The Back Room

Tabooze in a teacup

This could be the only bar whose bouncer directs you to the door. “The Back Room? … down here!” He points to a metal gate with a Lower East Side Toy Company sign. Stairs take you down to a grim-looking alley. Rusty iron steps at the far end lead to a closed door. Be brave, go inside. It’s dimly lit but sparkly. Smiling, attractive people cluster and dance beside a roaring-twenties mirrored bar running along the front wall. Paintings of saucy ladies leer provocatively from the sidelines. Up some carpeted steps, a posh lounge oozes with period decor – red velvet settees, cocktail tables, and objets d’art elegantly arranged in the warm glow of a fireplace and twinkling chandeliers. With a nod to the days when booze was outlawed and consumed in secret, the Back Room’s potent cocktails are served ‘disguised’ in teacups, bottle beer in brown paper bags, drafts in coffee mugs, and shots in espresso cups.

Various trendy bars in the city pretend to be speakeasies. But this tucked-away night spot is the real deal – an authentic, clandestine drinking lounge that flourished during Prohibition. Back then you entered through the rear door of Ratner’s, a famous Lower East Side dairy restaurant. Open round the clock, Ratner’s blintzes and freshbaked onion rolls drew all-night crowds that included Al Jolson, Fanny Brice, and Groucho Marx, along with notorious gangsters like Bugsy Siegel, Lucky Luciano, and Meyer Lansky. After eating kosher delicacies they’d sneak into the back room for booze. Celebrities are still spotted here. Pearl Jam presided over the club’s 2005 reopening party; star-power patrons reserve bottle-service-only tables or throw lavish parties in its hidden Back Of The Back Room room.

Toast the twenties into the wee hours. Weekends are wild. Live jazz at Lucky’s Lounge Mondays requires a password at the door, and Poetry Brothels on the last Sunday of the month defy polite description.

Address 102 Norfolk Street (between Delancey and Rivington Street), New York 10002, +1 212.228.5098, www.backroomnyc.com, info@backroomnyc.com | Getting there Subway: Essex St (J, M, Z), Delancey St (F), Grand St (B, D); bus: M 9, M 14, M 15, M 21 | Hours Daily 6pm – 2am | Tip Work up an appetite dancing, and then head to The Orchard Room (120 Orchard Street) for late supper until 4am Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights.