|
top
Istanbul's gay life is more visible after-midnight and majority of the
gay-exclusive night clubs are not busy enough until 01:00 am. But there
are many alternative gay/gay-friendly venues for people who do not like
loud after-midnight places or stay out too late. (Click
here for update listing of the major after-midnight gay
clubs and general guideline about all kinds of gay cafe, bars and clubs in Istanbul)
Gay Café & Bars in Istanbul
Haspa Cafe Bar (18:00- 01:00)
Address: Istiklal Cad.
Ipek Sokak 16/2 Beyoglu/Istanbul
Previously straight cafe bar on a small street off the Istiklal avenue was undertaken by
some gay people in April 2011
and they now want to turn it a gay venue,
specifically declaring that they want to welcome straight
acting gay men. The prices were cheaper when it was a
straight bar and when they
first started to serve gay men, but it was raised to
standard club rates shortly after they got a little
popular.
Chaplin Cafe (18:00- 01:00)
Address: Istiklal Cad.
Ipek Sokak 16, Kat 3, Daire 5 - Beyoglu/Istanbul
A gay cafe shop on the 3rd floor at the same building
with Haspa Cafe Bar, Mostly patronized by younger gay
men and the prices are fairly reasonable for now. You
can access Ipek sokak from the left hand side of
McDonald's on Istiklal Avenue.
Frappe Cafe & Bar & Bistro (18:00- 01:00)
Address: Istiklal Cad.
Zambak Sokak
No.10/A Beyoglu/Istanbul
This venue can be defined as cafe & bar & bistro. It is located very close to Taksim square,
on the same street where 2 other gay clubs; Penthouse and
Club 17 are also located. Although
it is a small place
its hosts a variety of colorful shows on several evenings of the week,
including Karaoke, drag show etc.
Pinokyo Cafe & Bar (18:00- 01:00)
Address: Istiklal Cad.
Buyukparmakkapi Sk No: 26/1 Beyoglu/Istanbul
A new cafe bar opened in March 2011. It is located on
Buyukparmakkapi street across the Benetton on Istiklal. It
is a modest place on the 1st floor. You can observe live Turkish
music and drag show performances on different days of the
week.
Chianti Bar
(18:00-01:00)
Address:
Istiklal Caddesi,
Balo Sokak, No: 31 (2nd floor) Beyoglu, Istanbul.
Homely cafe-pub open from 4 pm till 2 am, but expected
to be busier in the early evenings and around midnight. It functions as a
cafe from late afternoon until roughly 8-9 pm. The music become louder
after that.
Mor Kedi
Cafe (18:00- 01:00)
Address: Istiklal Cad.
Imam Adnan Sk. No:7 / 3 Beyoglu/Istanbul
One of the oldest of these kind of cafe-shops which you
can visit at day time. Usually busy until midnight.
Clientele is younger.
 |
|
Sugar
Cafe is a small but trendy venue |
Sugar & Spice Cafe
(18:00-01:00)
Address: Istiklal Caddesi
Saka Salim Cikmazi no: 3/A Beyoglu.
This is a very small gay cafe shop &
restaurant located at the end of a narrow blind-alley on
Istiklal Avenue, somewhere opposite from St. Antoine Church,
not far from Galatasaray square. They once used to have tourist
rates until early 2012 but they seem to have abandoned it
after we put warnings on our website, and changed the name
of the venue (it was called Sugar Club Cafe before)
Visitor comments about this venue
"This coffee place is popular solely because there is
no other gay venue around. Coffee is only from instant
powder. Beer is heavily overpriced. The staff can be
arrogant. The music competes with the music from the
live-music-place next to it. Still, you can meet nice people
there." (Posted by John from Denmark on 11 June 2011)
'Good music, nice atmosphere. But the young waiter should be
more professional, always on move, even when we wait for
ask for drinks, not very friendly, and when asked for help
with the directions for another gay bar (that all people
there knows) answered, roughly, I don't know that bar!
(Posted by Manu from Portugal on 19 May 2010 )
"I probably was here too early, but it was empty except for
the barista and his new boyfriend. I'm sure that it would
have been nice had it been more crowded, but it's a good GAY
place to get a cup of coffee when you're wandering around
Istiklal Caddesi. " (Posted by Way from USA on 22/03/2010).
Durak Bar (19:00 - 02:00)
Address:
Murat Pasa Sokak, No 9, Aksaray, Istanbul
Durak bar (formerly called Pasam) is located in Aksaray
district, about 5 kilometer away from Taksim. It is a meeting place
for middle
class bear and older/mature gay men. More busy in late
evenings., until 01:00/02:00 am. It will be busy until 4 am
on Saturday nights. Only live traditional/classical
music is performed at peak time. (no Turkish/Western pop).
It took the place of of senior Degirmen pub which was closed
in early 2008, this one more deliberately targeting to bear
and bear lovers with almost same exotic atmosphere of
Degirmen pub. PS: Despite
it's dirty night life Aksaray is also a conservative
district ironically and for that reason Durak bar is usually
closed during
Ramadan period for about 30 days every year.
Click Here for more information and other bear-friendly venues in Istanbul.
Visitor comments about this venue
"I went to the Durak Pub Sunday night at 10PM for a beer.
Nice crowd. The waiter brought a small dish of peanuts,
which I didn’t want and pushed down the table for the other
patrons. I ordered a second beer, the waiter brought more
peanuts and I ate a few. When I went to pay the bill, in
addition to the 2 beers, there was an additional 12TL (US$7)
for peanuts." (Posted by Paul from Belgium on November 13,
2011)
"This place is a bit out of the
way from the other gay venues round Taksim square area but
pretty easy to get to with a tram station (Yusufpasa) at the
end of the street. If you can suss out the dolmus taxis you
can get back to Taksim Square for about 3 lira or a taxi for
about 12/13 lira dependant on the traffic. What you get is a
traditional looking bar and at the weekends full of "men" as
oppossed to the Beygolu venues that are more popular with
younger guys. No techno music played but what i would
describe as Turkish standards sung live by very good
singers/M.C. Very friendly and welcoming waiter staff and
whilst the language was a problem for us speaking no Turkish
the guys who spoke English were very welcoming (hello O )
the beer is much cheaper too, bonus!. Well worth the effort
to go before finishing off your night out in the more
traditional gay venues over the Golden Horn. " (Posted by
Gibson from UK on June 14th, 2011)
"Very easy to find, as one of the previous writers so
helpfully pointed out. I would recommend taking a dolmuş
back to Taksim, as it is much less expensive (only 1.75TL).
Unfortunately, the night that I went there, there was a
pretty dramatic fight in the smoking lounge, which somehow
ended up in somebody being sprayed with mace, which
effectively cleared out the bar and had everybody coughing
and sputtering. I can't honestly see how you would ever meet
anyone at this bar, as the live music is very loud and all
of the patrons are sat at restaurant-like tables. It was not
at all what I expected, which was disappointing, as it had
sounded like a dream come true. Relatively crowded on a
Sunday night. Prompt service." (Posted by Way from USA on
22/03/2010.)
"December 2009: we went to
Istanbul for Christmas this year as we enjoyed the city so
much earlier this year. A friend had recommended Paşam and
we saw from this site it had closed. Nevertheless as Durak
it is a wonderful evening out: we went three nights out of
five! Quiet on Thursday, packed on Saturday and comfortably
busy on Sunday. Great staff, good value beer and excellent
music and singers. And hot men! If you're staying in
Beyoglu, it's really easy to get to on the tram from Karaköy
to Yusufpaşa station: it's a one minute walk to the bar. And
a taxi back to Tünel/Asmalimescit costs about 7TL; bit more
to Taksim. Highly recommended if you don't want another
techno dance club experience - and you want to meet
interesting Turkish men (not boys). " (Posted by Nemo from
UK on December 29 2009)
Gay Clubs in
Istanbul
Click
here to see other gay night clubs and after-midnight
bars in Istanbul.
Click here to
send your feedbacks about these places
Cruisy day time venues.
Not particularly gay or gay-friendly
There are several straight venues around Taksim square which
are like meeting places for gay men usually before going to
gay bars/clubs., or early in the day time. They are mostly
self-service cafe-restaurants and the managers/staff are not
very gay-friendly in real meaning. But probably because of
their location, especially some gay-men living in the
neighborhood would always be around. But there will also be
many rent boys and bad hustlers in and around these venues,
so please be selective with the people you may encounter.
 |
|
Mc Donald's Taksim on a
summer day |
Taksim Mc Donald's (09:00-02:00)
The Mc Donald's near Taksim Square (there is also another
one along Istiklal street, not far away) is frequented by
some gay & queer people living in or near Taksim. It is also
a meeting place before going to gay-clubs for some others.
Most of the staff is gay-friendly, or at least they don't
not make any problems with gays. Beware of cheap hustlers in the neighborhood.
Simit Sarayi (09:00-:00:00)
Address: Cumhuriyet Caddesi Taksim.
A Turkish style fast-food cafe restaurant, mainly selling
traditional Turkish pastries. These pastry shops are named
after simit , a traditional ring-shaped bread covered
with sesame seeds. which was once sold on the streets by the
street vendors only. In recent years these "Simit Houses"
because popular, competing with Mc Donald's and the like. We
recommend you to try simit and Turkish tea menu at least
once. There are 2 Simit Sarayi venues at Taksim square
since April 2011, one of them is next to Mc Donald's, which
was a cafe - restaurant until recently (former Birra Mancha/Birahi).
The new one can be more suitable for cruising. The other
senior one is right across the street.
Haci Baba & Jimmy's (09:00-01:00)
Address: Cumhuriyet Caddesi, Taksim Square, Next
to Mc Donald's-Taksim, Istanbul
Former Han cafe-restaurant was transformed into a
self-service restaurant in early 2008, half of which offers
Turkish style fast-food (Haci Baba) the other half is Jimmy'
Fried Chicken, but there is not even a wall separating both.
Probably because of its location just at the center of
Taksim, it is still a little cruisy in the evenings, just as
it was when it was Han Cafe.
Burger King's Taksim (09:00-02:00)
Address: Istiklal cad. NO:1 Taksim (At Taksim
Square)
You can rest for a cafe and sometimes see few gay
people. It's as cruisy as any self service cafe could be
near Taksim square. But there may be rent boys or some
tourist hustlers hanging around inside and in front of the
entrance.
Gay Clubs in
Istanbul
Click
here to see other gay night clubs and after-midnight
bars in Istanbul.
Click here to
send your feedbacks about these places
|
