The Best Speakeasy Bars In Boston

It’s easy to miss the dimly lit ball 10 feet above ground that marks this Davis Square bar. Tucked away under street level, Saloon is a speakeasy bar in Boston that feels like a throwback to an iconic pre-Prohibition era, evoking the true style of a secret bar. Think dark paneling, studded leather chairs and warm red rugs, not to mention the enormous, elegant bar to belly up to. While rare whisky is its strong suit (the list is over 120 labels-strong), there are also a few bespoke cocktails served in chunky, old-fashioned glassware, such as the Drugstore Cowboy of Rye, made with Benedictine, Campari, lime, honey, and Pale Ale.

Hiding in the back of burger joint JM Curley’s, Bogie’s Place is marked by an “Adults Only” sign beside a closed blackout curtain. If you don’t know it’s there, you won’t find it. Push back the curtain to an intimate, reservation-only 20-seat steakhouse drenched in touchable wine-coloured velvet walls.

Music shifts from Jazz to The Beatles as the bartender changes records (yes, we said records). The speakeasy feel continues throughout, with a hidden bar tucked beneath JM Curley’s staircase, serving old-fashioned libations like the Boston Sidecar (white rum, brandy, dry curaçao and lemon), the Improved Champagne Cocktail (cava, angostura, lemon and an Aperol “pill”), and the famous Ward 8 (bourbon, house grenadine, orange and lemon).