You know the iconic scene from The Great Gatsby? Leonardo Di Caprio, as Gatsby, and young stockbroker Nick enter a seemingly normal barber shop. Gatsby knocks on the wall behind the price list, revealing a secret passageway. The two thus find themselves in a speakeasy: a speakeasy with a refined and exclusive atmosphere, with hip music, brawls between customers, and rivers of alcohol. The scene perfectly depicts the speakeasies of the American Prohibition years. Today’s secret bars are completely different: by law, where certain excesses no longer find a place, these venues have nevertheless retained the charm of mystery and secrecy. Discover Rome’s particular speakeasy and secret bar venues.
What are speakeasies
“Speak easy, boy!”: legend has it that at an illegal speakeasy in Pennsylvania, the owner intimated to customers to speak softly to avoid detection by the police, thus giving rise to the term “speakeasy“. Secrecy was paramount and a password was required to enter.
Today, speakeasies are back, especially in large metropolises. While without the secrecy of yesteryear, they retain the retro charm and vintage atmosphere. The décor is inspired by the 1920s, with leather armchairs and dark woods. These clubs maintain the tradition of secrecy and exclusivity: access often requires a password, spread by word of mouth, riddles, and social games.
Speakeasy in Rome: 3 secret bars in the capital city
1. JERRY THOMAS
Jerry Thomas is the benchmark speakeasy in Italy. Founded in Rome in 2010 by the union of four master mixers – Roberto Artusio, Leonardo Leuci, Antonio Parlapiano and Alessandro Procoli – it was one of the first speakeasy in the Italian scene.
To access it you need a password, the answer to which is hidden inside on the homepage of their website and changes regularly, you just have to find out. So if you want to walk through those doors, eyes wide open!
2. ARGOT CAMPO DEI FIORI
Among the capital’s secret bars, Argot in Campo dei Fiori is certainly unique. Inspired not by Prohibition in the 1920s but by the French miracle courts, Argot is reminiscent of a real Parisian salon, with leather sofas, baroque decorations and soft lighting.
Argot was the French word for the coded slang spoken by beggars, underworlders and poets in the miracle courts of 17th-century Paris. The same atmosphere of conviviality, stripped of course of all criminal aspects, has been recreated in the Roman secret bar.
At Argot every detail pays homage to art, starting with the drink list. The name Stream of Consciousness refers to the narrative technique introduced by the great writers of the twentieth century, from James Joyce to Jack Kerouac, from whom Argot’s bartenders draw inspiration for the creative and unconstrained formulation of their blends and drinks.
3. CLUB SPIRITO
If you are in Rome and want to immerse yourself in its alleys full of mystery, here are our 3 recommended speakeasies. But remember, speak easy!
Let us move on to Pigneto, the neighborhood that Pier Paolo Pasolini called “a Rome that was not Rome” and that he loved so much, using it as a set for films such as “Accattone.” Today, Pigneto has changed a lot, transforming from an area with Pasolinian echoes to a redeveloped and gentrified area.
This neighborhood is home to Club Spirito, a venue that its creators, Massimo Innocenti and Agathe Jaubourg, prefer to call a “cocktail bar with a different concept, an exclusive club for lovers of good drinks.” It’s not quite a speakeasy, but it has an equally charming atmosphere.
How to get in? Head to Premiata Paninoteca Pigneto, reach the back toward “Choice Meats,” buzz in and wait for a voice to answer. You will be catapulted into an environment with a New York atmosphere, with croupier, roulette and an intriguing mixing proposition, accompanied by the Paninoteca’s delicious sandwiches.