Speakeasies...!!

[FinalVestige79]

Whadya know? Whodya know? And Where do ya go?

I haven't seen a thread about speakeasies and they are such and integral part of the golden era.

I only know of one in CA that is still open and that is the Bourbon & Branch in San Francisco. *Hint* The password is Books!! Thats ultra hush hush stuff ....loose lips lose their libations!

I know of a few more that are just rotting way....quite a pity.

Anyone know of any that are operational, or non operational?

 

[BinkieBaumont]

"The Jazz cellar"


The Jazz Cellar is a basement entered through an old style red telephone box.you walk down a lane way, You open the door of the phone box, then the back wall opens inwards, leading to the stairs down into the cellar. The Jazz Cellar is run by Corner House Jazz Band and is open every Friday evening from 7pm.you need to be there early! The venue is not licensed so patrons can bring their own alcoholic beverages and any food they require. There is a bottle shop nearby and also several take-away food shops. The Corner House Jazz Band plays a wide range of tunes in the traditional jazz idiom. The band has three regular weekly gigs.

The Jazz Cellar can be found on Buxton Street Corner, Scarborough Beach Road, Mount Hawthorn Western Australia. Tel: 61 8 9385 8111 Fax: 61 8 9385 7178 - contact: Roy Burton for more information. here is a video showing the secret entry

http://www.musicplace.com.au/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=36&Itemid=35

 

[Lady Day]

Bourbon & Branch is fun, in the dicy part of SF, and its cool looking inside. They have this other section of their establishment, adjacent to the main bar, where they filter the people with no reservations called 'the library'. I hate it. Crowded super limited selection of cocktails, and a wannabe meat market. *yuck*

Their passwords change by the way, most times its better to make reservations online.

I know NY has a few, but I dont know anything about them.

LD

 

[Brooksie]

Huber's - Portland Oregon's oldest bar and restaurant was established in 1879. Originally it was a saloon with a lunch counter. With the coming of the Prohibition era in 1920 Mr. Huber was going to close down the bar but with the urging of his many patrons he converted the saloon into a restaurant. Although Huber's was at that time primarily a restaurant it was also a speakeasy and Manhattans were served in coffee cups. At this time there is no password required to gain entry and there has been several FL events held here. The place is beautiful, with a big dark wood bar and it has a stained glass ceiling.

I have also found and interesting website with a little bit of history about speakeasies: http://americanhistory.suite101.com/article.cfm/speakeasies

Brooksie

 

[FinalVestige79]

Lady Day...thanks for the warning! Saved me a trip lol.

I might add Hubers to my list lol.

There are a couple non-operational speakeasies in the Artist Village in Santa Ana on Main street where the original city hall and the Yost is. In Old Towne Orange there is a network of tunnels connecting the different shops, such as the OCAM, there is still remnants of the tunnels connecting up the block to the corner where Sir Wickets used to be, then across to the Army Navy and then to Muffs, and then under the circles itself. Most of the tunnels are closed off but a crow bar and a flashlight works wonders, the stories seemed to match the evidence I found...my coworkers used to talk about brothels and bootleggers, and thats pretty much what I found down there, old crates, empty bottles and hallways lined with rooms with beds in them...I didn't go too far in, I didn't wanna get in trouble. The OCAM is haunted too...somethin fierce fftopic:

 

[Lady Day]

No B&B is great (sincerely), its just you should have a reservation to partake in the greatness. The main bar has amazing cocktails, their menu has pages of vintage ones done in traditional style, bartenders who know the craft of the cocktail, and their cocktail 'appetizer' is always a refreshing beverage.

They have a ginger and pepper gimlet that is my absolute favorite drink there!

LD

 

[FinalVestige79]

lol You and the ginger Geeeez. ok then it goes back on the list.

 

[Brooksie]

Huber's deserves to be on your list - they also make most excellent coctails. They have creme de violet so they can make the original version of the Aviation Coctail plus they also make the most wonderful Spanish Coffee which is actually their specialty and what they are known for. The bartender comes right to your table and makes it for you. It is quite a show they light the drink on fire and everything! The bartender and the wait staff all dress with button up white shirts, bow ties, black slacks on the guys and long black skirts on the women with a long white apron. They also play old time jazz which is a plus in my book because it always seems strange when a place has the old time decor or has been around for a century or longer and they play modern day rock etc...

Brooksie

 

[FinalVestige79]

Wow...good thing the family is going to Oregon this summer!!

 

[Brooksie]

Wow...good thing the family is going to Oregon this summer!!

Have fun while you are here!

Brooksie

 

[AtomicEraTom]

My great-grandpa was born in 1902 and lived in Milwaukee almost all his life (until 1987) and in the roaring 20's, he ran a speakeasy on Clark St. His sister also ran one a few blocks away.

 

[FinalVestige79]

its funny how a lot of loungers have connections to this kinda stuff.

 

[dhermann1]

The most famous one in New York is certainly 21 Club. It's one of the coolest joints in the City. On the upper east side there's a place called Martell's that hadn't been touched since the 1920's till some idiot new owner decided to "remodel" it. Trashed the old floor tiles, etc. It still has some of the atmosphere, but it's a shadow of its former self. I would assume that PJ Clarke's was a speakeasy in its day, and it certainly is much the same as it ever was. There are really a number of old joints in New York.

 

[FinalVestige79]

NY gots all the fun stuff! Damn it.

 

[JennyLou]

Huber's deserves to be on your list - they also make most excellent coctails. They have creme de violet so they can make the original version of the Aviation Coctail plus they also make the most wonderful Spanish Coffee which is actually their specialty and what they are known for. The bartender comes right to your table and makes it for you. It is quite a show they light the drink on fire and everything! The bartender and the wait staff all dress with button up white shirts, bow ties, black slacks on the guys and long black skirts on the women with a long white apron. They also play old time jazz which is a plus in my book because it always seems strange when a place has the old time decor or has been around for a century or longer and they play modern day rock etc...

Brooksie

Sounds like a great place. The only place around here that I've been to where I can get a drink and listen to jazz is Steamer's in Fullerton. Although they play more modern jazz styles I love that place and cocktails are only $5 on Sunday nights.

 

[BinkieBaumont]

"A delightful New Years evening at "The Jazz Cellar" I took my visiting US friends, there, they were rather dubious about wandering down a dark alley and into a phone Box"

 

[davestlouis]

I don't know of any speakeasies in STL off the top of my head, but I am aware of some tunnels connecting several homes on Bischoff St in "The Hill" neighborhood, called "Dago Hill" in less-politically correct times. One of those homes was the site of a bust by the revenuers, and old folks who live there remember the whiskey being poured into the gutter as bystanders stood around. Lots of mafia-related stories from that era too...

 

[clubwitsend]

New York City Speakeasies/Speakeasy-ish Bars

Raines Law Room - Some of the best cocktails in town! It's in a lovely basement space, and is fairly unmarked. Just a black awning and a tiny gold plaque next to the buzzer...be sure to check out the wallpaper....

Please Dont Tell - the speakeasy hidden through the phone booth at Crif Dogs in the East Village...you have to make reservations in order to get in...but the drinks are great here, too! And they have some specialty dogs on the menu as well! http://www.pdtnyc.com/

Flute Bar - where we host Wit's End! It used to be Texas Guinan's 'Club Intime', and the champagne is the specialty! http://www.flutebar.com

White Star - great little bar on the extra Lower East Side...was opened by Sasha Petraske (of Milk & Honey, who also has a location in NYC) http://nymag.com/listings/bar/white-star/

 

[Miss 1929]

The Jazz Cellar is a basement entered through an old style red telephone box.you walk down a lane way, You open the door of the phone box, then the back wall opens inwards, leading to the stairs down into the cellar. The Jazz Cellar is run by Corner House Jazz Band and is open every Friday evening from 7pm.you need to be there early! The venue is not licensed so patrons can bring their own alcoholic beverages and any food they require. There is a bottle shop nearby and also several take-away food shops. The Corner House Jazz Band plays a wide range of tunes in the traditional jazz idiom. The band has three regular weekly gigs.

The Jazz Cellar can be found on Buxton Street Corner, Scarborough Beach Road, Mount Hawthorn Western Australia. Tel: 61 8 9385 8111 Fax: 61 8 9385 7178 - contact: Roy Burton for more information. here is a video showing the secret entry

http://www.musicplace.com.au/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=36&Itemid=35

I really MUST come and visit you.

 

[Dr Doran]

*

*I second the recommendations of both Bourbon & Branch in San Francisco as well as Huber's in Portland. I've been to both places.

Huber's is worth seeing just for the stained glass in the ceilings -- quite remarkable, unlike anything I've ever seen.

Bourbon and Branch is so secret and secure that the CIA takes foreign dignitaries there -- that's how secure it is. A friend of mine was dating someone who occasionally did Presidential bodyguard service and who told him this.