Sip on carefully crafted cocktails at a private detective agency, pawn your way into incredible Spanish tapas and even time travel back to the ‘70s after walking through a refrigerator.
It may sound gimmicky, but speakeasies across California are offering top-quality cocktails, food and vibes. As a lifelong California resident and full-time food writer, here are my top five recommendations for speakeasies in the Golden State.
Best food: The Pawn Shop, San Francisco
Some of the best Spanish food in San Francisco is tucked away behind a pawn shop – and you have to pawn something to get in.
Step into a small store cluttered with random trinkets like Spam cans, globes, piggy banks and more, and the pawn master will ask what item you have to pawn. You can bring pretty much anything – I once pawned a Halloween spider ring. Sometimes, the pawn master will even give you a trinket back.
One of the tall wooden shelves packed with items opens like a door into a two-floor restaurant with a bar (although no hard liquor is served here).
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The drinks menu features a variety of Spanish and French wines ($16-$18 a glass), as well as a seasonal sangria ($14). Local beer is on draft ($9), and four low-ABV cocktails ($14) are available.
The food menu is divided into bites ($7-$16), cheese and charcuterie ($20-$33), tapas ($15-$29) and dessert ($12-$18).
The Spanish omelette ($15) is a symphony of textures, with bursting smoked trout roe, thick and creamy creme fraiche and crispy potato chip dust. It’s an elevated take on a traditionally simple comfort food.
My favorite dish at The Pawn Shop that I make sure to order each time I go is the housemade pork rillette with pomegranate puree, pickled rhubarb, fig, candied coriander and grilled bread ($20). It’s the perfect balance of savory and sweet, with a hefty acidic punch from the pickled rhubarb that cuts through the richness of the fatty and tender pork rillette. You get the crispiness from the grilled bread, creaminess from the pork rillette, chewiness from the fig and crunch from the pickled rhubarb.
After dinner, exit the restaurant through a secret door and enter nightclub Monarch, which opens at 9 p.m.
The Pawn Shop, 993 Mission St., San Francisco; 415-874-8041, Instagram: @thepawnshopsf. Open Tuesday to Thursday from 5-9 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 5-10 p.m.
Best cocktails in NorCal: Wilson and Wilson Private Detective Agency, San Francisco
If you’re looking for a San Francisco speakeasy offering hard liquor and excellent cocktails, I’d recommend Wilson and Wilson Private Detective Agency, located within Bourbon & Branch in the Tenderloin. Reservations are required to receive the password to enter the bar.
Wilson and Wilson is quiet, dark and quite moody. Instead of a menu, you’re handed a case file with pages and pages of information about a missing person, Ms. Lorraine Adeline Wilson. Flip past and find an extensive liquor menu and cocktail menu, divided into aperitifs, mains and digestifs ($18-$22).
I’d recommend the Charlie Chan ($18), considered a “main” cocktail, made with black tea infused vodka, lemon, ginger, toasted coconut marmalade, black pepper and clove.
Looking to head to another speakeasy? You won’t have to walk far. Bourbon & Branch is also home to The Library, another speakeasy with a separate menu and vibe.
Wilson and Wilson Private Detective Agency, 505 Jones St., San Francisco; 415-346-1735. Open Thursday to Saturday from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m.
Best for large groups: Good Times at Davey Wayne’s, Los Angeles
Walk through a refrigerator – yes a refrigerator – and be transported back to the ‘70s. Good Times at Davey Wayne’s is a casual ‘70s themed bar with multiple rooms, dancing and an outdoor patio. Depending on the night, expect DJ sets or live music.
Just like the ambiance, drinks are a lot less pretentious here than at other speakeasies, with a variety of cocktails ($16), mocktails ($14), draft beer ($9), canned beer ($7) and shot-and-beer combos ($15). I’d recommend the Dancing Queen, made with sage-infused vodka, blueberry syrup, lemon, curacao and lavender.
Good Times at Davey Wayne’s, 1611 N. El Centro Ave., Los Angeles; 323-498-0859, Instagram: @gtdaveywaynes. Open Monday to Friday from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m., Saturday and Sunday from 5 p.m. to 2 a.m. Happy hour Saturday and Sunday from 5-8 p.m.
Best for cutesy vibes: Hello Kitty Cafe, Irvine
Looking for an aesthetically pleasing (and very pink) cocktail experience? Hello Kitty Cafe in the Irvine Spectrum Center has a reservations-only room called the Bow Room, where those 21 and older can enjoy specialty cocktails from 5-9:30 p.m.
Cocktails, which change seasonally, are typically $16-$22. Some are topped with the imprint of the iconic Sanrio character Hello Kitty, while others come with a Polaroid of you and your group.
Love boba? The Hello Kitty Cafe speakeasy has a cocktail with strawberry popping boba in it called Picture Perfect (which comes with the Polaroid).
Hello Kitty Cafe, 860 Spectrum Center Drive, Irvine; 949-536-5357, Instagram: @hellokittycafeirvine. Speakeasy open Wednesday to Friday from 5-9:30 p.m.
Best cocktails in SoCal: Raised by Wolves, San Diego
Inside the Westfield UTC shopping center in San Diego is a dark and brooding building that feels out of place. Walk past the howling wolf statues and into a store with marble black-and-white checkered floors and mystical forest wallpaper, and you’ll see various shelves and ornate wooden closets adorned with bottles of alcohol.
Sit near the fireplace and be rotated into a speakeasy. At the center of the room is a large circular bar with a stone fountain in the center. Along the perimeters of the room are bookshelves, vintage couches and chess tables lit with oil lamps.
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No food is offered at Raised by Wolves, but the cocktail menu is extensive, divided into 10 refreshing, four decadent and five direct options. Four zero-proof mocktails are available (which can be turned into cocktails for an extra $5), as well as bar flights, beer and wine. Most cocktails are priced from $18-$20.
I tried the Banana Cream Flip, made with creme de banana, pandan, coconut, egg custard and absinthe ($19). This was one of the best cocktails I’ve ever had, which is saying a lot considering I typically don’t prefer sweet and creamy drinks. It tasted like a melted banana milkshake, and the hint of pandan at the end, and the fragrant freshly grated nutmeg on top, balanced out the decadence.
Raised by Wolves, 4301 La Jolla Village Dr #2030, San Diego, CA 92122; 619-629-0243, Instagram: @raisedbywolvesspirits. Open Sunday to Wednesday from 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m., Thursday from 11:30 a.m. to midnight, Friday and Saturday from 11:30 a.m. to 1 a.m.
