The Kartal — Restaurant in Boston

My friend and I were frequent visitors of The Kartal and had an extremely unpleasant experience on Friday, Jan. 10, 2025.

*Brief Summary: Lounge used discriminatory practice to keep black patrons out.

After 45 mins to an hour of being inside The Kartal, we were approached by a bouncer instructing that my friend must take his hat off or we would be forced to leave. Within the time frame before being approached, our identification had been verified at the door, we interacted with other patrons with hats on, and went to the bar. There were multiple interactions with staff and no one mentioned my friend's hat or a dress code.

When we pointed out the other patrons' attire, the bouncer disregarded our comments and proceeded to enforce the dress code (2 young black people - friend is a black male). There were over 10 while males with hats on in the lounge and none of them were asked to 1. take off their hat or 2. leave because of said "dress code". There were also not any concessions made after a staffer told the bouncer it was "okay" for the white male to keep his hat on. We were still forced to leave the lounge.

This is a prime example of discriminatory practices used to deter a "certain type of crowd". The problem is not having a dress code; the issue stems from the enforcement. There were ample opportunities for the dress code to be enforced from the line outside to interactions with staffers at the bar. This is a bad look for The Kartal and we will not visiting or recommending this lounge...

This one was a risky choice. We decided to go on a whim after spotting a line while walking to the Beehive. We didn’t even know the name, standing in the cold for 20 minutes, waiting to get into a speakeasy-esque entrance. Eventually, we overheard someone mention the name “Kartal”—with a K, which initially sounded pretentious but I later uncovered it was.

When we finally got inside after some big talk with the bouncer (small talk wasn’t enough), we could barely breathe. Saying we were packed in there like sardines would be an understatement. Maybe more like anchovies, or sprats. The drinks were… priced. It seemed like someone had reserved the table, couches, and red-lit area for a party. We started with cucking it in the corner (just voyeurly) and eventually shuffled toward the middle. This one girl came up and asked us to help her move an arm chair to make room to dance. She ended up pushing it right into the middle of the room, which I didn’t totally understand why.

The red-lit group in the center popped champagne, serving glasses while everyone else around them were pinballing off each other. It was like the bourgeoisie chowing on cake while the proletariat scrambled around them, slowly draining our financial resources. I’ll be back to Kartel soon. I’ll take my place in the center, crowned by my own revolutionized, red-lit aristocrats. Mark. My. Lips.

Also the cosmo was really good!...

Terrible drinks, absurd prices, great atmosphere. I'd give it zero stars if not for the great environment. If you went to the Eagle back in the day, expect your drinks to be just as bad as the old days and to cost twice as much as they used to.

I went in on Saturday night fairly early in the evening at about 6:30. Early enough that the team behind the bar had plenty of time to properly make quality cocktails. Well, they may have jazzed up the old Eagle with a lovely decor, but they kept the old poor quality drinks. At roughly $20-ish per cocktail, I expected WAY better. I have no problem with the prices as long as the quality is there. How bad was it? My guest asked the bartender for a dirty Saphire martini and she asked what Saphire was. We don't know what happened to the dirty, as the martini only had one olive and no olive juice. My Negroni had the punching power of a La Croix (read, none) and my other guest enjoyed a somewhat passable margarita. Our 2nd round (just as bad as the first) took a little under 20 minutes between the time my friend went to the bar and when we got our drinks. I don't know if that speaks to poor door management or inefficient bartending but I'm not in a rush to go back to find out. At this price point, there are too many higher quality options nearby for me to...