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Hidden Doors & Killer Cocktails: The Best Speakeasies in the U.S. You Need to Find in 2025
So, you’re over loud clubs, overpriced vodka sodas, and TikTok-packed bars where it takes 45 minutes just to get a drink. Same. If you want your night out to feel like a secret, a story, and an aesthetic fever dream all at once, it’s time to hit up the speakeasy scene.
Speakeasies are having a major moment again in 2025—but this time, it’s not about dodging Prohibition laws. It’s about curated vibes, dim lighting, whispered passwords, and cocktails that taste like an art project. Whether it’s behind a bookcase, through a phone booth, or inside a fake hotel room, these hidden bars are giving mystery, mood, and mixology.
Here are the top U.S. speakeasies you need to sneak into this year—no snitches allowed.
1. Jewel of the South – New Orleans, LA
✨ Ranked #1 in the U.S., #4 in North America (and it earns it)
This isn’t just a bar—it’s Southern Gothic meets Prohibition glam. Tucked into a restored Creole townhouse, Jewel of the South mixes New Orleans’ sultry soul with some of the best cocktails you’ll ever sip. Think crushed ice, whispered conversations, and drinks that taste like a jazz song.
Pro tip: The Sazerac here will make you feel like you time-traveled to 1923 with perfect skin.
2. Sip & Guzzle – New York City, NY
🗽 Highest New Entry of 2025. NYC’s best-kept not-so-secret.
Japanese precision meets NYC edge. Located somewhere in Manhattan (we’re not telling where), Sip & Guzzle feels like a calm escape from the chaos. Every drink is a masterpiece, every garnish has purpose, and the lighting makes everyone look like the main character.
Come for the matcha cocktail, stay for the actual peace in a city that never sleeps.
3. Employees Only – New York City, NY
🌆 A classic that still hits different
This one’s for the real ones. Employees Only basically kicked off the modern speakeasy renaissance, and it's still one of the best. Slide past the psychic reader sign (yes, really), enter the candlelit Art Deco fantasy, and sip cocktails made by mixology gods.
Late night bites + the best Negroni in NYC = unmatched.
4. The Laundry Room – Las Vegas, NV
🎰 Vegas, but make it intimate and old-school
Hidden inside the El Cortez Hotel, this 22-seat bar feels like you stumbled into a black-and-white film. It’s super exclusive—you need a reservation AND a special number to text for the location. But once inside? You’ll be served personalized drinks based on your mood. Yes, really.
No menu. No chaos. Just vibes.
5. Red Phone Booth – Nashville, TN
📞 Dial-a-vibe. Literally.
Find the phone booth. Enter the password. Push open the door to 1920s decadence. Red Phone Booth is decked out with leather couches, live jazz, and cigar lounge energy. You feel like a mob boss—but like, in a romantic, Instagrammable way.
Bonus: The cocktail names slap. Try the “New Deal.” Thank us later.
6. The Drifter (Inside Green Door Tavern) – Chicago, IL
📚 Behind a bookshelf. Because, duh.
The Green Door Tavern is already a Chicago institution, but behind a secret shelf lies The Drifter—a rotating cocktail cabaret with tarot cards, burlesque vibes, and vintage cocktails. The drink menu literally changes daily and is printed on tarot cards.
It’s giving Boardwalk Empire, but with better lighting and queerer energy.
7. Bourbon & Branch – San Francisco, CA
🔐 Passwords. Hidden rooms. Pure speakeasy energy.
This place takes the whole “secret” thing seriously. You need a reservation and a password. But once inside, it’s peak SF Prohibition fantasy—velvet walls, hushed tones, and multiple hidden bars inside one venue.
Want to unlock the secret bar within the bar? Yeah, there’s a password for that too.
8. Rm. 901 – Fort Lauderdale, FL
🏨 It looks like a hotel room. It’s not.
Rm. 901 is accessible only if you’re staying in the adjacent hotel or know someone who is. After check-in, you get a key and a code—and what looks like a regular door turns into a plush, candlelit cocktail sanctuary.
The bathtub’s full of ice and bottles. The bathtub is the bar. We’re obsessed.
9. Thick as Thieves – Boise, ID
🐦 Two birds, one drink
Boise said “We see your NYC bars and raise you candlelit chaos in Idaho.” This downtown speakeasy has no sign—just a sketch of birds and a payphone. Once inside, it's dark, intimate, and heavy on custom drinks.
Unexpected. Underrated. Unapologetically cool.
10. Bathtub Gin – New York City, NY
🛁 Soaking in the vibes (not literally…unless?)
Located behind a fake coffee shop in the East Village, Bathtub Gin gives Prohibition energy with full-on Gilded Age glam. Passwords, plush booths, clawfoot tubs. Gin-forward drinks dominate the menu, but there’s something for everyone.
Live music, real bubbles, and that classic East Village mystery vibe.
💫 Honorable Mentions
- No Vacancy (Los Angeles, CA): Secret entrance. Sexy AF.
- The Violet Hour (Chicago, IL): Elegant cocktails, velvet everything.
- Maison Premiere (Brooklyn, NY): Oyster bar + absinthe = unforgettable.
Why Speakeasies Still Hit in 2025
It’s not just about the drinks—it’s the mystery. The drama. The little moment where you feel like you cracked a code just by knowing where to go. Speakeasies make going out feel intentional, romantic, and cinematic. They’re proof that a night out doesn’t have to be chaotic to be iconic.
So next time you’re planning your bar crawl, skip the basic and go secret. But like, don’t post the password on TikTok, okay?
Sip in secret, style in shadows, and stay mysterious with Woke Waves Magazine—your guide to hidden gems and underground vibes.
#SpeakeasyGuide #SecretBars2025 #CocktailCulture #GenZNightsOut #WokeWaves
