ssshhh!! secret bars

Secret bars are awesome! My favorite is Larry Lawrence, next to Foodswings in Brooklyn. Totally nondescript door, recessed from the sidewalk. Pretty huge and fancyish inside, too!

Also, my friend just told me about this place PDT that you enter through a telephone booth in Crif Dogs in East Village. Has anyone been there?

yah i been there its kinda w/e im not really into the nostalgic fancy cocktail overly self conscious thing - also around the corner angel share is somewhat secret in that you have to go through an unrelated restaurant to get there - milk and honey is the grand daddy of all these places

decible is p hidden, classique place to take out of towners, give them an 'experience', they will think youre cool, and you are

Milk and Honey seems overly pretentious and overly inaccessible. Have you been?

No, wait, that wasn't supposed to be zingy

Wait - Decible the sake place?

never thought of larry lawrence as secret, isn't there a sign for it? i forget.
the hideout in ft greene, which i think is closed, went all out by getting a doorman with an eye patch.

which totally adds to the secret vibe

i been to milk and honey a few times a long time ago - a friend was down w/the owner - i think its in a diff location now maybe - anyway not my scene - only bar ive ever been kicked out of iirc

yeah decible the sake place

the hideout is v v silly

aw, I'm happy to know it's still there :)

decible is an institution, they do crazy business, move mad wasabi shumai

aw man I am going to make a point of going there next time I'm in NY

Milk and Honey seems overly pretentious and overly inaccessible. Have you been?

― vienn?tta (Stevie D(eux)), Saturday, January 29, 2011 1:44 PM (32 minutes ago) Bookmark

you posted about a secret bar in the east village that you enter thru a telephone booth

lol

golf_clap.gif

only bar ive ever been kicked out of iirc

what happened

all of these fancy retro cocktail places are "secret"... little branch in the village... the one on vanderbilt has no sign but it has a kind of 'interesting' exterior so its obv something is there

when i was in college some friends of mine opened a 'speakeasy' in their house, one of the guys would bartend and make drinks, it was pretty successful, they used to make a profit on the regular and it was way more fun and cheaper than a real bar

there's a secret bar in Old Town Alexandria near DC. looks awful though.

i am fascinated and repelled by these places, exclusivity still has a lot of power as a concept to me

lmao at everyone misspelling Decibel itt

There's a secret bar in Charlestown that is a "men only" establishment. It doesn't have a sign and you have to knock to be let in. It's also open pretty much all night. I believe women are allowed in one room but only if brought in by a man. It's all old Irish townie guys supposedly. I used to know the name but I can't remember it now.

sounds kinda gay

pirate taxis are more valuable than secret bars tbh

I feel like The Cock may as well be a secret bar. I mean it's hidden in plain sight but unless you know exactly what and where it is, you're not really going to go in.

"Open All Night"

At least half the places mentioned here have PR agencies

only bar ive ever been kicked out of iirc

what happened

― marios balls in 3d for 3ds (Princess TamTam), Saturday, January 29, 2011 3:08 PM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

i was just being loud and wasted iirc, they contrive to cultivate a hushed sophisticated atmosphere, w/e to that

i am fascinated and repelled by these places, exclusivity still has a lot of power as a concept to me

― max, Saturday, January 29, 2011 3:20 PM (4 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

i vibe w/this concept but i feel like in these cases the execution is a lil hamfisted

idk the concept is p dbaggy but the only club i care abt @ home is *secret* and it kindof filters out several variety of dolts who r otherwise ubiquitous in local nightlife

the only "secret" speakeasy type bar i've been to was bourbon & branch in SF, but that is really just "authentic historic speakeasy location" posturing than actual discretion afaik.

If I had a couple of million quid, my plan would totally be to open an amazing all-hours hidden bar in central London.

i feel this thread deserves more unlicensed 'social clubs' and dive bars that are only open 2 days a week, sort of thing

I have no idea whether these places exist here (Manchester - England edition), but also have no idea whether I'm the kind of person who knows about these places. They don't seem like something that can happen in small cities so easily.

Are 'secret bars' different from e.g. good pubs which 'cool people' don't go to/know about? Like, there has to be a deliberate secretness to create the mystique...and that mystique is aimed at a specific kind of person. Not sure what I am geting at, tbh.

i feel this thread deserves more unlicensed 'social clubs' and dive bars that are only open 2 days a week, sort of thing

― tangelo amour (elmo argonaut), Sunday, January 30, 2011 8:51 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

there are a couple places like this in my neighb but they are mostly for retired panamanian gentlemen i think

Went to this place on Greek St in Soho recently... Surprisingly awesome

http://www.momondo.com/blogs/castiglione/archive/2008/09/23/trisha-s-what-lies-beneath.aspx

Ooo, I'll check that place out.

when i was in college some friends of mine opened a 'speakeasy' in their house, one of the guys would bartend and make drinks, it was pretty successful, they used to make a profit on the regular and it was way more fun and cheaper than a real bar

― max, Saturday, January 29, 2011 12:18 PM (Yesterday)

yeah we did these too, we called them "parties", was kinda hoping they'd catch on but sadly not.

Yeh idk that just sounds like a really good way to get yer shit stolen

yer guacamole

when i was in college some friends of mine opened a 'speakeasy' in their house, one of the guys would bartend and make drinks, it was pretty successful, they used to make a profit on the regular and it was way more fun and cheaper than a real bar

― max, Saturday, January 29, 2011 12:18 PM (Yesterday)

some of my friends did this too, then they got busted by the cops and wesley willis wrote a song about them

i feel like the second part of that is more embarrassing tbh

Bet I can hum that song.

Anyway there is a secret bar around the corner from my place but it's more the kind of place where old, haggard drunks go than anything edgy or exclusive.

I have no idea whether these places exist here (Manchester - England edition), but also have no idea whether I'm the kind of person who knows about these places. They don't seem like something that can happen in small cities so easily.

Are 'secret bars' different from e.g. good pubs which 'cool people' don't go to/know about? Like, there has to be a deliberate secretness to create the mystique...and that mystique is aimed at a specific kind of person. Not sure what I am geting at, tbh.

― oppet, Sunday, January 30, 2011 2:47 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

agreed re: mcr, oppet. it's less about secret places but more about pubs/bars that have been around for a good while and still retain a certain charm/feel. corbieres isn't so secret, but being hidden away and underground and long established it has a certain cachet. and the circus tavern is fun to take people to, with its 3 foot long bar.

then there are the newer places that are trying to build a mystique, mainly around the northern quarter. i dunno e.g. 'an outlet'.

I haven't been in the Circus since the landlord pulled out a gun and threatened some friends of mine!

Corbieres has the kind of feel you'd expect a secret bar to have, yeah. I haven't been to Outlet but there are a couple of northern quarter places with a decent cocktail drinking atmosphere. Most bars seem to aim for that "cocktails are SOPHISTICATED and EXPENSIVE" thing instead of "cocktails are relaxed and pleasant and maybe you could have a conversation while you drink them".

yeah we did these too, we called them "parties", was kinda hoping they'd catch on but sadly not.

― i love you but i have chosen snarkness (Steve Shasta), Sunday, January 30, 2011 11:07 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

yall sold drinks at parties? ur parties sound... lame

yeah, seems like nothing in comparison could sound less lame than your a "for-profit on the reg" speakeasy.

whoa whoa whoa lets bring this down a notch bro

Steven Shasta, what on earth has gotten into you!

Melbourne is *all about* the hidden little bars everywhere. Basically the whole thing here is, go down the trashiest, stinkiest dead end alley full of trash bins you can find, and at the end you'll find the most awesome bar in town. It's become a real meme here, people are proud of our grotty grafitti-art laneways.

http://www.furnishedproperty.com.au/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/laneway.jpg

so secret that they can't even afford chairs

the corridor is a semi secret manchester bar i have never been to

there's a couple speakeasies in denver. you have to name someone you know there before they'll let you in. i attempted it once but flubbed up.

secret bars seem like frats or something, like there's nothing wrong with the idea of a mysterious hidden bar or a bunch of bros living together and having brofun - but they most appeal to people who are absolutely thrilled by being included in exclusive things...aka douchebags.

that said my opinion on what makes a bar good is 100% correlated with drink prices

theres that place on grand thats a fairly nondescript door and you walk down this long hall way and theres a big bar back there w/a weird sunken smoking spot/window area in the ceiling

theres a place above i think the five guys on sixth ave thats not secret but since its upstairs no one goes

musical box on ave b is sort of secret - not sure if thats still there

New secret Williamsburg bar, Le Coronet:

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2007/05/22/science/22interface.large1.jpg

yeah this whole things a load of shit, Ive heard about every one of these secret new york bars mentioned here as Ive been bored by every cool hunting funster thats been in the last year

One thing I miss from manchester is all the house gigs, played and saw so many great bands in big living rooms or cellars. Seems people just dont have the extra space going in london. I reckon I'll try and give that place on greek st a spin, Im so fed up of freezing outside Sam smiths bars due to a lack of seats

I know about this cool secret bar, I have access because I have a key to it, it's pretty cool, strangely enough you can post to ILX from it (in fact I'm posting from the secret bar right now) but it's kind of empty and the only drink they serve is bourbon (and there's not much left)

real-life lols @ Eazy, well done

Straightola — thinking about it the best thing about the Greek St spot is that it's an alternative to rammedness of the few decent Soho pubs as you mention. Comes with some compromise of its own maybe, but yeh, standing upstairs at the John Snow trying to converse over trance gets a bit old

never thought of larry lawrence as secret, isn't there a sign for it? i forget.
― mizzell, Saturday, January 29, 2011 2:02 PM (2 days ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

walked by this place last night, it says BAR above the door

shhh

Yes, well, the door is like 20 feet from the sidewalk AND I don't remember seeing any "BAR" last time I went AND even so, it's still very easy to miss/sort-of secret

theres that place on grand thats a fairly nondescript door and you walk down this long hall way and theres a big bar back there w/a weird sunken smoking spot/window area in the ceiling

― ice cr?m, Sunday, January 30, 2011 6:49 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

haha just realized thats the place i was talking abt

wait, what? the door is right on the sidewalk

http://www.11211.info/images/LarryLawrenceNightFinal.gif

jesus you are like so fucking hellbent on RUINING MY FUCKING LIFE aren't you

none of that exists. it's all a fabrication.

a secret fabrication

yeah this whole things a load of shit, Ive heard about every one of these secret new york bars mentioned here as Ive been bored by every cool hunting funster thats been in the last year

One thing I miss from manchester is all the house gigs, played and saw so many great bands in big living rooms or cellars. Seems people just dont have the extra space going in london. I reckon I'll try and give that place on greek st a spin, Im so fed up of freezing outside Sam smiths bars due to a lack of seats

― straightola, Monday, January 31, 2011 11:07 AM (53 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

oooooo mr cool here, heard of every one of the secret new york bars

you are right that it is easy to miss
xp

i have been to every secret bars, incl the ones that dont exist yet, & was bored of all of them, bcuz i was drinking time & eating souls, they had nothing buy mystery on tap, which i was sick of.

altho tbf every 'secret' or 'after hours' bar ive been to in t.o. is just like the regular hipster bars theyre down the street from but dirtier

i think you know none of these bars are actually secret - obvs if you run a business it cant be secret - we discussed vibing off the conceptual level but i think theres also something to the way the physical space is set up - a feng shui play if you will - how does it feel to be tucked away in these places

Claustrophobic. Intrigued by mention of secret smoking space, tho.

i like conceptually second story bars ensconced above the street looking down in consideration but the one thats open near me is greyer than flannel suits & just kinda gross - mb need to find some more london supper clubesque places all hushed faux elegance

idk really tho probably just drink @ home

laurel you can see the smoking area through the window here, just go up those stairs, p convenient

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2219/1701028632_6a0de83b07_o.jpg

it is outside btw fyi

I have good mems of that weird smoking area, spending like 15 minutes talking to this guy about "Groove is in the Heart" and how there's that party noise in the background and stuff.

I might have been there some years ago, or maybe just somewhere else similarly laid out.

Memories are hazy and hadn't been triggered til I saw photo. Did that space used to be one of the venues that gave away free pizzas w each drink order?

its fun to watch the people in the smoking spot - sort of a fishbowl motif - opens up the room perfectly while preserving the cloistered intimate feel - v nice touch overall

I have the same question as Laurel

i dont recall it ever being another venue - its located right here

http://grab.by/8GG8

It was at least 5 years ago if not more, so damned if I can remember. Seems like the right area, though?

its def been that same place for more than 5 years

google says 2003

yeah, not that then. i'm thinking of a place on n 7th or 8th maybe. exact same bar/smoking area/seating area layout, with worse lighting and also the free pizza. names lost to me

idk the lighting in LL is p much nonexistent. I'm amazed that photograph was even possible.

yeah i'm just def certain it's not on grand. pic threw me for a sec tho

Some ilxors may know it as the place where several other ilxors used to DJ a thing.

Capone's

Yes! Well I'm glad we cleared that up. Anyway.

Secret bars: Does Cokie's count?

a bar w/a secret

a v poorly kept secret

Thread got me wondering if Safe House is still open in Milwaukee. It is (top secret since 1966!)

http://www.sillyamerica.com/blog/2010/04/safe-house-milwaukee-spy-themed-restaurant/