Speakeasies have seen a resurgence over the last 20 years, although their resemblance to the dark, often dingy speakeasies of the Prohibition era is more fanciful than factual.
In 1920, after the passage of the 18th Amendment made producing and selling liquor illegal, alcohol was consumed behind closed doors and in hidden basement rooms. Only those who knew where to go—and the secret knock to get in—found the bootleg liquor, according to John F. Mariani, author of “The Encyclopedia of American Food & Drink.” While some speakeasies doubled as fine dining restaurants in high-end neighborhoods, most were “shabby” and “humbug,” with bad food and worse service, Mariani writes.
Until Prohibition was repealed in 1933, alcoholic beverages were often made from illegal bathtub gin or whiskey mixed with fruit and sugar to make them more palatable. In contrast, many of today’s speakeasies feature craft cocktails that revive pre-Prohibition classics with their own creative twists. These include the lavender-hued Aviation gin cocktail with crème de violette and maraschino liqueurs, the Old Fashioned with knuckle-sized cubes of diaphanous ice and whistle-wetters such as the cucumber-garnished Pimm’s Cup.
Innovative bartenders have even integrated cocktail culture with haute cuisine, creating high-end, one-of-a-kind dining experiences that draw in guests looking for an elegant night out. However, if you’re looking for domestic pitchers of beer, TV screens tuned in to sports channels or speakers blasting dance music, heading to a bar is your best bet.
Modern speakeasies have their own creative spin, whether it’s hidden access, a dress code, a unique theme or memorable cocktails. Since they’re less obvious to passersby, they’re usually ideal for quiet conversation. More of these establishments are popping up everywhere in Northern Colorado, including two swanky speakeasies in Loveland and two quirkier ones in Fort Collins.
Rosie’s head curator, Troy Sinatra, and owner, Taylor Groves. Photos by Jordan Secher.
Rosie’s Barbershop & Bar
341 E. 4th St., Loveland
Until two years ago, the back room at Rosie’s, a barbershop owned by Taylor Groves, was a stark white and stainless steel taproom with a pool table that served beer and wine. Groves cut hair from 10 a.m.-7 p.m. and then worked on renovations for her new concept at night. She’d contacted Troy Sinatra, a longtime friend and mixologist who was running a hotel bar in Des Moines, Iowa, to help her with a rebrand. Her bulldog, Rosie, inspired the new name.
Originally, Groves and Sinatra didn’t envision a speakeasy. “It’s a pretentious label,” Sinatra says. “A lot of modern speakeasies give off this aura of reinventing the wheel. In trying to be original, it makes them just like any other speakeasy. We were just trying to be a bar in a barbershop.”
Even so, enthusiastic customers insisted on the label because of Rosie’s funky decor and darkened space with a glowing, industrial-style bar and streamlined bar stools and tables. The atmosphere is also defined by a mix of Warner Bros. cartoons, Wu-Tang kung fu movies and classic horror flicks scrolling on a wall.
Taylor Groves’ bulldog, Rosie
“We decided to embrace it and put the ‘barber supplies’ sign on the door between the shop and bar and a ‘super-secret’ chalkboard sign around the
corner directing people to the location,” Sinatra says.
Sinatra stays busy as the sole bartender, menu curator, social media manager and food truck booker. He creates a new cocktail menu bimonthly but keeps fan favorites, like the Ape Dos Mil and Murderotica (a cross between a Tommy’s margarita and sangria). The Old Fashioned, made with Four Roses Bourbon, house-smoked Demerara sugar and West Indian orange bitters—plus a cube of frozen rose water that lends floral notes as it dilutes—is another mainstay.
Celestina Menard, owner of Sage Speakeasy & Lounge
Sage Speakeasy & Lounge
428 N. Cleveland Ave., Loveland
After 11 years running The Derby Grille, a blue-collar biker bar in Berthoud, Celestina Menard wanted to reinvent her life. She sold the bar in March and discovered a vacant space in downtown Loveland, where she built a jewel box lounge lidded by black and gold ceiling tiles and glittering chandeliers.
“The biker bar fit my life then. This—adult, eloquent, old-school, peaceful and refined—is the pace and style of who I’ve grown to be,” Menard says.
The name Sage came to her because she was making a clean slate.
“I was literally saging my life, getting a fresh start. I didn’t realize I needed it as much as a lot of others did,” she says.
Hush Money cocktail and appetizers at Sage. Photos by Jordan Secher.
She admits that the space, with its large storefront windows, is less of a speakeasy than what you might find in a high-end hotel lounge, but she reluctantly decided to call it a speakeasy because the concept’s trendiness makes it easily identifiable.
Bar manager Shaun Parish designed Sage’s bar program in a serendipitous turn of events after a friend walked past the spot during construction and thought of him. Parish has 20 years of experience in high-end catering for Hollywood stars and trained under Frank Sinatra’s personal bartender. Top sellers are the Bacon Washed Old Fashion and La Pieta, a cocktail made with parmesan-infused gin, olive juice, cracked black pepper and a touch of vermouth.
The food menu lists small, shareable platters and tapas prepared in a cold kitchen with no open flames. Unique dips, baked brie and elegant, open-faced roast beef and smoked salmon baguette crostinis have ingredients cooked off premises. Irresistible desserts, including an angel food cake topped with macerated strawberries and drizzled with cream cheese, round out the menu.
Speak Cheesy Lounge
Speak Cheesy Lounge
163 W. Mountain Ave., Fort Collins
With a decade invested in his successful pizza-by-the-slice business, Jeremy Tand decided it was time to expand his tiny kitchen last year. The Wok and Roll next door to his Slyce Pizza Co. had shut down, so he took over the space. That’s when he discovered that the two shops shared a basement separated by a locked door.
“The basements were the same: 100 years old in a gross, weird building with extra furniture and a closet housing the internet and phone lines for the entire building,” he says.
After gutting the basement, he thought the creepy room might make a fun bar, one that offered trivia, draft beer from local breweries and sports playing on a screen. But he also realized the space needed to be dressed up to make it appear different from what it really was, so he switched gears from bar to speakeasy.
Tand’s vivid imagination, enhanced by a year working at Disney World’s “Pirates of The Caribbean” ride, came in handy. The speakeasy concept fit because, for one, the basement was hard to find.
“There isn’t a sign outside, and the entrances are on the Mason Street side of the building,” Tand says. “Speak Cheesy Lounge has hidden menu items (like nachos) that can’t be ordered on Slyce’s menu. The goal is to keep the mystery ambiance rather than pack it with 1,000 people every day. It’s a place to have a drink with friends, not a wild place to cheer on a team.”
Blurred Words Books & Booze owner Liz Sanders and her husband, Matt, at their opening party.
Blurred Words Books & Booze
1205 W. Elizabeth St. Unit 1, Fort Collins
Educator Liz Sanders is passionate about books, but she also knows that bookstores trend up and down. That’s why she concluded that adding a speakeasy to her late-night bookstore would offer a unique niche. Blurred Words Books & Booze, open since April, invites customers in from 5 p.m. to midnight five nights a week and offers late-night readers a quiet environment to enjoy a cocktail instead of a coffee.
The 1920s art deco motif involves serving classic cocktails in teacups, just like they did during Prohibition. The Sidecar and Pink Lady are popular, as are refreshing mojitos. Individually wrapped cookie snacks are also available for $1. Comfy sofa seating and a piano create a quiet nook, and against one wall, a wardrobe holds a secret: “Narnia,” a room outfitted with a game table.
“It’s a great place for book clubs, writing groups, arts and crafts classes and live music events, and we host a Thursday game night,” Sanders says. The Books and Booze Meetup on Tuesday nights gathers patrons to share book recommendations and sip cocktails.
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Classic Speakeasies that Set the Trend
Ace Gillett’s Lounge & Supper Club
239 S. College Ave., Fort Collins
Enjoy fine dining, signature cocktails and live music in elegant, clubby surroundings reminiscent of times that were slower yet jazzy.
Social
1 Old Town Square #7, Fort Collins
Bathed in pools of lime green and red lighting, Social’s vibe is vintage New Orleans blended with tufted leather elegance and impeccably crafted cocktails and bites in what Yelp calls the country’s best speakeasy.
The Speakeasy @ The Kress
817 8th Ave., Greeley
Open Thursday through Saturday, descend beneath The Kress Cinema & Lounge to enjoy craft cocktails, small plates and conversation in art deco surroundings.
