Speakeasy in NYC

The recent speakeasy trend which has touched off in various parts of the country started right here in New York City [1] and remains a fun way to add a little romance and mystery to a night out.

Relive Prohibition times in dim lit but lavish, tin-punch-ceilinged hideaways, featuring an upholstered fainting sofa or creamy leather booth seating with good music and typically tasty classic drinks poured over hand-chiseled ice… In one venue, cocktails are served in ceramic teacups to throw off the coppers.

The drinks are often more in tune with the golden age of cocktails than the more authentic later years when mask-the-godawful-flavor-and-at-times-even-poisonous-homemade-booze-and-bathtub-gin was the name of the bartender’s game.

Trademark speakeasy entrances might bear no sign of the establishment’s existence, be disguised as wooden shacks or boarded up doorways, or hidden behind the faux front of a takeaway or ethnic restaurant, and even sometimes require a password or a glance at a particular bare bulb or chandelier which when lit signals service is on.

A similar phenomenon exists in the form of eateries, but usually requires a club membership to find where that month’s hidden floating restaurant resides.

Speakeasies are somewhat secretive by nature. Be sure to ask a hotel concierge for assistance or precise directions to some of these step-back-in-history hotspots.

Chinatown [2]

• Apothéke

9 Doyers Street
212/406-0400
www.apothekenyc.com [3]

Lower East Side [4]

• The Back Room

102 Norfolk Street
212/228-5098

• Milk & Honey

134 Eldridge Street
www.mlkhny.com [5]

TriBeCa [6]

• B Flat

277 Church Street, basement
212/219-2970
www.bflat.info [7]

East Village [8]

• Angel’s Share

8 Stuyvesant Street
212/777-5415

• Death & Company

433 E. 6th Street
212/388-0882

• Elsa

217 E. 3rd Street
917/882-7395
www.elsabar.com [9]

• Mayahuel

304 E. 6th Street
212/253-588
www.mayahuelny.com [10]

• PDT — Please Don’t Tell

113 St. Marks Place
212/614-0386
www.pdtnyc.com [11]

• Speakeasy

151 Avenue C

Greenwich Village [12]

• 124 Old Rabbit Club

124 MacDougal Street
212/254-0575

West Village

• Employees Only

510 Hudson Street
212/242-3021
www.employeesonlynyc.com [13]

• Little Branch

20 7th Avenue
212/929-4360
www.littlebranch.net [14]

Williamsburg [15]

• Debut-Taunt Parlour

Graham Avenue
invitation only

• Hotel Delmano

82 Berry Street
718/387-1945

• Rye

247 S. 1st Street
718/218-8047
www.ryerestaurant.com [16]