A few episodes before taking home her well-deserved crown, RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 17 winner Onya Nurve revealed that prior to coming on the show, she wasn’t a full-time drag queen. Rather, she supported herself by working at a burger restaurant in her hometown of Cleveland, Ohio — and after her Drag Race journey, that restaurant is showing her just as much support.
In a viral TikTok posted after the finale, the crowd at Doinks Burger Joint, where Onya worked as a cook, reacted to the moment she won the season. The restaurant immediately erupted into screams, drowning out the TV as Onya took her first walk down the runway as a Drag Race winner.
In the comments section, folks said that the seeing the support from Onya’s hometown was moving them to tears.
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“Oh this makes me want to cry!” one commenter wrote. “Seeing a community come together and cheer is so freaking cool! The absolute ROAR that took over this bar is just the dopest! 🥹💛”
“I’m tearing up omg,” commented another. “Every POV from onya’s friends & family is just so full of love & pride 😭😭😭❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️”
Doinks also posted security camera footage from the moment Onya won to its Instagram, and to say the crowd went wild is an understatement.
“We are so proud and so happy for you,” the restaurant wrote in the post’s caption. “Watching the journey has been a privilege. From being our first employee and killing it on the line, to the crown on Drag Race, we have been constantly in awe of your magnitude of talent. We love you.”
For all the love Doinks showed Onya after her win, she gave the restaurant just as much praise, even before the finale. In her episode of HELLO HELLO HELLO, a web series where Drag Race UK winner Kryan Thrax interviewed the Season 17 cast about their audition tapes, Onya revealed that she got the call to come to Drag Race while behind the grill at Doinks.
“I was cooking burgers. I think my phone was charging at the time, so like, I missed the call. I got the voicemail. So when I called them back, I knew exactly what I was getting myself into. It was really hard to continue working after that call.”
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“My uncle called me from prison to tell me how proud he was & he’s been watching,” the Season 17 queen shared on social media.
The ‘Drag Race’ alum promises “a night of doll-ery, and pusswatcha, and estrogen” at her all-trans femme drag show in Brooklyn.
Onya also filmed a good portion of her audition tape for Drag Race at Doinks, telling the camera about herself while sitting in a booth and lip syncing through the restaurant to RuPaul’s song “Courage to Love.”
When Kyran asked how Onya got permission to film at the restaurant, she replied that there was really nothing to it.
“I was just like, ‘Hey, can I shoot a video here?’” Onya recalled. “I feel like they’re part of the reason why I’m here and got on the show, because I was just supported by a large group of people that was just like, ‘Yes, she needs to get this done, and we’re gonna do everything we can to make sure she gets it done.”
If anyone wants to support Doinks in person, Onya recommends getting their OG Burger. And if there’s anyone who you can trust to have good taste, it’s America’s current reigning drag superstar.
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