Pull your collar up. Pull your hat down. Take a left down the back alley. Look for a man dressed in black. Give the password. Proceed to the door behind him. Knock three times. Enter.
While we may not have double-oh-seven bars that require elaborate decryption codes and secret signals to get in (that we have found, we are still looking), there are a few places that theme themselves in the illusive. The ones with mysterious dark lighting, a few scattered tables and an intimate setting. There is something satisfying about walking into a place like this, someplace that says, “You are one of the lucky few to ever see the inside.”
A heavy trend in the last few years in the Northwest (particularly in Seattle), many “speakeasy-style” pubs have opened up on the sly but crept away in the same manner they were open—quietly and without much business. The greatest have kept their doors open, albeit in a hushed, underground fashion (and with liquor licenses).
Like any good secret, it’s rarely fun to be the only person enjoying it, so we are sharing some of our favorite back-alley whispered saloon secrets with you.
Pepe Le Moko || Portland
Whether it be a Manhattan or a good old fashioned, um, well, Old Fashion, this basement floor kid sister to Clyde Common will serve you up one of the classics. For an extra secret treat, head in on a Sunday, to get their Sunday-only shortcake and try the adult-version Grasshopper anytime. Gourmet sandwiches take center stage in the kitchen at Pepe Le Moko with ingredients like marinated cucumber, sardines and baba ganoush, not to mention the freshly shucked oysters that greet patrons at the front door. Their website offers no photos, so follow the link above to get the address, and be prepared to get your detective on.
Bathtub Gin and Co. || Seattle
You can’t get much more back-alley than Bathtub Gin and Co, a cocktail bar which is literally down an unmarked alley in the streets of downtown Seattle’s nightlife neighborhood, Belltown. Nothing in the area gives any hint of the bar hiding in an old brick building, except for an inconspicuous sign with tiny writing next to an unmarked door. The inside houses an extremely intimate setting, complete with a library and couches. The libations match the setting perfectly, with cocktails with names like Atticus Finch and Holden Caulfield.
Redlight || Bellingham, Washington
A few streets over from the small but busy center of downtown Bellingham is the Redlight, an artsy and classy local favorite. The cocktail menu is so big, the pages are displayed in books, old record books, for customers to sit back and flip through. Community art decorates the walls of this old butcher’s building, with one of the original rooms glowing softly with red light. Rumor has it that a murder took place in the building long ago. If that isn’t hush-hush with a heart rush, we don’t know what is.
Needle and Thread || Seattle
To be completely transparent, we can’t 100 percent confirm the following information. Rumors and new tips are whispered left and right. So rumor has it that in order to get into Needle and Thread, you have to make a reservation in advance. At the bar inside, you pick up a phone and call a hidden bartender, who lets you into an old bank vault that opens to a small, incredibly classy parlor. The bartenders inside go without menu; just tell them what you like and they will create a custom drink. All of this happens at the back of Tavern Law, the front-of-the-house speakeasy that comes with equal illicitness as it is housed in a “former law office.”
Knee High Stocking Co. || Seattle
This small speakeasy is tucked away in the Capital Hill Neighborhood of Seattle and plays tribute to the United States’ history of Prohibition, and the underground drinking movement. Take a peek at their website for a “Today in Drinking History” feature, helping you to transport back to a time of secretive sips. For reservations, or “appointments,” guests will find themselves texting a number and communicating with a faceless doorman who provides entry into the bar.
