The highly anticipated and long awaited opening of The Kartal (the former home of Boston Eagle) will have a soft opening on Thursday.
The Kartal is the first cocktail bar to open in the South End in a long time, and it’s my hope is that this cozy space can be a friendly place for Boston’s gay community to come together. The Kartal will not be marketed as a gay bar but then again neither was Stella, 647 Tremont, or Boston Chops and yet due to their patronage they became unofficial gay bars of Boston.
The new owners are quite familiar with the bar’s history and they have carefully chosen everything from the name to unique decorations and design with its past in mind. For example, the name of the bar, The Kartal, comes from the Turkish word for eagle. Additionally, when you visit, check out the newly tiled mosaic entry. It depicts a two-headed eagle with the dates 1981 and 2021, noting the 40 years the Boston Eagle operated at 520 Tremont Street. The two-headed eagle also symbolizes both the the original and “new” eagle.
I’m sure I’ll be writing more about The Kartal in the future, after I’ve had a chance to stop by and enjoy a cocktail or two. Over the coming weeks, I hope you will also stop by to enjoy a drink and check out the new space. After you visit, let me know what you think.
The Kartal
520 Tremont Street (South End)
Open daily from 5PM – 2AM
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