smoothly. As someone who performs here regularly, staff go above and beyond to make sure we are safe and taken care of.

Management here (Andrew, Rian, and Ezra) are incredibly kind, community minded, and very professional. It’s been nothing short of a pleasure to get to know the people who foster such an important space in our town. The news of the HUT opening, creating a new space for 18+ LGBTQ people is amazing, and a beautiful project to be begun in Bellingham! You can tell this goes beyond a business for the management/owners of Rumors, there’s passion here.

If you have come on a Friday or Saturday and have been put off by the crowds, please come on another day and get to experience the true community aspects of it. People not in the community love queer bars, and while their business is clearly appreciated, those weekend nights are not representative of all of the things Rumors has to offer. From Goth Nights to Drag Competitions to Comedy Nights, Rumors truly is a space you can find community...