The bodega on the corner, your laundromat, the pawn shop down the street or the innocuous law firm entrance you pass on your way to work could be harboring secrets behind unmarked doors or bookcases. America’s modern speakeasies exist more for the thrill of discovery than hiding illicit activities, but you have to admit, it’s pretty fun to walk into a hot dog joint, enter a phone booth, pick up the phone and dial a number to gain access to an exclusive bar. All of these businesses hide behind unassuming facades, only to be found by people who are ‘in the know.’

PDT (Please Don’t Tell), New York City

The novelty of an old-fashioned phone booth in a New York City hot dog joint is just the beginning of this strange and intriguing adventure known as ‘PDT’ (Please Don’t Tell.) If you enter the phone booth, pick up the phone and dial a certain number as directed by a small sign hung on the wall, you’ll be buzzed into a secret bar through the back wall of the booth. The bar has a classic laid-back speakeasy style complete with leather booths and taxidermy.

Community 54: Clothing Store Accessed Through a Photo Booth

There’s nothing particularly exclusive about the men’s streetwear store hidden in the back room of an arcade, but maybe the secrecy of its location makes it feel a little cooler than it really is. To access Community 54, you step through the fully-functional photo booth at the back of the arcade.

The Franklin Mortgage & Investment Company, Philadelphia

This is a real, actual speakeasy founded in the 1920s by legendary Philadelphia gangster Max ‘Boo Boo’ Hoff. Behind the front of the Franklin Mortgage & Investment Company was the country’s largest alcohol running ring during prohibition, more active than Al Capone’s operation. The end of prohibition clearly didn’t impact this speakeasy’s success, and you still enter through a nondescript mortgage company’s business front.

The Raines Law Room, New York City

Another seemingly buttoned-up professional facade, the entrance to Raines Law Room in New York City betrays absolutely nothing of the speakeasy behind its door. Though, one thing that might make a passerby suspicious is the fact that on busy nights, there might be a line out the door to what is ostensibly a law firm’s office. To experience the thrill of the ‘secret’ entrance, make reservations online Sunday through Tuesday, when there will be fewer people around.

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Prohibition, otherwise known as the Volstead Act or the Eighteenth Amendment, barred the manufacture, transportation, and sale of all alcoholic beverages in America from 1919 to 1933 – but for some people, the appeal of the “forbidden” remains today. Despite the illegality of drinking establishments during prohibition, hidden bars could be found in just about every major American city if you knew where to look. Today, speakeasies are making a comeback in a very big way.

Blind Barber – NYC, Brooklyn & Los Angeles

The name of this establishment may sound like a cruel joke or even an anti-advertisement, but it’s all part of a brand that has come to represent a simpler time. Past generations have enjoyed gathering and socializing in barber shops, and even today customers trade gossip as they get a haircut and enjoy a glass of wine in upscale salons.

This type of community gathering place is recreated in Blind Barber. An old-timey barber shop up front provides a bright and friendly place to sit and shoot the breeze as you enjoy a shave or a trim. Take a little walk through the secret door in the back and you’ll enter an a very different type of space.

The bar is outfitted in rich wood, low lighting, and period-appropriate black and white tiles on the floor. The owners wanted to create not only an enjoyable drinking establishment, but a place where people could get together to socialize, relax, and maybe pretend for a bit that they are part of a small crowd of those who are “in the know” about a secret club.

Flask and The Press – Shanghai

It might be surprising to learn that there is an American-style speakeasy in China (although if you’ve been there you will have seen quite a few), but it’s even more surprising to witness someone actually entering the bar. The building’s front contains a bright, cheery sandwich shop with a classic Coca-Cola machine on the back wall.

Pulling a lever on the soda machine reveals a “secret” passage that leads to Flask, an intimate and delightfully mysterious bar designed by Alberto Caiola. An eclectic mix of furniture calls to mind the furtive nature of assembling these establishments during prohibition.

A floor-to-ceiling display of 25 liter jugs filled with whiskey is a visually stunning detail which may or may not be historically accurate – speakeasies were generally designed to be easy to disassemble if the cops came sniffing around, after all. Regardless, it is still a charming deviation from the loud, crowded urban bar.

Williams & Graham – Denver

The first thing that will strike you as unusual when you walk into the small Denver “bookstore” called simply Williams and Graham is that it’s only open from 5 pm to 1 am. Good news for insomniac bibliophiles, perhaps…or maybe there’s a little more to this story.

At the back of the shop, a heavy curtain swings open to reveal a very cozy little space with scarce seating, low lighting, and vintage furnishings. One can imagine the hoodlums and society folks alike lining up in the 1920s for a tasty libation while always keeping a wary eye trained on the door.

The bar serves cocktails straight out of the prohibition era – though admittedly, not with liquor made in clandestine basements distilleries or delivered only under the cover of night. The establishment emphasizes its mission to replicate the speakeasy with its fancy drinks, relative exclusivity (reservations are recommended), and general air of mystery.

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