Anchor 2.0

Mark Zurolo ’01MFA

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Hearts were broken back in January 2015 when the Anchor Bar closed abruptly after 75 years serving town and gown on College Street. But now it’s back, looking much the same but with a new menu and business model. Rechristened the Anchor Spa—after the original name uncovered on the art deco façade; spa is a New Englandism for a soda fountain—the bar now serves exotic cocktails and small plates of creative food. Menu options center around the theme of traveling the world, with all seven cocktail options tracing back to a different port city. “The Anchor actually started as a cocktail bar back in 1939,” says new owner Karl Franz Williams ’97, who also owns two cocktail-themed restaurants in Harlem, “so we’re bringing it back to that and giving people a chance to explore and peel back layers and have fun while doing so.”