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Clandestine in CLE: The Ultimate Speakeasy Trail
10
items Step back in time and discover Cleveland’s best-kept secrets. From barbershop bookshelves to bank vaults, these 10 hidden bars offer the city’s most exclusive sips.
Map
Sections
2
Classic Prohibition Vibes
Modern Hidden Gems
Classic Prohibition Vibes
Step back in time and discover Cleveland’s best-kept secrets. From barbershop bookshelves to bank vaults, these 10 hidden bars offer the city’s most exclusive sips.
Hidden inside a fully functional 1920s-style barbershop. To enter, you must find the secret bookcase on the second floor that opens into a cozy, wood-paneled lounge.
Quintana's Speakeasy
Often credited with sparking the local craft cocktail movement, this spot requires a knock on an unmarked door. It features live jazz, world-class bartenders, and a "secret" back room.
Velvet Tango Room
Located in the basement of a historic building, this swanky lounge celebrates "Café Society." It’s sophisticated, dimly lit, and serves some of the most precise cocktails in the city.
Society Lounge
Just a short drive from Cleveland, this "Post Office" themed bar requires you to navigate antique mail slots to find the entrance. The presentation of their drinks is legendary.
The Watson Speakeasy
Located inside the Courtyard Marriott, this 1920s-style retreat is draped in velvet and social-distancing-friendly high-backed booths, perfect for a private conversation over a classic Old Fashioned.
Northside Speakeasy
Modern Hidden Gems
These bars use the "speakeasy" concept to hide unique, themed environments—from tropical escapes to high-fidelity listening rooms.
Located beneath the Cleveland Trust Rotunda, you drink inside century-old bank vaults. While the entrance is within the hotel, the massive steel doors and marble hallways make it feel truly subterranean.
Vault
Tucked behind Hola Tacos, this "coctelería" feels like a secret jungle hideaway. The focus here is on Latin American spirits and adventurous, travel-inspired ingredients.
Amazonia
A "listening bar" concept where the focus is as much on the vintage Hi-Fi audio and vinyl records as it is on the drinks. It’s an intimate, hidden neighborhood gem for audiophiles.
Bad Medicine
While it has a front door, the interior feels like a secret library or an apothecary. The menu changes seasonally like a book of fables, specializing in creative vegan-friendly cocktails.
Cloak & Dagger
Hidden inside a family-friendly arcade and bowling alley. You have to ask for "Mr. Clean" at the host stand to be ushered into a swanky, flapper-era lounge that feels worlds away from the arcade noise.
THE WORKZ on the Riverfront