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List of clandestine bars by city

post #1 of 20
1/18/11 at 10:50pm
Thread Starter 
Everyone has been to one. Probably stumbled into one and thought it was the perfect place to hide out. A place where you'd never see anyone twice. They are usually hotel bars but can also be jazz bars, wine bars or whiskey bars. They are not well-known and they are perfect for those dates that probably shouldn't be happening. Or you just want to create that ambiance.

At the risk of sounding depraved, I am proposing that you throw out whatever bar that comes to mind after reading the above. I will start but need a Washington DC suggestion.

Chicago - Zebra Lounge
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post #2 of 20
1/19/11 at 2:02am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Aptidude View Post
Everyone has been to one. Probably stumbled into one and thought it was the perfect place to hide out. A place where you'd never see anyone twice. They are usually hotel bars but can also be jazz bars, wine bars or whiskey bars. They are not well-known and they are perfect for those dates that probably shouldn't be happening. Or you just want to create that ambiance. At the risk of sounding depraved, I am proposing that you throw out whatever bar that comes to mind after reading the above. I will start but need a Washington DC suggestion. Chicago - Zebra Lounge
Well, I know a lot of clandestine bars, but none of them fit that description -- usually you do see the same people there over and over. Hotel bars don't sort of fit my conception.... I think I may be thinking of something else. ~ H
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post #3 of 20
1/19/11 at 10:32am
Thread Starter 
Dosen't matter. My description could be different than the next person's. The important thing is that it's somewhat hidden but worth going to. Suggest away.
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post #4 of 20
1/19/11 at 1:50pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Aptidude View Post
Everyone has been to one. Probably stumbled into one and thought it was the perfect place to hide out. A place where you'd never see anyone twice. They are usually hotel bars but can also be jazz bars, wine bars or whiskey bars. They are not well-known and they are perfect for those dates that probably shouldn't be happening. Or you just want to create that ambiance. At the risk of sounding depraved, I am proposing that you throw out whatever bar that comes to mind after reading the above. I will start but need a Washington DC suggestion. Chicago - Zebra Lounge
Seeing as I can spit on that place from my house, it would not be very clandestine for me.
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post #5 of 20
1/19/11 at 2:19pm
I know of a few dens of inequity but no clandestine bars, sorry.
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post #6 of 20
1/19/11 at 2:22pm
I broke up with one of my girlfriends at the Zebra Lounge over a glass of sambuca. It was pretty clandestine until she blew a gasket.
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post #7 of 20
1/19/11 at 2:22pm
I was expectig more speakeasyish places. Zebra lounge has signs and windows.
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post #8 of 20
1/19/11 at 2:24pm
For DC
The Passenger. If you weren't looking for it you wouldn't know it was there (particularly on a weeknight).
Steve's Bar room.
Suite Lounge (try googling it) on a wednesday.
Hamiltons on a Friday after work.
L2 during an invite only party.
I feel there should be more but that's all I have.
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post #9 of 20
1/19/11 at 2:24pm
PX in old town alexandria, va sorta fits. at least it did a few years ago. havent been to it in a while though.
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post #10 of 20
1/19/11 at 2:30pm
Ahh... dates that probably shouldn't be happening.

When I was in grad school I was a teaching assistant. I received a call at home from a cute female student who asked about a homework assignment - and then asked me out for a drink.

So it was one of those dates. It shouldn't be happening. Somehow I did know a good place to meet... a lounge I had never been in before or since. It was out on the edge of town, parking in back (so nobody could see your car).

The black shiny vinyl seats in the booths were ripped. The table tops were sticky and tacky. The little cigarette ash trays were those heavily used cheap black plastic things. And pitchers of beer were $3.50.

We got drunk. We went to my place.

... and she had the nerve to walk into the middle of class the next day 15 minutes late!

"You're late!", I reprimanded her in front of the class.

She loved it.
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post #11 of 20
1/19/11 at 2:38pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jodum5 View Post
For DC
The Passenger. If you weren't looking for it you wouldn't know it was there (particularly on a weeknight).
Steve's Bar room.
Suite Lounge (try googling it) on a wednesday.
Hamiltons on a Friday after work.
L2 during an invite only party.
I feel there should be more but that's all I have.
I had a feeling this was going to be named. L2 is a bit off the beaten path, but you can't really stumble into it because it's a member's only club. And you see the exact same people there every weekend, which is kind of the point.

I'm not really sure what the OP is looking for, but I like the Hotel Kimpton bars. Particularly Topaz and Rouge.
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post #12 of 20
1/19/11 at 2:39pm
DC Suggestion: The Gibson - probably exactly what you're looking for.
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post #13 of 20
1/19/11 at 2:52pm
Old Rabbit Club (AKA The Rabbits Hole) - West Village, NYC
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post #14 of 20
1/19/11 at 3:07pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by level32 View Post
DC Suggestion:
The Gibson - probably exactly what you're looking for.
This may have been what the Gibson used to be. Pretty much everyone knows about it by now, even with the unmarked door. I think The Passenger (Derek Brown's relatively new joint he started with his brother Tom after leaving the Gibson) is closer to what the OP is looking for. It's in an untrafficked part of town. I have heard good things about the reservations-only Columbia Room in the back.
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post #15 of 20
1/19/11 at 3:10pm
I used to go to this hole in the wall joint that I never learned the name of, if it even had one. It's only distinguishing characteristic from the outside was a neon Schlitz beer sign in the window but nothing else. It was on a side street in one of those shitty, 1950's commercial building with a wood facade so it never got much foot traffic. I haven't been in awhile since the last few times the ratio of meth addicts to non-meth addicts was getting a little out of whack for my liking.
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