Speakeasy

Funny how my friends and I stumbled upon this place. It was already late, and we were ready to call it a night, but heard some salsa music and really just followed the music.

A bit sketch at first, you walk up a very shady set of stairs, but once you get to the top, it's pretty cool.

Didn't try the drinks, but the music was good and definitely enjoyed dancing a bit. There was a billiards table that was always casually occupied.

Crowd ranged from hip young latinas to creepy old loners.

I'd for sure come back. Not many places like this still around!

This is an authentic latin dive bar. Hot, stuffy, and dark. Equipped with a bar, dance floor (for salsa), pool table, and arcade machine.

Rolled in on a Saturday night (2am Sunday, actually) and this place was alive with salsa dancing. Most of the people seemed to be familiar with salsa. There was a group of girls celebrating something and they needed guys to dance with. Enter me and my wingman, Rob. Or shall we say we were Guillermo and Roberto esta noche. We each took a woman; I went out onto the dance floor with mine; he and his companion ended up in the women's bathroom. Danced the night the way, shall we say.

What I liked most was the private room in the front by the pool table; an older man (the owner?) was watching the dance floor from his executive chair. While I didn't see him smoking a Cuban cigar, I could imagine it.

The irony of a bar with a neon sign spelling out Speakeasy is so great, I had to come here.

And just as expected, this is not the decadent secret hideaway its namesake might evoke. There are no grim-suited bouncers awaiting a password. No bow-tied bartenders or heart-lipped cocktail waitresses lighting absinthe on fire or muddling blackberries.

Speakeasy is an off the beaten track dive bar, straight up a shady flight of stairs on Ave C. And it has also become over the years a psuedo hipster mecca. While I've never been to the salsa nights that the other reviewers refer to, I've been here during normal Friday evening hours and it's knocking with tight black jeans and unwashed youngsters playing pool with half missing sets.

The music can sometimes hit the mark and when it gets late enough and sweaty enough, pretty stellar dance parties are known to break out. So speak loudly and go easy on it, this bar is so east it might just have forgotten it's in Manhattan.

There is no secret handshake or pass code to get in Speakeasy but it is definitely a throw-back place.  What will you find once you ring the buzzer and make it up the stairs? A few round tables, chairs, a homemade bar, a pinball machine and a pool table.  

I learned to Salsa here last night and if any place can get me happy enough to dance the Salsa then it must be a cool joint.

From what I understand, Speakeasy is a Hispanic-owned and caters to the original Loisaida community. It's good to know those places still exist.

Also... I would be remiss if I didn't mention the awesome bar video game. Naked women meet visual IQ test... or something.

A couple of years ago I would drop by SpeakEasy very often, almost every Friday night.
That smoky blend of salsa, secret sect flavor and shady characters hanging around the pool table was hard to resist.
Drinks were cheap and people were always happy.
That was heaven and it didn't last.
I climbed that staircase and crossed the iron gate one more time last week and was very disappointed.
I was given a thimbleful of stoli in a limp plastic cup and had to pay $10.
I guess greed is taking over on Avenue C.

Another one bites the dust...

Passed by the other day and it looks like the entire building is for sale. I think it's the first time I'm not saddened by a locale's closing. Overpriced drinks in tiny plastic cups, an obnoxious Italian owner and cash only rules made this place not-so-likable.

Came here for a salsa dancing party last Saturday and I am freaking *thrilled* that there is at least one bar in this city where you can DANCE.

This bar caters mainly to local Loisidas, and I'm not sure how busy it usually becomes in the evenings. The DJ played a fun mix of salsa and pop hits. It can get super humid and hot though! There's also a pool table and Pac-Man if dancing isn't your thing.

Do not, however, go here for the drinks. Served in teeny plastic cups with barely any liquor, you're better off buying a bottle of Presidente, since you at least know what you're getting. As a reference, vodka tonic was $7 or so. The bathrooms were clean, too! Wow.

Speak Easy ain't a hip speakeasy but hey, I had fun here.

Stumbled upon this bar late last night, and it is my new favorite late night Latin dive bar. Fantastic mix of music, everything from Salsa to Reggaetom to house music beats. The cheap patron was another plus to this non-judgemental place. The phrase "anything goes" is the perfect feel of this place. Lots of fun local characters all willing to share their dance moves. This is the place to dance before calling it a night. A true New York gem.

I made it a thing to come to this place during my recent weekend visit to NYC after reading some of the reviews on here. I was attracted to the concept of a chill Latin dive bar without the plasticity of the clubs and the lingering creepiness of the bohemian places that have been hijacked by my fellow Latin viejos verdes (if you've ever been to Habana Village in Washington, DC, you'll know what I'm talking about).

Speakeasy's sign was not illuminated by neon lights, so I was disappointed by the reduced irony --I happen to have a thing for things named after what they're not, like the defuct The Enormous Room in Cambridge, MA, which was more like a sardine can, contrary to what its name suggests. Anyhow, Speakeasy's diversity delivered some of the notes I expected in having an Asian doorman who enthusiastically clapped to the different salsa beats. The lounge also featured a surprisingly smooth transition from Afro-Antillean rhythms (mostly Puerto Rican salsa) to top 40. The music was good, and the atmosphere was relaxed, except for an obnoxious guy who was playing pool and who between breaks would juggle the pool stick around, dangerously getting close to hit us who were sitting at a nearby table.

Why only three stars. you may be wondering? Well, I know it's probably a bar that reflects the personality and likes of its owner, who I think was at the place at the time, I just hate the yes-to-smoking policy. Also, the place is too hot. And then, the drink selection was very limited, with not cocktails in offer. I may be too harsh, and I know some of you will be thinking of me: "come on, bitch, it's a dive bar!". However, I don't feel comfortable giving the place four stars, which is more like an enthusiastic recommendation and an indication that I would be coming back.

3.5 stars, though closer to 4.....

I walked by here with my friend, after dining at edi&wolf.  The sign on the door said SPEAKEASY, which is kind of backwards and genius at the same time.  We opened the door (cautiously), and there was a black industrial gate with spray painted white letters, which read "MEMBERS ONLY", leading to a set of stairs..  We were about to leave, when a guy at the top of the stairs, opens the door (loud salsa music booms through), and says, "come on in ladies!"....

So, naturally.. we went in.  

The place just looked like your average bar, with regular drinks, and a handful of people.  There was a random disco ball in the middle, a large dance floor, quite a few people dancing salsa...

Not sure if I'd be back, bc it's not really worth making the trek to alphabet city, but I'd probably be here every night if I was a local