What’s the enduring appeal of drinking in a hidden bar? During Prohibition, concealing your establishment made sense — if you wanted to stay in business and out of jail. But since then, the legal imperative that gave rise to speakeasies has all but vanished. So why are so many people still seeking out what lies behind those inconspicuous doors?
Part of it is the thrill of the chase: finding something where you thought there was nothing but a wall. But the allure of the back room goes beyond that, evoking a bygone era of socializing, of being part of the club.
Prohibition may be long gone, but the intrigue of the speakeasy is going strong. Here are 10 hidden bars with vibes and cocktails that are worth the pursuit.
London
The Natural Philosopher
The old-school electronics on display at the MacSmiths, a computer repair shop on an unremarkable road in the East London borough of Hackney, stand in sharp contrast to the analog world one level down. If you don’t see any staff upstairs, ring the doorbell at the top of the steps, then descend into a sprawling parlorlike space packed with Victorian-style furniture, paintings, clocks and curiosities. The foliage that grows and hangs throughout the room signals the fresh-ingredient-centric cocktail list. Cocktails can be made with fennel, chamomile and other plants that the bartender-owner Josh Powell forages from as close by as Walthamstow Wetlands.
Open Tuesday through Sunday, reservations recommended on weekends; drinks from 12 pounds, or about $16.
Hong Kong
Lockdown
When you spot the trendy cocktail bar Penicillin, in Hong Kong’s Central district, by the line that often forms outside, you’ll know its sister bar Lockdown by its nearby storefront that displays a single toilet and a ladder, and no line at all. A discreet door on the storefront’s side reveals a room where lightbulbs hang in a grid and reflect in the mirrors like a deconstructed chandelier. People perched on banquettes set atop lush terrariums sip cocktails prepared with rare vintage spirits or futuristic reimaginings of classics like brandy crustas, grasshoppers and rusty nails, made with ingredients that have been sous-vided, clarified or run through a centrifuge.
Open daily, walk-ins only; drinks from 120 Hong Kong dollars, or $15.
Paris
Candelaria
The walls of Candelaria, a sliver of a taquería in the Marais district of Paris, are white and bare. Nonetheless, it’s easy to miss the mere outline of a door in the back, past the diners at the long counter. The covert bar on the other side feels like a natural extension of the rustic taco shop. The sepia-toned space has stone walls, a sign of the building’s 18-century architecture, as well as low ceilings and one of the biggest selections of agave spirits in France. Sample mezcal from a menu organized by flavors like earthy, funky, and sweet, or opt for a creative cocktail like the Chicane — smoky mezcal dolled up in house beetroot cordial, sweet vermouth, Cynar and pear eau de vie.
Open daily, walk-ins only; drinks from 14 euros, or about $16.
Berlin
Truffle Pig Bar
Kauz & Kiebitz looks like a typical German gastro pub, from the wood bar and furniture to the extensive beer-tap system to what looks like a standard-issue fire alarm on the wall. But if you press a button on that alarm (despite everything you’ve ever been taught), a host will appear from behind a nearby mirrored door, guide you through a hallway and pull back the slate gray velvet curtain to reveal a room with a marble horseshoe bar, velvet upholstery and a cocktail menu that reads like postmodern flavor catalog. Each drink is described through a colorful, simple pie chart of the ingredients. The head bartender, Jannick Stillger, a former chef, devises avant-garde compositions like the Sync, which uses his aromatic fond, a clarified vegetable extract, as a savory base for a lemon vodka and vermouth mix.
Open Wednesday through Saturday, walk-ins only; drinks €14.
Vancouver, British Columbia
Bagheera
All bets are off when you walk into the Happy Valley Turf Club, a horse-betting shop on a main street of Vancouver’s Chinatown. A broad chalkboard lists horses’ names and odds, but just tell the person at the desk you’re wagering “$100 on King Louie” and you’re granted access to Bagheera. (Pro tip: Place your bet on King Louie on the Happy Valley Turf Club’s website to access Bagheera’s page.) Named for the black panther in Rudyard Kipling’s “The Jungle Book,” the bar evokes a sumptuous train carriage straight out of Raj-era India. Whimsical jungle-themed murals, carved teak, tassel-garlanded furniture and an arched ceiling bedazzled with Indian coins, bangles and other shiny objects form the backdrop for drinks that highlight South Asian-inspired ingredients, like coriander and various teas.
Open daily, reservations recommended; drinks from 18 Canadian dollars, or $13.
Helsinki, Finland
Trillby & Chadwick
It’s not so hard to find the door in the peach facade of a former police station on Katariinankatu, a street in Central Helsinki. But it may take some sleuthing to locate the bell in the vestibule that will give you access to Trillby & Chadwick, the handsome vintage-detective-agency-themed cocktail den inside. The dense menu has clever micro-stories — excerpts from the eponymous detectives’ fictional diaries — that capture the inspiration for each drink, a tribute to the building’s more recent tenant: a bookstore. One, the Bootleg Botanica — gin, fino sherry, a measure of mezcal, housemade pear cordial and ginger — takes its cues from Detective Trillby’s diary entry recounting a meeting with a botany-loving acquaintance in a Finnish garden.
Open daily, reservations accepted for parties of five or more; drinks from €17.
Krakow, Poland
William Rabbit & Co.
The bars, cafes and beer gardens of Krakow’s historical Jewish quarter make for a lively street scene, but what goes on below street level can be downright enchanting. Just keep your eyes peeled for the wood-frame door with a Mad Hatter cap drawn above the buzzer. Press it, and a host will escort you to a neighboring door, down a vertiginous flight of stairs into a classy Alice in Wonderland fever dream. The cocktails run the gamut from unfussy to zany (the bourbon-based Eternal Sparkle involves beef jerky) and the whiskey is bountiful — over 400 selections from around the world. None, however, are served in a vessel labeled “Drink me.”
Open daily, reservations recommended; drinks from 40 zlotys, or $10.60.
Buenos Aires
Florería Atlántico
Inside Florería Atlántico, a shop selling flowers and wine in Buenos Aires’s Retiro neighborhood, you’ll find what looks like a refrigerator door. It’s not. Open it and descend to a dim, narrow basement bar that calls to mind the lower level of a ship. The maritime vibe is a nod to the immigrants who arrived in the nearby port over the decades. Bartenders explain the high-concept cocktails, like the garúa martini, a gin drink formulated with purified rainwater, as fanciful interpretations of Argentina’s land and history.
Open daily, reservations recommended; drinks from 11,500 pesos, or about $10.
New York
Odo Lounge
Every odyssey has its reward. The journey to the intimate, serene Odo Lounge meanders through an inconspicuous copper door in Hall, a boisterous cocktail spot in the Flatiron district, passes the counter in the chef Hiroki Odo’s hushed two-Michelin-starred kaiseki, and meanders through some short, incense-scented hallways, a private dining room and finally, a sliding bookcase. With its weathered white-brick walls, low tables and soaring ceiling, the minimalist space has a gallery-like feel, with a compendium of Japanese whiskey bottles displayed on shelves. From the shochu and grapefruit cordial highball to the Bee’s Knees, a classic gin-honey-lemon formulation, boosted here with persimmon, the cocktails are, fittingly, explorations of minimalism.
Open Tuesday through Saturday, reservations recommended; drinks from $18.
Tokyo
Bar Orchard
The gunmetal gray building on Sotobori-dori, one of the slender streets that make up the M.C. Escher-like warren of Tokyo’s Ginza district, looks like any other building in the area. But take the elevator to the seventh floor and ring the bell on the blond wood door, and you’ll go from gray to an arrival-in-Oz-level salvo of colors and scents at Orchard, a casual space run by the husband-and-wife team Takuo and Sumire Miyanohara since 2007. The fruit basket on the bar is the only “menu,” and the drinks are custom-created, but what steals the show are the mini disco balls, small watering pails and other objects in which the drinks are served.
Open Monday through Saturday, walk-ins only; drinks from 2,200 yen, or about $15, plus a ¥1,000 cover charge.
Follow New York Times Travel on Instagram and sign up for our Travel Dispatch newsletter to get expert tips on traveling smarter and inspiration for your next vacation. Dreaming up a future getaway or just armchair traveling? Check out our 52 Places to Go in 2025.
The post 10 of the World’s Most Alluring Hidden Bars (And How to Find Them) appeared first on New York Times.
