December 11, 2024
Courtesy/Jason Tell
Atlantic City's first LGBTQ+ bar in two decades, the ByrdCage, will open in the former Good Dog Bar space on Atlantic Avenue.
The ByrdCage, which will be Atlantic City's first queer bar in 20 years when it opens in early January, has been a longtime dream of Jason Tell. While the name is a slight nod to the 1996 movie starring Robin Williams and Nathan Lane, the owner said it was a different film that gave him inspiration.
Tell said watching 2000 comedy "The Broken Hearts Club," which is centered around a group of gay friends in a West Hollywood restaurant, made him want to start his own place like that. Now he has at 3426 Atlantic Ave.
The ByrdCage will feature a piano lounge and restaurant on the first floor and entertainment space for drag events and theme nights on the second. Diners can stop by for dinner seven days a week from 5-10 p.m., happy hour Monday through Friday from 3-6 p.m., and brunch Friday through Monday from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. It will also offer late-night bites Friday through Sunday until midnight. The menu will feature comfort foods and include gluten-free, vegan and vegetarian dishes.
Tell said he wants ByrdCage to be an inclusive option for queer and straight people and plans to host drag brunches, tea dances, Quizzo and bingo.
"Anything we can do for the communities is really what we want — to be a community space," Tell said. "I understand we're a bar and restaurant, but I also want it to be a place for resources for the youth and for anybody struggling, or just people that want to come be themselves or explore."
Tell is a longtime caterer and party planner in Philadelphia and New Jersey and the owner of Industry Standard Events. In the restaurant industry, he's franchised delis, worked as a consultant and created the former Bella Luna cafe at the Lucy the Elephant attraction in Margate.
The ByrdCage will be in a building with a storied history. It was first a swingers bar called the RolePlay Lounge and then was the Jersey Shore outpost of Philadelphia's Good Dog Bar, which closed in August.
Tell said he first looked at the property years back when it was RolePlay but decided to pass on it because he thought it needed renovating. He's a longtime friend of the Good Dog owners and jumped at the chance to buy the property when it became available.
"The day I heard, I called them immediately and I was like, 'I'm your guy, I want this building," Tell said. "So it was kismet, as they say, it came back to me, and I wanted this building for a long time."
In the '60s and '70s, Atlantic City once had at least 10 gay bars on New York Avenue, but there haven't been any since Studio Six closed in 2004.
