As in most large cities, Seattle's "Eagle" is a leather bar, roughly in the mold of Tom's Saloon in Hamburg. But again like most other large cities, it's considerably less edgy and the crowd more diverse than when gay life was less broadly accepted in the general public. Since it is not exactly designed with people like me in mind, rather than opine upon it, I'm going to list a few quotes I came across in the yelp reviews:
Apparently, I missed its glory days: "The sling is gone, no free pool table, sex is not allowed and a 5$ cover for an empty bar filled with trolls."
"The DJ leaves alot to be desired. It's a little Asian guy who wears 2 baseball hats at once. I may be a little bias, but I played much hotter music than he does. I was out on the patio one Saturday night and swore I could hear "sail away" by Enya. On a Saturday night?!! Fire him!!!" (Okay, this is probably terrible prejudice, but I'm 100% behind firing anyone who wears two baseball caps at once.)
"The windows are blacked out, there is no sign marking it as a legitimate establishment, it kind of smells like urine, and there is a "swing" in the corner."
"Just then, a man with white toothpick legs, above-the-knees denim shorts, and a loose wife-beater tank top burst out the door and onto the sidewalk as if there'd been an explosion inside. He had dark hair, glasses, and a mustache that looked so much like a caterpillar that I thought it would crawl around. Linda peeked in the door before it closed again. "Oh you couldn't even handle it, honey!" the man said to Linda."
"The Horror." (That's the complete review.)
Historical notes: The Eagle dates its origin to 1980, which is not the year it was first named The Eagle, but rather the year it was purchased by James Allen Veres and Lance L. Hughes, who purchased the "Le Chateau" lounge and began it's transition to a gay leather bar. They renamed it the "J&L Saloon" in the early 80s, and "The Eagle" later that decade. The space has hosted bars since at least the 40s. It was called the "East Pike Tavern" from the mid 40s to late 50s, then was "Gordy's Tavern" by 1959, became "The Piker" around 1965, then "The Odyssey" by 1968 and through most of the 70s, and Kelly's Ring Side Pub in 1979.
314 E Pike St.,
Seattle,
WA 98122 -
(206) 621-7591
Web site:
seattleeagle.com
Articles:
capitolhillseattle -
yelp -
the stranger
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