Speakeasy
Speakeasy
A speakeasy, was one of the names for a place selling alcohol illegally during prohibition. The history of a speakeasy comes long after the concept of Happy Hour. During prohibition it is said that there were at least 30,000 speakeasy bars in New York City. There was often a password or phrase you had to know in order to get into one of these places, hence the term “Speakeasy”, as if not to share the information.
Today, nearly 100 years later, there are only about 25,000 licensed drinking establishments. Today it simply means a private bar where you need reservations to get in. While much of it is marketing and catering to a crowd that loves craft mixology, most of the time it’s just an excuse to sell overpriced drinks in a much quieter room. There are some very legitimate speakeasies still in operation today that have been around since prohibition. One of them is Raines Law Room in Manhattan. Raines Law stated that if you have 10 or more guests who were visiting from outside of the United States, you were allowed to serve them alcohol while at the hotel. Literally overnight many places started buying mattresses and putting them in rooms claiming they were a hotel and allowed to serve alcohol to foreign customers sleeping there.
Another scenario was a funeral home. Apart from the visitation room, perhaps in the back or downstairs there was a full bar with musicians, tables and bartenders.
During the COVID Pandemic many people converted empty rooms in their homes or garages into a speakeasy of sorts. Famously home tiki bars started to become more and more popular.
Here are a few I have been to, some might argue that these are not even speakeasy bar, but again, by today’s standards, any place that has limited seating and/or is hidden and needs a reservation qualifies by definition.
These are ranked in order from best to worst:
- Raines Law Room (Manhattan NY)
- The Polynesian (Manhattan NY)
- Lost Island (Washington DC)
- Room Upstairs (Philadelphia PA)
- Fox Bar (Nashville TN)
- Slowly Shirley (Manhattan NY)
- Sunken Harbor Club (Brooklyn NY)
- PDT (Manhattan NY)
- Selma’s Bar (Queens NY)
- Blue Steel Pizzeria (Glen Ridge NJ)
- Vault & Vader (Greenville, SC)
- Friki Tiki (Manhattan NY)
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